//------------------------------//
// Blossom 
// Story: The Public Life of Sweetie Belle 
// by BronyWriter 
//------------------------------//

 Twilight Sparkle adjusted Blossom in her hooves and the filly shuffled slightly in her sleep. She had been asleep for a good hour or so but Twilight did not mind simply holding her while she rested. The poor dear deserved it after everything that had happened to her. 

Princess Celestia had sent some sandwiches and hay fries along with cups of apple juice to the room, but the food sat on the table in front of them completely untouched. Twilight had lost any sort of appetite she had when she had found out about the murders, further exacerbated by the way she saw the royal sisters treat this poor defenseless foal. It sickened her; it sickened her beyond belief that her mentor was capable of treating her in such a manner. 

She sighed and shook her head and used her magic to push the plates even further away. If Blossom wanted some when she woke up then fine. Twilight would not dare partake in any right now. 

Blossom shifted in her forelegs once more and Twilight wrapped the blanket tighter around the sleeping filly with her magic. Feeling the blanket wrap securely around her, Blossom stopped wiggling and her breathing became more regulated. It was almost as if she thought her mother was holding her tight, telling her that everything was going to be fine and they could go home soon. It broke Twilight's heart; all of it.

She closed her eyes and was about to fall asleep herself when she heard the doors to the room open up. She looked up to see the last pony she wanted to talk to walk in. She fixed her ex-mentor with a glare. 

"What are you doing here? Have you come to torture her some more?" she growled. 

Princess Celestia frowned. "Twilight, I must ask that you do not speak to me in such a manner. If you cannot act respectfully then I'm afraid that I will take Blossom into my custody now."

Twilight looked down at the sleeping foal in her forelegs and sighed once more. She gently levitated her into the air, allowing her to slip off of the chair. She put Blossom back on the chair before turning back to her mentor. 

"I don't see why you need to be here," she muttered. "Hasn't she been through enough?"

Princess Celestia nodded sadly. "Yes, Twilight, she has been through enough. She's been through more than anypony should ever have to go through in their entire lives over the course of only a few days. I don't know anypony who deserves that."

"She didn't deserve any of it!" said Twilight. "Neither of them did." 

Before Twilight could continue, the weight that she felt in the center of her chest began moving upwards towards her head, forcing tears to come to her eyes. She held them back as long as she could, but everything that had happened in the past few hours came crashing down on her and she began quietly sobbing. 

"Why?" she whispered. "Why did this have to happen?"

She was surprised when she felt a pair of forelegs and wings wrap her in a warm embrace. She looked up and saw Princess Celestia looking down at her comfortingly. She hadn't hugged Twilight like this since she was a filly. 

Twilight whimpered and buried her head in Celestia's chest as the tears fell harder and faster. Her body convulsed with the sheer heaviness of her sobs, all while Princess Celestia stroked her mane, letting her cry out her sorrow and pain. 

Eventually Twilight managed some control over her emotions and she wiped her eyes with the back of her hoof and looked back up at Princess Celestia. "W-What's gonna happen to them?" she whispered. "Are you gonna kill her?"

"Our forensic evidence has confirmed Sweetie Belle as the killer across the board. We have no evidence that Blossom killed them and Sweetie Belle covered it up as we cannot get anything out of the foal. She said that she might have, but that is hardly sufficient evidence when Sweetie Belle confessed to the whole thing. In the eyes of the law, Sweetie Belle is guilty."

"So what does that mean?" asked Twilight. "A-Are you gonna kill Sweetie Belle."

Princess Celestia took a deep breath and stroked Twilight's mane. "My sister and I have been looking over our laws and considering all aspects of this case. We have decided that... no, we will not execute Sweetie Belle for these crimes. She will be institutionalized, probably for good, and Blossom will fall under our custody." 

"B-But why couldn't you give her to the Apple family or her grandparents?!" asked Twilight. "Why does it have to be you?!"

Princess Celestia was silent for a moment as she looked over at the still sleeping Blossom. "In truth that will probably be the end result after a short time," she said. "Or at least, I desperately hope so. We want to make sure that... that Blossom will not commit the same crimes as her aunt and mother did. We have to make sure that none of this will happen again."

Twilight's eyes widened and she pulled away from the hug. "What? You think that this innocent filly is going to become a serial killer and that gives you the right to take her away from her family?"

"Twilight, she will want for nothing! She will not be a prisoner under our care, I promise you!"

"Oh yes, I'm sure she'll see it that way," said Twilight sarcastically. "Her interactions with you haven't exactly been the best now have they? Now you're going to take her from her mother?!"

"What is the alternative that you suggest, Twilight? Legally, what can we do?" 

Twilight looked back at the sleeping foal and shook her head. "I guess it doesn't really matter," she said. "You've made your choice."

"We have," said Celestia. 

"Is she at least going to get to see her mother?"

"Yes," said Celestia. "If Sweetie Belle's behavior is good enough, then she will be allowed visits twice a week from her child and bi-weekly visits from the rest of you. I'm afraid that it's the best that I can do."

Twilight nodded. "And her horn?"

