Blossom and Sweetie Belle had been moved into a smaller room inside the library where they were more comfortable and secure. A trio of guards had been posted by their door with instructions to only let Shining Armor, a few select servants, or the princesses inside to see them.
The moment they had been placed inside the room, Sweetie Belle had thrown her forelegs around Blossom and hugged her tight. Both had immediately started sobbing. "Mommy, why did she try to do that?" Blossom wailed.
Sweetie Belle stroked her daughter's mane. "Shh," she soothed. "She's gone now. She won't try to hurt you anymore."
Blossom wiped tears from her eyes and leaned her head into her mother's chest. "But she really wanted to hurt me, Mommy!" she cried. "Did she know that--"
"Blossom she was just very sad," said Sweetie Belle gently, cutting off her daughter before she could say something that the guards would overhear. "It...it was very wrong of Mommy to hurt them and Miss Tiara was very sad. She's not a bad pony; she just... made a very very bad choice."
Blossom slowly nodded and dried the last of her tears. "Did you want to hurt her so bad that she died?" she whispered.
Sweetie Belle had to hold back a whimper but she maintained control long enough to answer. "I don't know, Blossom," she admitted. "I did hurt her, but I don't think it would have been good for me to kill her. She wasn't thinking straight."
"Okay, Mommy." Blossom took a shaky breath and nuzzled her mother's foreleg. "Can...can we do something fun now? I don't want to think about Miss Tiara anymore."
Sweetie Belle gave her daughter a watery smile and nuzzled the top of her head. "Of course we can, baby, we have the next few days to ourselves so we can do whatever we want."
Blossom looked up at Sweetie Belle and smiled. "It'll be just like we never moved away."
Sweetie Belle nuzzled her daughter's head again. "Yes Blossom, just like we never left Ponyville at all."
* * * *
The next two days were heaven for Sweetie Belle and Blossom. They spent every waking moment with each other, never leaving the other's side. True to Blossom's words, it reminded the two of them of their old life in Ponyville, before the fateful day in the woods had torn the two of them apart. It was as if that day had passed without incident.
However life moved on and their single days of paradise came to a close. Blossom and Sweetie Belle wept when they were torn apart once more but Sweetie Belle and the princesses promised Blossom that this would not be the last time that they saw each other. They would someday have those small slices of true joy once again.
The following day found the princesses sitting in their private library conference room. Neither of them were speaking, they were merely sitting in their chairs and contemplating the conversation they were about to have. In truth it was a conversation that neither of them wished to have as there would likely be repercussions for decades, if not centuries, but it needed to be done.
Finally Celestia took a deep breath. "I believe that we should put Blossom in therapy. Not to determine whether or not she killed Fire Ruby and Golden Necklace, but rather to possibly prevent this from spiraling further out of control. I do not wish to see a third member of that family commit murder and I believe that we made a significant mistake in not presenting such an opportunity for Sweetie Belle."
Luna nodded. "We agree, Tia," she said. "It is not our wish to see this repeated again. Joyous Blossom deserves as much help as we can give her."
"Indeed she does," said Celestia. "We have made far too many mistakes in how we have handled everything from Rarity's case to the present day. I wish to learn from them." Celestia sighed and idly moved a pencil around the table with her magic. "Which brings me to our second order of business and our most important one: the death penalty."
Luna shifted her gaze over to a bookshelf behind her sister and ignited her horn. Immediately a large brown book flew off of the bookshelf and came to rest between the diarchs. Celestia fired up her own horn and the book opened up to a middle page. Celestia levitated the book and began scanning the contents. "In the event of one pony causing the death of another pony in a manner that is not brought about by self-defense, the death penalty shall be administered to the guilty party without exception," Celestia read. She put the book back on the table and looked up at her sister. "You know how much we had to do to find a loophole to prevent Sweetie Belle from suffering the same fate as her sister, but I cannot allow such a blatant and unforgiving law to be on the books any further."
Luna cocked her head and glanced down at the book. "You suggest abolishing it completely?"
Celestia shook her head. "No, I do not. Ponies who commit first degree murder should still be subjected to the needle, but there are certain amendments that I wish to make."
"If We may guess, We suspect that you would like to place age restrictions upon the penalty?" Luna questioned.
"I do." Celestia levitated a quill and parchment over to her and dipped the quill in a nearby inkwell. "I suspect that when Rarity first murdered she covered it up because she suspected that she might be punished with the death penalty for what she did and under our current law she would have been. If I am correct then she could have received help and her feelings could have not deteriorated until she was a merciless killer."
"Rarity's first kill was accidental, was it not?" Luna guessed.
"According to her testimony it was, but she killed the other two foals to prevent them from relaying what had happened in the clearing that day. She feared she would die for her actions."
Luna scanned the parchment Celestia had in front of her for a brief moment. "You suggest that the minimum age before first or second degree murder warrants possible execution be sixteen?"
