//------------------------------// // Punishment // Story: Direction // by Darth Link 22 //------------------------------// Trixie didn’t struggle when the guards placed a horn ring on her, or when they put shackles around her hooves and began escorting her to an armored chariot with a steel box behind it. She did, however, hurdle closer to the guards when she realized her escapades had drawn attention. Plenty of townponies had seen the brawl in the sky between Rainbow and Lightning, and Roseluck had seen the pair exit Carousel Boutique. This meant what could only be described as a mob without torches and pitchforks had surrounded the building by the time Trixie had been escorted out. Needless to say, seeing their former captor hadn’t done anything to improve their mood. Several ponies began trying to push past the guards, despite all of them and Chief Book ‘Em attempting to calm them. The cries ended when Rarity stepped forward. “Stop this at once! You aren’t barbarians! Trixie has been arrested and will face her punishment in due time.” “But she banished Twilight!” “She tried to kill her!” Several other voices were raised in agreement. “So, you’re doing this for Twilight?” There were several cries of agreement. “Okay then. Is that really what you think Twilight would want? If you can honestly picture Twilight asking you to do this, then go ahead.” There was a silence. Then, the entire crowd dismissed themselves, some muttering about the situation being handled. Trixie stood stiff another few moments before taking a deep breath, relieved. She turned to thank Rarity, but she was already trotting off, away from her. The blue Unicorn didn’t get much of a chance to think about this before the guards began leading her again. She didn’t put up a fight. Rainbow Dash watched Applejack and Sweetie Belle being loaded onto an ambulance as another doctor bandaged her up. Luckily her injuries weren’t serious enough for a trip to the emergency room. When Rarity reached her, she spoke. “That was… well, I wasn’t expecting you to be in such a hurry to stand up for Trixie.” Rarity was silent for a moment. “…I wasn’t. I don’t know if I’ll ever be.” She sighed. “But what I said was true. Twilight wouldn’t want Trixie to get beaten by that mob.” She looked at the ambulance speeding off. She’d be following them if the guards hadn’t asked her to stay and answer some questions. “…I wish she was here too,” Rainbow Dash said. “She’d never have let Trixie surprise her like that.” “Are you sure?” Rainbow Dash blinked. “What?” “Are you sure? Twilight is clever, but not even she can be alert all the time. What if those three had just jumped her when she came home?” Rainbow Dash blinked. “Uh… well, wasn’t she worried about Trixie? I…” she sighed. “I don’t know. All I know is we never got beat up this bad when she was around. Even those dragons went down without sending one of us to the hospital.” “Well… I’m wondering if Twilight would have done any better against that Earth Pony. There was just… something about him. It wasn’t normal.” Rainbow Dash nodded. “I totally get what you’re saying. I guess…” “Rainbow Dash!” Both ponies jumped. They hadn’t noticed Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. The Pegasus portion of the Cutie Mark Crusaders was talking in a kind of scared excitement. “We heard what happened Trixie was here and you guys stopped her and it was cool and… and…” Scootaloo stopped and wilted when she saw Rainbow Dash was looking at her angrily. “Uh…” “You went in the Everfree Forest!” Both Scootaloo and Apple Bloom tensed up in fright. “Honestly, the one place I told you not to go. Really? Do you think you’re being brave or something? Because going and looking for trouble isn’t brave, it’s just...” Rainbow Dash trailed off. "Stupid" was the word she had been thinking of, but she didn't want to call her that. The two shrunk down. “Scoots… go home. Now. You better be in your room when I get home, because you’re already in enough trouble.” “But…” “I don’t have time to discuss it now. Go home and wait.” Scootaloo timidly backed away before turning and running. Rainbow Dash took a deep breath and immediately began analyzing is she handled that well enough. Rarity spoke to the remaining filly. “Now, Apple Bloom, I’m afraid your sister got banged up a bit and had to be taken to the hospital. We were given instructions to take you there, but