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// Chapter 14: The Loyal Folly 
// Story: Lake of Reflection 
// by Richer19 
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I really enjoyed reading the comments for the last chapter. I am actually a little curious to know if any of you expected something like this to happen…


Chapter 14: The Loyal Folly


The air around the clearing became much colder as the wind started whipping around with a force that was strong enough to knock loose branches from the trees. The four ponies were looking around searching for the familiar voice of Princess Luna. However, the Night Princess was nowhere to be seen.
It was then that a mist slowly flowed around the clearing, creating a sense of dread. Rainbow Dash, her bravado staring to waver, decided that it was a good time to leave. She prepared herself for flight but before she could move an inch, she felt a strange force pressing her body down. Before she could even figure out what was going on, she was hurtled towards a nearby tree.
She landed with enough force to knock the wind out of her body. The other watched with shocked horror as the tree that Rainbow Dash had hit seemed to become alive. The bark was growing around the blue pegasus’ body, ensnaring her. Rainbow Dash was about to voice her mistreatment about being bound to a tree when she felt something cold and hard on her neck. She looked down and her eyes widened in shock.
Appearing out of nowhere, two guards wearing the armor of the Night Guard were standing next to the trapped mare. One was a unicorn whose horn was still glowing with a soft aura, no doubt the one maintaining the spell, while the second one, a pegasus, was holding a spear pointed right at Rainbow Dash’s neck. Twilight and Applejack were shocked by the sudden appearance of the two guards but before they had a chance to try and help their friend, a voice said “The target has been secured.” The two mares looked behind them and discovered the source of the voice.
Standing a ways from them were Princess Luna and an earth pony knight who Twilight recognized as Luna’s Champion. Luna appeared to be rather disgusted with the situation while her Champion remained passive. Twilight wanted to talk to Luna to find out what was going on, but the look on her face made Twilight pause.
The unknown winds were dying down as the Champion turned his attention to Luna and asked, “Do you want me to hand out the punishment Princess?” He knew that this was a situation that Luna was somewhat displeased with, and he wanted to do what he could to make it easier on her. The Princess looked at him and he could see her answer in her eyes. The Champion merely bowed his head and stepped back a pace while Luna started making her way towards Rainbow Dash.
Trixie had managed to return to her feet and watched as the Princess of the Night made her way to the awestruck pegasus who was trapped in the tree. For some strange reason, the sight of her stuck in that tree caused Trixie to chuckle a bit to herself. It was fortunate that the tact was able to muffle the sound so no-pony else was able to hear it.
When Luna reached a certain point, she pulled out a scroll from the air and said in a voice that was slighty softer, but still carrying authority, “Rainbow Dash of Ponyville, you have been charged with attacking a pony wearing the Saddle of Servitude. Do you deny this claim?”
Now, one would expect a pony under these conditions to plead their innocence; especially if they knew the full implications of what they did. Rainbow Dash, once again showing off her trademark brashness, replied in a confident tone “Yeah I hit that unstuck showpony. She got what was coming to her and I would do it all again in ten seconds flat!”
Twilight couldn’t resist connecting hoof to face when she heard Rainbow Dash’s proclamation. Applejack and Trixie were curious to see where this was going and Luna had a look on her face that caused even Rainbow Dash to question what she had said. The Princess of the Night said in a quiet tone “You leave me no options then…” before raising her voice and saying “Let it be known that the pegasus Rainbow Dash has pleaded ‘guilty’ to the crime with the added statement of repeating the offense. Normally, I would show some leeway due to her being the Element of Loyalty but I cannot, under my duty as Princess and Overseer, let this kind of behavior pass.”
Her voice was starting to grow, and at this point getting ever closer to the Royal Canterlot Voice as she declared “As such, you are hereby charged with committing a Class A crime and the punishment will be as follows: First, you will be sentenced to the dungeons in Canterlot for a period of no less than one year with no hope of good behavior. Two, you will have to pay the victim a fine of no less than fifty thousand bits, Three, you will be forced to wear the Saddle of Servitude under the command of the victim upon release from the dungeon, and last, you will be unable to attend or participate in any and all sporting and political events for as long as you can walk and fly which include, but are not limited to, The Running of the Leaves, Winter Wrap-Up, The Grand Galloping Gala, and all Wonderbolts shows.” The Princess looked down at the pegasus mare and saw her eyes widening in shock. She could see the tears that threatened to free themselves from her eyes; only being held back by her own will. Luna hated what she was doing, and she knew what she was going to say next, but it had to be done. She took a deep breath to calm herself and said “That means you have forfeited any and all chances you had of joining the Wonderbolts.”
Rainbow Dash felt her entire body die within her. She literally felt as if she was dying right then and there. To lose any hope of joining the Wonderbolts, to have her dreams destroyed just because of something that happened so long ago was a literal soul-crusher to the proud mare. She couldn’t stop the tears that were flowing down her face; she couldn’t stop the emotions of guilt, regret, and depression from entering her mind and breaking her from the inside out.
Twilight knew that something like this was going to happen, but that didn’t change the fact that she also had tears running down her face. Applejack was in shock by what she had witnessed and she couldn’t help but look at the purple unicorn next to her, her eyes asking the question she was unable to voice. Twilight looked at her farmer friend and said in a chocked voice “It is as bad as you heard. The ponies who came up with this form of punishment wanted to make sure that in the event that the pony wearing the saddle had committed wrongs against ponies other than the one he or she was serving, that they wouldn’t be attacked in their time of weakness for revenge.” Upon hearing those words, Applejack herself couldn’t help the tears that were now falling from her eyes.
Princess Luna hated herself for doing what she did. She had learned a long time ago that politics were a messy, evil business and as co-ruler of Equestria she was required to uphold all of the laws of the land. She also disliked the fact that she expected something like this to happen, but she hoped that Twilight would have gotten the chance to explain the full situation to her friends. However much she wished it wasn’t true, it had happened, and there was nothing she could do or say to make the completely devastated mare in front of her feel any better about herself. The Princess of the Night was about to leave when a voice shouted from the top of their lungs “Hold it!”
Evil Cliffhanger is evil. You know I don’t like making you all wait on the edge of your seats, but sometimes it’s just so fun.