The door slammed shut abruptly and Sweetie’s eyes swiveled to face the princess, her previous distraction hidden behind an inch of wood. No one seemed to notice the strange occurrence, and Sweetie Belle wouldn’t be bringing it up. She instead remained silent and looked at the princess, waiting for her to begin the discussion. Even as Scootaloo and her regiment fell into a bow, Sweetie Belle remained stiff and apathetic.
With a glance of anger Scootaloo lead the other guards up the small set of stairs and into positions next to and behind Celestia, each of them watching her for any sign of violence. One guard, in particular, would note later that it seemed like Sweetie Belle was frozen where she stood, and her chest barely even expanded when she inhaled, as if a life time of stillness had trained her for this moment.
There was a distant sadness in Celestia’s eyes as she gazed at Sweetie Belle and her mind seemed to dance across memories of when she had been so much younger, so much happier, so much more… alive. She fought back the building urge to sigh in remorse and instead began the line of questioning that she had planned to deliver.
“Do you know why you’re here?” She posed to Sweetie Belle. A simple question, and one that was more designed to judge the mental sanity of the mare, as opposed to her character.
“Having broken the eighteenth law of the fourteenth address of Celestia in regards to necromantic magic I was judged to spend ten of my years in the castle prison, watched over and under surveillance. However it was decided that after five years I had done more than was necessary and was given permission for an early leave.” Sweetie glanced to Celestia and the robotic voice that had hitherto haunted her words fell away, leaving the next words completely empty of even that.. “And now we’re going over the final judgement, to ensure that I have stability enough to coexist with the ponies of Canterlot. A phase which is only used sparingly, and is suspected to be used only when the princess feels a close personal relation with the pony.”
Celestia blinked, but didn’t let the feelings inside display across her face, instead pressing forward with the questions. She saw a few guards dare a glance at her before they returned their eyes to the mare below. “If you had the opportunity to redo your transgression, what would you change?”
“Three parts Nightshade, two parts arsenic in the creation of the catalyst and I would have completely forgone the poison oak.” Celestia looked down at her and felt her gut wrench. She was the only one in the room who understood that that change was a delayed suicidal blast after the spell was complete, but she didn’t feel the need to voice it, instead looking down at Sweetie Belle with regret. “I would still have done the summoning though Celestia, I will never say otherwise.” For a brief moment, sadness and fear grew behind her irises. “I had to try.”
There were several other questions that Celestia had wanted to ask initially, but she suddenly found the desire to do so long gone. “Captain.” At the sound of her title, Scootaloo’s gaze moved from Sweetie Belle to the princess, even as the princess was deserting her throne. “Escort her home.” Scootaloo barely had time to bow again before the princess left through the pair of wooden doors, leaving the guards to their duties.
Scootaloo descended the stairs and walked past Sweetie Belle, the unicorn in question turning to follow her old friend as they left. The two were alone for the walk to the front door, the other guards having taken too long to follow and knowing that running to catch up when they were no longer needed was something a proper guard did not do. As such they moved to various stations around the castle and set up their posts, either to prevent the crowd of ponies from going places they shouldn’t, or just for general defense.
Scootaloo glanced at Sweetie Belle and found her yet again looking forward. She regretted coming in to work today, it had only caused her pain and suffering. She’d thought that maybe Sweetie Belle had changed for the better, or that she would change for the better when she found herself going home. It seemed neither of these were the case. “I’m not sorry Scootaloo.” Sweetie Belle’s voice sent a shiver down the captain’s spine, but she repressed the need to show it.
“Neither am I.”
The doors opened slowly, letting the midday sun stream in. Both mares were forced to blink away the blinding light, Sweetie Belle especially, having spent so long in the darkness. A few rolling murmurs died away, and it was completely silent when their vision finally cleared. Sweetie Belle looked out on the large gathering of ponies, some of them starting to fidget under her stare. “Come along then.”
Scootaloo began her way down the steps with Sweetie Belle behind her, as they reached the courtyard the ponies began to spread apart, making a narrow path down the middle of the group for both ponies to walk. Things were going without incident until a red object was sent flying from the midst of the crowd, hitting Sweetie Belle squarely on the side and causing her to stumble from the blow.
Scootaloo whirled around in anger and deep into the crowd for the perpetrator. She looked over them for anything peculiar, then glanced at the wayward projectile. She recognized it instantly as an apple and looked deep into the crowd again, this time looking for something specific. Her eyes landed on the bright bow that stood out among the various other ponies and she began to shove her way angrily through the crowd, causing panic and commotion as they tried to make way for her. As always, Sweetie Belle followed silently behind.
At last she came to the attacker and glared angrily. “What’s the big Idea A.B.?”
Apple Bloom looked back with an equivalent madness. “Just settlin’ a score is all. Move along captain.” Her accent seemed to have mixed itself deeply with the Canterlot accent, giving an odd feeling a sensibility and farm land raising.
“You can not attack somepony under my protection and not expect retaliation, regardless of who you are or who you think you are.” The mare let out an audible exhale in response. “Fine then, a fine, thirty bits for unnecessary aggression and assault!”
“Ya can’t do that!”
“I just did!”
“Stop.” The voice was commanding and not only did both the mares cease their aggression, but every pony in the crowd suddenly came to a stop. It sent chills down spines, and all the crowd looked fearfully at Sweetie Belle.
A.B.’s gaze turned from curiosity to anger almost immediately as she looked at Sweetie Belle. “You took my best friend five years ago when you lost yourself for that stupid goal, breaking the highest law and getting yourself locked away. Do you have any excuse for putting me and Scootaloo through that?”
Sweetie Belle seemed to ignore the question completely as she spoke next. “So you hate my very being and wish I hadn’t come back out of that jail? You despise what I’ve become as this empty husk and think it would’ve been better if the death penalty was passed?”
Grimly, A.B. gave a nod. Sweetie turned to walk away. “We should start a club then.”
Scootaloo gave the earth pony one last parting gaze before she led Sweetie Belle out of the courtyard completely. Scootaloo led the walk a fair distance, but had to stop at a corner to get her bearings, having forgotten the layout of the city around this area. She hadn’t needed to memorize it for anything, and it had fallen out of use in her memory for a long time. As she stopped to consult a map,. however, Sweetie Belle took a left suddenly and Scootaloo was forced to follow her.
“Then a right, second house after the fountain.” She overheard Sweetie saying under her breath and decided to let her lead the way, surprised that she’d still know it after all this time. When they came to the door Scootaloo produced the house key from her saddlebags, sliding it into the lock and twisting it with a flick of her wing.
The door swung open and Sweetie Belle looked inside, keeping her feet firmly on the porch. “Was the front room cleaned?” She asked, hesitant to pass the threshold until her fears were comforted.
“Yes, multiple times.”
Without a word of thanks, Sweetie entered the building and shut the door behind her, keeping Scootaloo on the outside.
When the wood slammed in her face, Scootaloo sighed, having fully expected it by this point. With a glance skyward to confirm clear weather Scootaloo let her wings fold out to their full length. Her mind was on a lot of things as she rocketed into the clouds, but none of it could be answered or comforted, and she was forced to let it weigh on her heart as she set her path towards the castle.