we were to remind you that you are in just as much trouble. Do you understand?” Apple Bloom gulped and nodded. Tonight was not going to be fun. When the group arrived at the hospital, they were greeted to quite the cathartic site of Dr. Malpractice following a supervisor into a side room to get chewed out. It seemed that, once word got out that Sweetie had been brought there days before, everypony wondered how anypony could have missed so much dark magic. Later the Chief of Medicine would inform Rarity that he was being sent back to medical school for some extended reeducation. Most ponies went in to visit Applejack. Rarity intended to do so as well, but she had another, more important stop first. She opened the door to her sister's room to find her crying. She had bags under her bloodshot eyes, which were sticking up from the covers she had wrapped herself in. "Sweetie?" She trotted over to the bed. "How are you feeling?" "…It hurts," she said. "But… not really. It's… I don’t know…” Rarity stroked her sister’s mane. “Shh, shh, there there… it’s over.” “I hope they lock Trixie up forever,” Sweetie said with tears in her eyes, burying her face in her sister’s chest. Rarity bit her lip. She was debating how to respond when Sweetie spoke again. “What’s going to happen to her?” Rarity sighed. “Well, I don’t know for sure, but Trixie did a lot of the things she did because of the Amulet. Celestia will probably pardon her for a lot of it…” “What? But… what she did to me… she put a spell on me…” “Sweetie, yes, I understand how you feel, but...” “Why would they just let her get away with everything?” Rarity waited a bit to make sure her sister wouldn’t interrupt her before going on. “Sweetie… I’m not going to act like I’m ready to forgive Trixie, not yet. I think it’s important we do so eventually. She wasn’t herself…” “She brainwashed me…” “So did Twilight once, and you still love her. You and your friends brainwashed Miss Cheerilee and Big Macintosh, and they still love you.” “Yeah, but… they’re friends, and Trixie…” “Is a pony who made some bad decisions,” Rarity answered. “She turned herself over willingly and is getting help.” “…I don’t know if I can…” “I know, I know, it will be hard. It can be hard to forgive somepony who hurt you, but we need to try.” Sweetie just cried some more. Rarity held her for a good five minutes. “You shouldn’t have gone into Everfree,” Rarity said. “I… I know. Am I grounded?” Rarity smiled. “I think this whole mess is punishment enough,” she said. “Besides, you’re going to be in bed for at least a week recovering, according to the doctor.” “...Doctor Malpractice, or a real doctor?” “A real doctor, don’t worry.” Rainbow Dash paced her living room. She needed to do this now. Scootaloo was upstairs, miserable, and it would be cruel to keep her in suspense about her punishment. Still, Rainbow Dash needed to make sure she was ready. This was it, the defining moment, the one she had known was coming since she decided to take Scootaloo under her wing. The first time she was actually going to have to punish her. Rainbow Dash had asked her friends for advice a week after she had gained custody, but they weren’t much help. Spike was so well behaved Twilight had no advice, and she couldn’t take Applejack’s advice and try corporal punishment, not with what she had already been through. Taking a deep breath, she moved herself upstairs, but felt herself lose her nerve almost immediately. Had she already messed it up by callously sending her home earlier? Maybe she should have let her visit Sweetie in the hospital… She steeled herself again, moving up the stairs. Before she knew it she was in front of the door to Scootaloo’s room. Not delaying any longer, she opened up. Scootaloo lifted her head off the bed. She had been crying, at least when she had first arrived home. She looked up at Rainbow Dash, guilt still in her eyes. The elder Pegasus steeled herself. She needed to be firm here. “The Everfree Forest. Really, Scoots? The one place in town that you’re told is dangerous, and you just go there?” Scootaloo said nothing, so she went on. “I did not go through all that trouble to get you just so you could wind up timberwolf food. Honestly, why did you even consider disobeying me?” “…Well, we were just going to visit Zecora, but we thought… it would be…” Scootaloo couldn’t finish. “I think what you mean is, you