"Yes," said Celestia, jotting the notes down onto the parchment. "And I would also like to make amendments regarding how soon the killer is executed after capture. Rarity was given the needle less than forty-eight hours after her capture and I only questioned her on her motives once. If I had taken the time to delve further into her mind we could have possibly gained information that would have helped us prevent such a thing from occurring again."
"We agree," said Luna with a nod. "All prisoners convicted of murder regardless of circumstances are to be evaluated by one or more psychologists to gain a better understanding of their minds and motives." Celestia grunted in agreement and jotted down the necessary notes onto the parchment. Luna observed her for a moment before speaking up again. "How will our changes affect Joyous Blossom if she is revealed to be the guilty party?"
The tip of the quill that Celestia had been using snapped at Luna's words, staining the parchment with small drops of ink. Celestia blinked at the paper for a second before turning her eyes upwards at Luna. "What do you mean, Luna?" she asked.
Luna scoffed. "You know what we mean, Tia. Should we execute the foal if at a later time she is revealed to be the killer; particularly when we consider that she willingly let her mother take the blame in its entirety."
Celestia's jaw tightened and the glow around her horn and the quill faded, causing the quill to clatter onto the table. "I'm not sure," she admitted. "It all depends on how our lawmakers wish to interpret her situation. When she killed Fire Ruby and Golden Necklace the law in effect would have warranted her execution. However this new law we are writing would lessen that punishment a great deal based on her age were she to commit the crime now."
Luna frowned and scratched the back of her head. "There are many factors to take into account should she be revealed to be the killer, Tia," Luna observed. "Which law we want to fulfill based on the time of the crime, her age when we find out that she killed the unfortunate foals and so forth. If the therapy we wish her to undergo results in her admitting that she is the killer then do we give her the penalty as this new law is not on the books?"
Celestia shrugged and moved a new quill over to her. "I'd rather cross that bridge when we come to it rather than speculate. In the eyes of the law Sweetie Belle is the killer and we must continue to act with that information." Princess Celestia looked up at Princess Luna and cocked her head slightly. "You still suspect Blossom."
"Not suspect, sister, We believe that she is the sole killer. I observed the way the two of them acted when Sweetie Belle was taken back to the institution last night. The way Blossom looked at her mother... We are uncertain of whether or not what We saw was correct, but it seemed to Us that she looked at her mother with a sadness that did not come from merely being upset at being torn from her mother under the circumstances, but rather a sadness that said 'it should be me'."
Celestia's eyes narrowed. "You think Blossom murdered the foals based on your interpretation of an expression?"
Luna hesitated slightly before shaking her head. "No that is merely the latest in a string of events that make us continue to suspect the foal. We know that We cannot back them up with hard evidence and We will continue to act according to the judgment that Sweetie Belle is guilty and We will certainly not let it influence how We interact with Blossom, but We still believe it was her."
"Luna I think dwelling on those feelings wouldn't be prudent."
A flash of anger appeared in Luna's eyes. "Do you not find yourself questioning the judgment as well, Tia?" she growled. "Can you tell us with absolute certainty, without a shadow of a doubt that Sweetie Belle is the killer?"
Celestia matched her sister's gaze for but a second before she bowed her head with a sigh. "No, I cannot," she conceded. "Unless we get a confession from one of them I doubt we'll ever truly know without a doubt who killed the two of them." Celestia raised her head and turned her attention back to the parchment. "Until such a time as we can know for sure, we must continue to act on our judgment of Sweetie Belle. I repeat that I wish to only deal with Blossom's guilt at such a time as we know for sure it was her."
"But a time when the issue will be pressed farther is already at hoof, Tia!" Luna pointed out. Our nation is already split on the issue to the point where half of the articles we examined regarding the pictures accused Blossom of the crime. One of them even urged its readers to sign a petition asking for Sweetie Belle's release and Blossom's conviction." The fire drained out of Luna's eyes and she looked sadly at the parchment. "This law is important and will change Equestria for generations, but once we have the cogs in motion we need to consider the fact that Equestria is split on who killed the foals to the point where it will likely affect her life even after she is given over to the Apples. There are ponies who will not tolerate a perceived murderer in their midst yet at the same time we cannot keep her forever."
"Luna, I know," said Celestia sadly. "But I do not want this to affect how we write out this law. We need to take more into account than just her case. Blossom is important and I promise you we will look into these accusations against her but for now..." Celestia shook her head sadly. "I want to change the law to prevent more situations like this from arising."
Luna nodded and inclined her head slightly. "Forgive me, Tia, I let my feelings about Blossom cloud the more important issue."
Celestia waved Luna's apology away. "No need to apologize, Luna," she said. "Blossom's fate is on all of our minds right now. But right now we need to focus more on changing the death penalty as well as the penalty that immediately equates attempted murder with life in prison."