Celestia was silent for a moment before taking a deep breath. "We...we have already surgically removed it." 

Twilight whimpered and tears began pouring from her face once more. "Is it gone for good?"

"No, we will keep it preserved and if somehow she was found innocent then it would be returned with no ill effects. My sister and I are powerful enough to do that," said Celestia. "As it stands, we have no reason to believe that Sweetie Belle will ever be released." 

Twilight slowly nodded and turned her back to Celestia. "Then I guess that's that then," she said. 

Twilight didn't turn back around, but she heard the door open once again. She didn't need to look to see that Celestia had left the room. 


*  *  *  *


A few hours passed before Blossom's eyes slowly fluttered open and she became aware of her surroundings. She was still in the police station, but she had a blanket wrapped around her. Princess Celestia wasn't asking her bad questions about what had happened with those two bad foals who were saying those bad things to her anymore. 

She became acutely aware that somepony was holding her. "Mommy?" she whispered as she looked up. 

No, it wasn't Mommy. It was Miss Twilight and she was asleep. But then where was Mommy? They had taken her away, but where was she? Was she still in that cage where they had taken her before the princesses came to ask bad questions? 

Slowly she wiggled out of the blanket, being very careful so as to not wake up Miss Twilight. If she did then maybe she wouldn't let Blossom go try to find Mommy and she wanted to find her Mommy. 

Free from the blanket, she quietly hopped onto the floor and ran towards the door. She nudged it forward, and was happy to see that it wasn't locked. Good. That meant that she could go find Mommy. 

She snuck around the police station, being very careful to hide whenever a police officer came around. If Miss Twilight would have stopped her from finding Mommy then a police officer definitely would have. But Blossom was a careful pony and none of them found her. 

She was glad that she remembered where they had taken Mommy. She was in one of those cages and she remembered where those were. She remembered a lot of things like that but they weren't important right now. What was important was that she find Mommy. Maybe if she did then the two of them could go home and things could go back to the way they were before all of this bad stuff happened with fire Ruby and Golden Necklace. 

She slipped through another door and squealed in delight when she saw that the row of cages was on the other side. Now she could find her Mommy! 

She ran as fast as she could down the hall, checking each cage for any sign of her mother but none appeared. Frowning to herself, she reached the end of the hall and turned around. There were other cages on the other side of the hall and her mother must be in one of those if she wasn't in any of the ones she had checked so far. 

Checking the other side, she struck gold when she saw her mother lying down on the bed in the cell furthest from the door on the other side. She smiled and walked up to the bars. "Mommy!" she said happily. 

Her mother's ears pricked up and she jumped off of the bed at the sound of her child's voice. "Blossom?" she said. "Blossom, is that you?" 

Blossom reached through the bars towards her mother. "Mommy, are you okay? Did they hurt you at all?"

Sweetie Belle's eyes filled with tears and she sat down on the floor. "Blossom, how did you get in here?" 

"I snuck away from Miss Twilight," she said. "I wanted to find you and I was scared that they had hurt you, Mommy!" 

"Blossom," whispered Sweetie Belle. She slowly reached forward and touched her daughter's hoof. "Mommy loves you very much."

Blossom pulled her hoof away and looked up at the cell door. "If I get you out of here, can we go home, Mommy? I think one of the spells that Miss Twilight taught me can do it!"

"Blossom, baby, Mommy needs you to listen to me," said Sweetie Belle. 

Blossom paid her mother no heed and instead scrunched her face up in preparation for a spell. Light purple sparks flew out of her horn as the beginnings of a weak spell formed. "I can do it, Mommy," she said. "I can get you out of here and then we can go home!"

"Blossom, please listen to Mommy! I need you to stop that and listen to me!"

Blossom continued to try to unlock the door but it was no use. The magic sputtered out of her horn and she collapsed on the ground. 

"Blossom," said Sweetie Belle weakly. 

The filly whimpered and slowly stood up. "Mommy," she whispered. "I'm sorry." 

Blossom walked over to the bars and reached her hoof back through it. She discovered that the space between the bars was just large enough for a filly her size and she slipped through the bars and into the cell. 

"Blossom!" wailed Sweetie Belle. "I..." 

She couldn't finish. She scooted over to her child and wrapped her in a large hug. "Blossom, Mommy loves you very much," she whispered. 

"I'm sorry, Mommy," said Blossom. "I'm sorry I wasn't good enough to open the door. I tried, Mommy, I really tried."

"Oh Blossom," Sweetie Belle whispered once more. 

"Are you still proud of me, Mommy?" she said. "Are you still proud of me even though I couldn't get the door open?"

"Yes, Blossom, Mommy is very, very, very proud of you. I will always be very proud of you!"

"Even though I hurt Fire Ruby and Golden Necklace?" 

Sweetie Belle's reply died in her mouth and she broke off the hug to look her daughter square in the eye. "N-no, Blossom, Mommy hurt them, remember?"