weren’t thinking at all. What you did was stupid, dangerous, it… I don’t even know how it got in your mind! I already fought off somepony to get you, I don’t want to add a few wild creatures to the mix.” “I know.” Scootaloo’s voice was a bit more steady. “We already agreed it was a mistake… we’ve been wanting to talk to Sweetie about it.” “Well, you’ll get your chance tomorrow when I take you to visit her and Applejack in the hospital, right before I drop you off at Sweet Apple Acres.” Scootaloo nodded as if expecting this. “My punishment?” Rainbow Dash nodded. “Applejack wasn’t hurt too bad, just three days of bed rest, then she’ll be sore for a week. In that time, you’ll be doing all her chores, and then some. In fact, you better be clearing your schedule.” Scootaloo gulped. “You mean I’ll be working there all summer?” “Yes… but not as hard as you will be next week. Just a couple of days a week while Applejack does some work for the princesses. You and Apple Bloom can pick up her slack. Maybe Sweetie will help you, if she’s feeling nice.” Now Scootaloo looked angry. “You mean Sweetie’s not getting in trouble? Why?” Rainbow Dash glared at her charge… but only for a split second before realizing Scootaloo hadn’t been told the full story. So she told her the full story. “…I guess that makes sense.” Rainbow Dash nodded. “Besides, from what Rarity told me, Sweetie had symptoms worse than the flu. Now then, there’s another part of your punishment.” Scootaloo was angry once more. “What? But aren’t I getting… ahh!” The foal shrieked as Rainbow Dash pounced on her, sending her on her back. Instantly her wings were at her sides, the feathers dancing on her ribs. “Hahahahaha! No! R-Rainbow D-Dash, please! Please! …Hehahahaha!” Scootaloo kicked and squirmed, but her caretaker was too big for her to even hope escaping. “You’ve got to take it like a champ, kid!” Rainbow Dash said before bringing her face down and blowing on her stomach. Every raspberry caused the young foal to shriek. Finally she relented and released her. Scootaloo breathed heavily, trying to get air back in her diaphragm. Rainbow Dash lay next to her, wrapping her forelegs around her charge and pulling her close. She gave her a kiss on the forehead. “I love you, Scootaloo.” “I love you too. I’m sorry I went into Everfree.” “Well, I hope you’ll get the message. Now, why don’t we get some sleep? We’ve had a hard day.” Trixie had spent a few hours in a dungeon cell before receiving a horrible summons. She was to go straight to Princess Celestia. Her legs shook the entire time the guards led her. Luckily they didn’t hurry her, helping her like an invalid walk. Eventually they brought her to two large double doors. Immediately Trixie noticed something off. This didn’t seem like the entrance to a throne room. It seemed too… cozy. Then the doors opened, and Trixie saw why: this was a bedroom. The Princess had her brought to her own living area. The guards had trouble undoing her shackles because her shaking got ten times worse. Eventually they left her in just her horn ring, gently pushing her through the door. Celestia was sitting on a mound of cushions. She looked at Trixie with a neutral expression, one that she developed over centuries of putting up with stupid requests. “Stand before me.” Trixie had never been so scared. She moved slowly toward Celestia. After a few moments, she practically ran, dropped to her knees in a bow. “Please, Your Highness, I’m sorry, I…” “Be silent.” It wasn’t said harshly, but it was enough to cause Trixie to stop. “Rise.” Still trembling, Trixie obeyed. “Trixie Lulamoon… I have spent the last few months reading up on you. And the last few hours hearing about what you’ve done since your takeover of Ponyville. You’ve caused quite a bit of trouble while wearing that Amulet.” Trixie didn’t dare speak, so Celestia continued. “There will be consequences for your actions, which will be decided in due time. However… I’ve gone over what happened earlier today, and I feel something must be done first.” Trixie was crying at this point. “Trixie… do you want a hug?” The Unicorn gaped. Had she heard her correctly? She just looked at the Princess in disbelief. Just when she was about to ask if she had misheard her, Celestia opened her wing. After a few moments, she ran into the Princess’s embrace. The tears started to flow as the wing closed around her.