The next week saw Thought Process and the princesses standing in front of a two way mirror, looking at the sight of Sweetie Belle and Blossom hugging. It was visitation day for Blossom and Sweetie Belle and Blossom had been elated when she saw that her mother had her horn back. Princess Luna had told her that it was because of her good behavior and that the doctors said that she wasn't a danger to anypony. Luna had even requested that Sweetie Belle be sent to a lower security ward in the institution but Celestia had finally put her hoof down at that. They had compromised by having her transferred to a medium security wing.
Now the mother and filly were happily hugging each other while the three ponies watched on. Thought Process was smiling but the two princesses were stoically looking at the scene before them.
Finally Princess Celestia spoke up. "If we may have a few words with you Thought Process," she said. "There are some things that we must discuss.
Thought Process' smile faltered but he turned to the princesses and bowed his head. "Whatever you need to discuss I am open to so long as it does not violate doctor/patient confidentiality."
"We leave that up to you," said Luna. "There are questions that must be asked regardless."
Thought Process nodded. "Very well. What do you want to know?"
Princess Celestia took a deep breath. "Our first question is the most important one: is that filly dangerous to anypony?"
Thought Process' eyes widened and he took a step forwards. "Absolutely not!" he cried. "She would never willingly hurt another pony; it's not something that appeals to her."
"We understand you thoughts," said Luna, "but we merely ask because her special talent would prove... advantageous to any willing to follow in her aunt's hoofsteps."
"If I had to pick her greatest fear right now it would be her being capable of following in her aunt's hoofsteps," said Thought Process curtly. "I have talked to her about it a few times and every time I do she insists that she doesn't want to hurt anypony because nothing good can come of it. I even asked her about using her powers to do something like that yesterday and she said that she'd rather lose her horn than use her talents to hurt anypony." Thought Process gave a mild smirk. "And after what you did to her mother, losing her horn is her second biggest fear."
The princesses mulled over his words for a moment. Luna glanced back at Blossom who was clapping her hooves together as her mother lifted a cup into the air with her re-acquired magic. The night goddess sighed and looked back to Thought Process. "What do you suggest we do?" she asked.
"You want my advice? Send her back to Ponyville and transfer her mother to the nearest hospital." Both princesses raised their eyebrows interestedly but the psychologist continued on. "You only brought her here and hired me to find out if she's dangerous, right? Well she's not! Not remotely dangerous! If you gave custody of her to the Apple family you would not hear tales of missing ponies coming from Ponyville."
"You are sure of this?" asked Luna quietly.
Thought Process vigorously nodded. "If I wasn't then I wouldn't say it." The pegasus turned to the mirror again and looked through at the happy pair on the other side. "If you still want to keep en eye on her that would be prudent, I suppose, but I see no purpose in keeping her under your direct gaze. She would function much better around ponies she actually trusts."
Celestia cocked her head. "Do you think she trusts you?" she questioned.
Thought Process shrugged. "Probably not as much as your captain of the guard, though that is probably half because he rescued her from a perilous situation and half because he's the brother of Twilight Sparkle, a mare she was familiar with in Ponyville." Thought Process glanced up at the princesses. "Which just further strengthens my thoughts that she should be sent back to Ponyville."
"What sort of reception do you think she would get there?" Luna wondered.
Thought Process shrugged. "Hard to say, thought from what I understand they would be largely forgiving. I have an old colleague there named Working Mind and I made sure to consult him about what the Ponyville climate might be if Blossom were to return. He did some asking around and the consensus was almost unanimous: they did not blame Blossom for what happened. Heck, most would probably welcome Sweetie Belle back with open forelegs just because of the nature of the case. After what Spoon and Tiara's fillies did to Blossom on top of what happened in the woods and why..." Thought Process took a deep breath. "Well, they've felt that the family has been through enough."
Celestia sighed. "And did your colleague inform you of what the town thought in terms of who the guilty party is?"
Thought Process snorted. "Honestly, princess, they couldn't care less who did it. In their eyes it was a defensive kill, no matter who did it. Golden Necklace and Fire Ruby set a trap for her in the woods and cornered her so she couldn't get away. They don't see death as the proper punishment for that but they think they were asking for something bad to happen in either case. Remember, princess, they are aware that this is just another example of somepony suffering because of what Rarity did. The entire town was torn apart when she was caught and executed and to see a filly suffer because of that..." Thought Process closed his eyes and shook his head. "They'll do anything to make her feel better."
"This is the entire town?" Luna asked.
