Sweetie Belle had a ring on her horn as she was led to the train leading to Ponyville. It disgusted her. After confirming that Sweetie Belle was who she said she was, the guards were immediately ordered to take her to Ponyville.
Because of what she had done a few days prior by attacking one of the guards, she was forced to wear a ring on her horn until she was transferred to Rarity Belle the older sister.
The decision did not amuse the marshmallow-coated filly.
First, they humiliate her and force her out of her hometown and she is gone for almost a year then when she returns to do some work, she is forced to wear a ring and is forced back to the same town that kicked her out. Did these guards have no shame?
Did they not know what she and her friends had to go through? Did they not realise that forcing Sweetie Belle back to her sister that betrayed her would only fuel whatever hate was growing in her heart?
She shook her head at their foolishness. It wasn’t the first time the royal guards have acted stupid and it certainly wouldn’t be the last time either from the looks of things.
But then again, she felt that her friends, Scootaloo and Applebloom, would save her. She could always count on them. They have never betrayed her and she knew they would never do that. They aren’t like the ponies or Ponyville.
“You will regret this,” Sweetie Belle muttered with agitation as she forced herself to look at the guards who surrounded her so she wouldn’t try to run. “You will see that capturing me and sending me to that pathetic town was your greatest mistake, and I’m looking forward to seeing your faces when that happens,”
Sweetie Belle giggled and put a hoof to cover her mouth as she did so while looking at the captain dead in the eye.
The guards had neutral expressions on their faces as well as the captain but he felt his neck hairs raise slightly. The look she had on her face… she wasn’t bluffing.
Mentally, he shook his head. She was just a filly, she was just angry that she was captured and was probably very angry and disappointed in her big sister from what happened. She needed to feel big in this situation, she wanted to seem like a threat.
“Miss Belle, your sister has been very worried about you.” The captain spoke while looking into the young filly’s eyes.
She snorted. “Yeah right, the day that happens, Tartarus will freeze over,”
The captain wasn’t deterred.
“Miss Belle I under-”
“Do you?!” She shouted, causing the guards to jump. “Do you know what it's like feeding ponies, giving them exactly what they want and then when they find out it's you, you get shunned and bullied? Do you know what it is like to have a sister not giving a flying feather about you anymore after secrets were revealed?!”
Sweetie Belle took a deep breath and noticed how the guards looked at her a little wary.
“My friends and I had no choice: we left Equestria with our free will, we could have gone anywhere within Equestria, we could even have gone to the Crystal Empire when we found out it returned and wasn’t a mere myth, but we stayed in the Badlands.
“Yes, I did hear rumours that there were Equestrian soldiers within Badlands and I know it was my friends and I, you were looking for, but that was a dumb move on your part. You do realise that it is the Storm King that rules Badlands with an iron fist right?
“Well, I suppose Scootaloo as well because I do remember her talking about wanting to become the ruler of Badlands and from what I have heard, is planning a coup,”
The guards refused to interrupt or speak because they wanted to learn as much information as possible. They didn’t know who Storm King was, but they could always ask Princess Celestia and see if she knew.
“So your friends are still in Badlands?” The captain asked, hoping he’d get an answer.
“Yes they are, but you won’t be able to force them back. Scootaloo will be able to stop you, her army is powerful enough to bring down Storm King!” Her words were filled with pride.
The captain chuckled.
“I highly doubt that she’s just a silly little filly. Look, I understand that you are angry and want revenge or rather, have nothing to do with your family anymore, but you’re still in the eyes of Equestria’s laws, still minors. Until you are fifteen, you are children.”
Sweetie Belle rolled her eyes at the guard. How foolish to think that she would abide by Equestrian laws. The only laws she’ll follow are Badlands’ and Scootaloo’s laws if her friend ever becomes the respectable leader she is becoming.
Sweetie Belle had seen the things Scootaloo was plotting and doing when the pegasus thought the others didn’t notice. Sweetie Belle was rooting for her silently.
She glared at the captain with contempt in her gaze.
“One day, you will eat up those words and realise that I was right all along. And when that happens, you better not come crawling back to me,”
The captain smiled and shook his head and thought ‘silly-filly’.
Thirty minutes later, they arrived in Ponyville and Scootaloo was placed in the middle and forced the filly to walk through the town.
While making her way to the Carousel Boutique, many ponies gawked at the long-lost filly and tried to approach her but the guards glared at them and they stopped. All the way there, Sweetie Belle noticed the many faces she had hoped to never see again in her life but there were a few new ones she didn’t recognise that looked on in confusion.
She scoffed when she saw her former home quickly approaching and felt the urge to fight off the guards, but realised that without her magic, she was useless against them.
Resigning to her fate, Sweetie Belle adopted a blank look that she would use for however long she remains there before she would return to her real home. There was no way she would stay in this… foreign land.