Blossom shook her head. "No, Mommy, I remember it. I couldn't when Princess Celestia was asking me about it because I was so scared, but I remembered it when I was with Miss Twilight. You didn't come to the woods until after I had hit them." Blossom whimpered and began shivering in her mother's forelegs. "Th-they trapped me, Mommy. Golden Necklace and Fire Ruby trapped me in the woods and they wouldn't let me go! I wanted them to go away, but they wouldn't. I only hit Golden Necklace because I thought it would make her go away." Blossom sniffled and nuzzled up to her mother's chest. "Then Fire Ruby started screaming. It was really loud and hurt my ears. I didn't want her to keep screaming, and... since Golden Necklace wasn't being mean to me anymore, I... I wanted Fire Ruby to stop screaming, so I hit her with the rock too."

Sweetie Belle whimpered and pulled her daughter back into the hug. "Blossom, I need you to listen to me," she said. "I need you to keep that a secret, can you do that? Can you keep it a secret for Mommy?"

"But...but I thought that you said that it was wrong to lie."

"Blossom, Mommy says that it's okay to lie just this once. I-if they find out then bad things will happen to you."

Blossom was silent for a moment as she pondered her mother's words. "Bad things like they did to Aunt Rarity? Would they exupute me just like they did to her?"

Sweetie Belle tightened her hug. "Yes, baby, yes I think that they would. And that would make Mommy very sad. Mommy and Apple Seed and Aunt Apple Bloom and Miss Twilight and everypony that loves you very much would be very sad." 

"But wouldn't they do that to you if you tell them it was you?" asked Blossom. 

"No, baby. No they'd just think that Mommy is very sick and they'd take me somewhere to get better. They'd still let me see you if that happened."

Blossom looked up at her mother to reply, but her eyes widened when she saw the lack of a horn on Sweetie Belle's forehead. She squeaked in fear and flinched back. 

"Mommy, what happened to your horn?!" 

Sweetie Belle looked up to her horn and gave her daughter a watery smile. "Mommy's okay," she said. "They just had to take it for a little while so that they can make sure that I'm not going to do bad things while they help me get better. It doesn't hurt at all."

Blossom reached a hoof up to the bandage but pulled it away just before she made contact. Her bottom lip quivered and she threw her forelegs around her mother. "You're still pretty, Mommy," she said. 

Sweetie Belle smiled and began stroking her daughter's mane. "Mommy's going to be okay, Blossom. I'm going to be okay and so are you."

The duo sat in silence for a while; neither of them willing to relinquish their hold on the other. Both wished that moment would last forever, that nopony would come and take the other away and they could remain frozen like that and happy forever. 

Unfortunately, reality wasn't as kind. 

Sweetie Belle soon heard the door leading to the cells open and she tightened her hold on her child. They were coming. 

"Mommy loves you, Blossom. Never forget that Mommy loves you." 

They were here now; a pair of police officers and a trio of ponies in suits flanked by both princesses. All but the princesses gasped when they saw Blossom in the cell as well. 

"What's the foal doing here?" asked one of the officers. 

"Get her out of there, we have a job to do!" growled one of the ponies in suits. 

"Give them a moment for pity's sake," whispered Princess Luna. 

"Luna, you know what has to be done," said Celestia quietly. "This will not be the last time she sees her child." 

One of the police officers opened the cell door and one of the suited ponies grabbed Blossom in his magical aura and pulled her away. 

"NOOOOO!" screamed Sweetie Belle. "YOU WILL NOT TAKE HER FROM ME!" 

"MOMMY!" cried Blossom, reaching for her mother. 

"Get her out of there!" commanded the pony holding Blossom. The other two suited ponies but hoofcuffs on Sweetie Belle and wrapped her in a magical aura and began carrying her away. 

"MOMMY LOVES YOU BLOSSOM!" wailed Sweetie Belle. "MOMMY'S GOING TO BE OKAY!" 

"MOMMY!" cried Blossom again. "Let go of her!!!" 

Blossom tried to struggle out of the spell, but it was too powerful and before she could do anything about it, her mother was through the door and out of sight. 

Blossom's wailing tears started as soon as she lost sight of her mother. Her loud sobs were surely heard throughout the station and she made a few more efforts to escape the spell. 

Suddenly, she felt the effects of the spell fade away and a pair of powerful forelegs wrap around her. Powerful, yet gentle. 

"Shhh," said Princess Celestia. "Don't be afraid, Blossom. I promise you that we will not hurt your mother. We're going to try to make her better, okay?"

"I want my Mommy!" wailed Blossom. 

Princess Celestia held Blossom close to her chest and began stroking her mane. "Your mother will be fine," she said. "You'll get to see her every week while we're taking care of you. I promise that we will not hurt your mother." 

Blossom's loud cries eventually gave way to quiet sobs and she buried her head in Princess Celestia's chest. 

As Princess Celestia stroked her mane, the thought quietly entered her mind to tell her the truth. It wasn't fair that Mommy was being punished and taken away for something bad that she had done. But her mother had told her that it was okay to lie just this once and that if they found out then they would kill her like they had done with Aunt Rarity. That would make Mommy very sad. 

Princess Celestia gently levitated Blossom on her back and Princess Luna draped a blanket over the shivering foal. Blossom wiped her eyes with the back of her hoof and used her own magic to wrap the blanket tighter over herself.