Thought Process nodded. "For the most part. There will always be those who look down on her but that'll be the case wherever she goes."
The trio fell silent and observed Blossom and Sweetie Belle levitating objects around the room. Blossom was smiling wider than she had in months at the sight of her mother with her horn attached once again. Her and her mother began tossing a ball between the two of them in a telekinetic game of catch, each giggling when the ball was caught by the other.
Princess Celestia closed her eyes and slowly nodded. "My sister and I will talk about what you have said, Thought Process," she said quietly. "If there are no objections if we can find no fault in your logic then... Joyous Blossom will return to Ponyville.
* * * *
Thought Process slowly trotted down the hall towards the entrance of the palace. He still had not heard whether or not the princesses would follow his advice and let Blossom return to Ponyville, but he was hopeful that Celestia would at least push for it. Of the two she did seem to have more say about how things worked.
As he turned a corner to begin the final stretch of his journey to the entrance, he heard his name called out to him, stopping him in his tracks. He turned around and was unnerved to see Princess Luna walking towards him. He dropped to his knees in a bow. "Princess Luna."
Luna waved away his gesture. "Rise, Thought Process, we have a few things to discuss before you leave."
Thought Process tightened his jaw uneasily but rose to face Princess Luna. "I take it this is about Blossom and my orders to send her back to Ponyville."
Princess Luna nodded and stopped in front of him. "Indeed," she said. "We shall be blunt, We do not wish for the filly to leave our care."
Thought Process glared at her and took an assertive step forward. "You know my reasons for sending her back to ponies that actually care about her. Are those not good enough?"
"They are not when she committed murder!" Luna snarled.
The pegasus' eyes widened hand his aggressive step forward was cancelled out by an uneasy step back. "W-Who said that she killed anypony?"
Luna's eyes narrowed as she glared at the psychologist. "We believe the words out of your mouth were 'holy Celestia, she did it. Blossom killed them!' That sounds to Us like an admission that you are aware of her guilt!"
Thought Process' jaw dropped and he uneasily glanced back down the hall, hoping to exit the conversation. He forced himself to return his gaze to the night princess. "It was a suspicion that I had based on a single expression that she had for ten seconds!" he insisted. "That is hardly conclusive evidence either way!"
"But that is not what you believe," Luna pointed out. "Your demeanor was not one of somepony who had a mere suspicion; you seemed quite certain."
Thought Process glared at Luna. "I was surprised by what I thought I might have seen, nothing more!" he snapped. "That filly wouldn't hurt anypony out of malice!"
"And yet it seems as though she did," Luna retorted. "Two foals are dead."
Thought Process took on a mocking tone. "Oh I'm sorry, Princess, maybe you heard a different version of the story than I did, but I was under the impression that the two unfortunately deceased foals, who had already shown that they didn't care for Blossom at all, had set a trap for Blossom then they lured her into the forest where nopony could help her so they could verbally torment her some more! If you ask me those brats were begging for somepony to hurt them!"
"Do not take that tone with Us!" Luna snarled. "Those foals did not deserve to be brutally murdered!"
Thought Process scoffed. "Who ever said that they did? I certainly don't think that they deserve to be dead, but even you have to admit that there was a level of self-defense involved! They had cornered her in the woods and wouldn't let her leave and she got scared and acted rashly if she's guilty at all!"
Thought Process and Luna continued to glare at each other for a moment. Neither seemed willing to give quarter until Thought Process let out a frustrated breath. "Look, I know the family history," he began. "It's pretty much required for ponies going into my field to do some study on Rarity and why she did what she did. The consensus based on the brief interviews Princess Celestia had with her is that she did what she did because it was fun for her." Thought Process took a step forward and flared his wings out for emphasis. "Blossom. Would. Never. DO THAT! If she killed she did it because she was alone, scared, and cornered by two foals who were tormenting her. She will not become a serial killer if you send her to Ponyville!"
Luna continued to glare at the pegasus as she spoke. "What assurances to We have that she is not dangerous aside from your word? She has attacked both a guard and my sister already."
Thought Process rolled his eyes. "Yes I heard those color changing spells can be pretty nasty if you don't get them looked at right away," he snarked. "From what I understand she was really scared in both of those instances; and not a normal kind of scared either. Correct me if I'm wrong, but she thought her life was in danger both times yes?"
Luna's glare did not soften but she slowly nodded nonetheless. "Yes," she said curtly.