When they finished their trek through Ponyville without any pony else trying to approach them, they knocked on the door and waited for a response.
“Tch,” the marshmallow-coated filly involuntarily let out which the guards heard but didn’t comment.
When the door opened, Sweetie Belle felt her blood turn to ice when she saw her big sister and her friends. Rarity Belle, her older sister had a look of surprise but when she saw her sister, she squealed and hugged her long-lost sister. The ponies around them had soft smiles as they saw the young mare hugging her sister and repeating; “I love you,” over and over.
The rest of the main six looked happy and couldn’t help but giggle at the sight of seeing one of the crusaders had returned to Equestria safely. Now all that remained were the other two and Spike.
Twilight frowned as she thought about her lost friend.
He had been sent on a mission to retrieve the Crusaders but he’d never returned. Could it be that he managed to find them but only managed to convince Sweetie Belle? Or maybe there was something that happened?
The princess of friendship looked at the young filly closely and saw a blank expression on her face she didn’t try to resist the hug but she wasn’t returning it either.
Her eyes had this… rage… inside of them that the filly was pressing away which made Twilight uncertain if she should approach her or not. After a few moments, she pushed aside the thoughts and approached the young filly but not before asking the guards the question on her mind.
“Thank you, guards, but I must ask; where did you find her?” Her question prompted the others to stare at them causing the captain to speak on his platoon's behalf.
“Thank you, princess,” he started with a bow followed by the other guards. “We found her in Manehattan train station where she tried to flee the guards. She had shot a beam towards one of them and tried to run away when we had asked albeit in a not-so-friendly way for her to take down her covering clothing. She resisted and shot a beam and tried to flee but crashed into a few trashcans and we took her here,”
The main six couldn’t believe what they had heard. Sweet little Sweetie Belle had attacked a royal guard? They stared at the filly who had a blank look but in her eyes, there was a very small look of amusement.
Rarity frowned at her younger sister. Maybe it was because she was around dangerous criminals in the Badlands? Yes, that must be it, there was no way her sweet baby sister hated them that much to hurt a royal guard.
“You deserved it,” Sweetie Belle spoke and turned her head towards the captain and stared at him dead in the eye. “You should have left me be,”
Before the other main six could say anything, Twilight intervened and looked Sweetie Belle in the eyes as if she was trying to find something. It made the filly a little uncomfortable but she stood her ground.
“Sweetie Belle, I must ask you, where is Spike?” The others raised a brow at that.
Twilight had informed them that Princess Luna had requested for the young dragon but they had never been informed of what he was meant to do. Judging by the fact she was asking Sweetie Belle of all ponies gave them the impression that Spike was trying to track the fillies down.
The royal guards didn’t say anything because it was none of their business.
The marshmallow-coated filly didn’t even blink at the question.
“I don’t know, why are you asking me?” She responded with a neutral voice that caused the others to frown. Twilight felt confusion start to clench her heart slightly.
“Why I’m asking is because he was sent to look for you with a small platoon of guards, did he not reach you and tell you to come home?”
This time, they got a reaction. A reaction that didn’t leave them satisfied.
“Princess, If I wanted to come to Ponyville, I would have done so voluntarily rather than be beaten by armed guards and forced here like an animal.” She growled the last part causing the captain to slightly wince at her words. “I had no idea Spike was in the Badlands and I don’t care,”
The ponies there who didn’t believe they had truly been living in the Badlands thought their eyes would fall out of their sockets. They had been living in the Badlands?!
Twilight felt the beginning stages of a panic attack and tried to steel her nerves but it wasn’t working and Sweetie Belle wasn’t doing the situation any better by laughing at the princess’ reaction.
Seeing that the filly wouldn’t try anything, the captain moves forward and removed the ring from the horn, bowed and was dismissed quickly by Twilight before she fully fell trapped in her panic.
Sweetie Belle grinned as she saw Twilight trying to calm her nerves. Rarity noticed this but was uncertain of how to scold the filly who’d been gone for almost a year. Rainbow Dash held no reservations.
“Hey, what are you laughing at?” She glared at the young filly.
Sweetie Belle’s grin became bigger. “I’m not laughing, I’m grinning, there’s a difference you airheaded pegasus!” Her insult resulted in a gasp of shock from every pony there par Twilight who was still panicking at the thought of where Spike was.
Rainbow Dash was so shocked, she forgot to flap her wings to fly and landed with her jaw on the floor and continued to stare at the filly.
“I swear, first you demand me and my friends to print more gossip and you enjoy it, but the second it’s revealed that it is us, you turned your backs on us as if we intentionally hurt you which never was the goal, you hurt us by shunning us and even mocking us. We left on our own accord and you sure as a feather didn’t seem to be bothered by it so I don’t understand why you put up this charade for.”
With that, Sweetie Belle stepped inside the boutique and looked around before turning to her sister with an icy glare.
“Hello, sister,”