Luna nodded and motioned over to the parchment. "Then let us continue."
* * * *
Blossom was sitting in her room, idly changing the colors of the bedspread when the princesses opened the door and walked in. The filly immediately leaped off of the bed and stood in the center of the room. Princess Celestia smiled warmly at her while Luna seemed strangely distant, something that set Butterflies off in Blossom's stomach.
Princess Celestia walked over to Blossom and sat on her haunches in front of her. "Good afternoon, Blossom," she greeted. "How has your day been?"
Blossom's eyes flickered back over to Princess Luna and she took an uneasy step back at the night goddess' gaze. "W-Whatever I did to make you mad at me I'm sorry for, Princess Luna," she whimpered.
Luna's eyes widened and she shook her head. "Oh, no it is nothing you did, child," she reassured her. "We simply had a long day in court. You are not to blame for such a thing." Blossom continued looking uneasily at Luna who seemed to notice and so she stretched her mouth up in a warm smile. Still, Blossom sensed that there was a falseness to it.
Princess Celestia quietly cleared her throat. "Blossom, my sister and I would like to talk to you." Blossom's head snapped back to meet Princess Celestia's gaze. "We have been talking and we have decided that after everything that has been happening..." Celestia hesitated for the briefest of seconds, something that did nothing to bolster Blossom's courage. "Well, we have decided that we want to help you by having you talk to somepony about how you are feeling twice a week to make sure that you're doing okay."
The effect was immediate. Blossom's uneasily curious demeanor instantly shifted to complete fear and with a squeal of terror she began backing away. "Please don't take me away!" she cried. "D-Don't take my horn and lock me up!"
Celestia's eyes widened and she stood up, extending a hoof to placate the frightened foal. "Blossom we are not going to take you away and we are not going to put you in an institution."
Tears began streaming down Blossom's face and she backed into the far wall. "You're gonna take me away like you did to Mommy!" she accused. "I'm not sick in the head, I promise I'm not!"
Celestia took a step forward. "Blossom we are not--"
"W-Whatever I did to make you mad I'm sorry!" she sobbed. "I...I didn't mean to and I'll do better, I promise I will! Just don't take me away like Mommy!"
"Blossom we are not going to take you away!" Celestia insisted. "You are going to stay here and we are just going to have somepony talk to you about how you are doing to make sure you are okay."
Princess Celestia took another step forward and with another squeal of terror, Blossom ignited her horn and shot a spell towards the sun goddess. The spell missed its mark and hit the bedpost next to her, turning it from its normal brown to a bright magenta. Luna took a step forward but Celestia held out a hoof to stop her. Seeing this, Blossom let out a wail of sorrow. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to! I...I..."
Princess Celestia shook her head and held up a hoof. "I'm not hurt Blossom and I know you didn't want to hurt me. You could have shot something worse at me than a simple color changing spell after all."
Blossom sniffled and turned her gaze to the floor. "Not really," she muttered.
The princesses exchanged a brief glance before Celestia looked back to Blossom. "Blossom, we are not going to take you away. You're going to do just what you've been doing only you'll talk to somepony who wants to make sure you don't get sick in the head. We do not want you to stew with your emotions; we want to know what you are feeling. We want to make sure you are as happy as possible, now and going forward. Wouldn't you like somepony to talk to about what's going on in your life?"
Blossom stared silently at the floor for a second before answering. "I guess," she mumbled.
Celestia smiled warmly at her. "That's all that we're doing," she explained. "We will not harm you in any way; that was never the plan."
Blossom slowly raised her head to meet Celestia's gaze. "Does this have anything to do with why Princess Luna is mad at me?"
Luna sighed and took a step forward. "Blossom, We are not wroth with you. As We said We simply had a hard day in court today and We wish to go to bed. You are not to be blamed for that."
Blossom looked back at Princess Celestia who nodded. "Neither of us are angry at you for anything. You've been a wonderful filly and we are glad to help you in any way. We both love you very much, always know that."
Blossom's eyes darted back to Luna who smiled warmly and nodded. "Our sister speaks the truth, Joyous Blossom."
Slowly Blossom's head moved up and down in an uneasy nod and she got to her hooves. "Okay," she whispered. "If you think talking to this pony is gonna help me I guess I can give it a try."
Celestia's smile widened and she walked up to Blossom and put a comforting hoof on her shoulder. "We only want to help you, Blossom," she said. "We think that you will feel a lot better after talking about how you're feeling." Princess Celestia removed her hoof from Blossom's shoulder. "Well, my sister and I must be going now. If you need anything--"
"Just press the button," Blossom repeated.
Celestia nodded. "Press the button." With that, the two goddesses walked out of the room.
When they were gone, Blossom slowly walked over to the pony doll of her mother that she had made. "I'm not sick in the head," she whispered to it. "I promise I'm not." Blossom then threw her forelegs over the doll's shoulder, buried her head into its chest and wept.