"Precisely," said Thought Process. "Now obviously she needs to learn not to fire off spells at anypony she thinks is threatening her life, but that's where a pony like me can help her. A psychologist could help her though her fears of being killed or taken away and locked in a cell for the rest of her life; fears that as far as she knows are very real possibilities! She wouldn't panic like she does if she didn't think that."
Luna's glare softened ever so slightly at the psychologists words but she still did not reply. Thought Process did soften his glare and he closed his eyes and bowed his head. "Princess Luna I'm sorry for the way I've just spoken to you, it was out of line and I know I can't talk to you like that. But I have to leave you with this question: have you ever stopped for even a moment to think about Blossom's perspective and why she does what she does or are you so engulfed in your crusade for justice that you ignore the fact that she's scared out of her eight year old mind and for good reason? Put yourself in her horseshoes for even a moment."
Princess Luna's glare softened even more and she let out a small sigh. "Your points are sound, but murder still occurred. We must be frank with you: We have no desire in the slightest to see an eight year old get the needle. That is barbaric and We would not stoop to that. Our anger comes from putting Ourselves in Sweetie Belle's horseshoes as if she was innocent, which we believe she is. We do not wish to see her suffer any more than she already has. We merely wish for justice, not more wonton death. Were Blossom to admit her guilt, We would not kill her."
Thought Process visibly relaxed at her words and he folded his wings back at his sides. "I just don't want to see her hurt. She deserves a better hoof than the one life dealt her."
Princess Luna actually let out a wry smile at that. "We certainly cannot gainsay you on that. Both mother and child deserved more than to live in Rarity's shadow." Princess Luna's smile fell and she looked sadly at the floor. "They came so close." The night princess shook her head and she turned her gaze back to Thought Process. "We will talk with Our sister and suggest that Blossom be sent back to Ponyville on a few conditions. Firstly, We do not want her leaving Ponyville by herself until she is eighteen years of age. We know that is unlikely in any case but it would help us sleep better during the day.
"Secondly We will require her to see a psychologist three times a week, a psychologist that would report back to us anything that they saw as a warning signal that Blossom might be dangerous outside of fear." Luna paused for a moment to let the words sink in before continuing. "We would like your colleague Dr. Working Mind to be that pony."
Thought Process' eyes widened. "B-But she already has a rapport with me! She trusts me as much as she can trust somepony like me and it would take time to build that up with somepony else!"
"Your emotions would get in the way of unbiased observations, We have observed as much just in this conversation," said Luna simply. "You would not report warning signs even if you saw them for fear of us hurting Blossom." Thought Process opened his mouth to speak up but Luna held up a hoof. "Your words will not sway us. Be grateful We are following your advice to send her back to her hometown at all."
Their business concluded as far as Luna was concerned, the night princess turned around and walked away from the stuttering psychologist.
* * * *
Three Weeks Later
Applejack, Apple Bloom, and Apple Seed all stood excitedly at the train station, each eagerly awaiting the arrival of the four o' clock train from Canterlot. Apple Seed for her part was bouncing happily around her mother. "Blossom is comin' home! Blossom is comin' home!" she crowed happily.
Apple Bloom smiled down at her and put a hoof on the dark red filly's shoulder. "Now just you settle down there, Apple Seed," she said. "Remember what Ah told ya 'bout not tacklin' her the second she gets off the train."
Apple Seed looked up at her mother with wide eyes. "But Blossom is comin' to live with us, right?" she questioned. "Ah mean, that's what you 'n Aunt Applejack said, right?"
Applejack chuckled at the filly. "That's right," she confirmed. "Princess Celestia herself asked if we would take care of Blossom until she's old enough to live in her old house again."
"And you remember how we got the guest room ready for her," Apple Bloom pointed out.
Apple Seed nodded proudly. "Yeah! And Ah even helped put the sheets on the bed! Ah know she's just gonna love her room!"
Apple Bloom opened her mouth to respond but she was cut off when the sound of a train whistle cot through the noise of the train station. Apple Seed squeed excitedly and looked down the tracks to see the train coming from Canterlot exactly on time.
With a great puff of steam the lumbering train came to a stop right in front of where the Apple family stood. Apple seed began bouncing up and down excitedly, eagerly looking for the alabaster filly.
The train doors opened and to Apple Seed's delight, the first two ponies through the door were a porter with a suitcase balanced on his back and Blossom herself. Apple Bloom had to hold her daughter back to prevent her from pouncing on Blossom, but that did nothing to prevent her foal from calling out to Blossom. Blossom looked over to see who was calling to her and her face broke out into a wide smile when she saw the familiar ponies waving to her.
She was finally back where she belonged.