“Muhahahahaha, you’ll never escape me now! And your little hero, Princess Gum Drops, will never make it past the traps I set up!” Said a sinister looking gryphon with an eye scar.
“You monster! I can’t believe I ever thought otherwise!” Stated the caged and beat up cow, otherwise known as Prince Bavarian future king of the cows.
“Just think all it’ll take is one slip, one fall, one misstep and your fortune will be mine! Why I bet Princess Gum Drops fell into the first trap, too bad she doesn’t have wings like I do!” The gryphon mocked while smirking at the Prince. “It’s a shame your parents are so vehemently opposed to setting up an army. I’ve been able to foal-nap you four times now because of their foolishness!” The mad gryphon went into another fit of laughter.
“I thought you changed! I guess a monster is always a monster!” Prince Bavarian exclaimed.
The gryphon looked hurt for a moment before replying, “Me a monster? Oh please, I’m not some mindless beast that’ll attack anything in sight. I just take initiative and soon I’ll be a king!”
“Mother and father would never hoof the kingdom over to you! They’ll find a way to stop you!” Yelled the Prince.
“Oh no you’re right! I need to prepare! Guards!” The gryphon yelled getting the attention of two guards that were also in the throne room, who quickly straightened up and looked at the gryphon. Once he had their attention he began, “Guards it seems we will have an army upon us by nightfall! Prepare for battle! ...Oh wait! nevermind! I was mistaken. It seems that their kingdom doesn’t have an army.” The gryphon mocked while walking up to the cage, then laughed hard enough to fall to the floor.
“You’ll never be king! Princess Gum Drops and her fiends will stop you like they did in the Caves of Illusion! The Temple of Despair! And the Brown Sugar Bogs!” The Prince argued.
“Oh, please flying is a requirement to even get here! I laid out traps specifically for her. She’ll never make it!” The gryphon said with all certainty.
Suddenly the double doors burst open with a loud bang, and smoke filled the room. As the smoke cleared it revealed none other than Princess Gum Drops, “I might not be able to fly! But I got something you’ll never have!”
“And praytell what would that be?” asked the now fearful but resolute gryphon.
*Knock, Knock*
“I have great friends!” Princess Gum Drops Proclaimed with no ‘friends’ in sight.
“You say that, but the only one I see here is you... Ahahahahahaahaha! You left them behind in my traps just to save your coltfriend? Too bad your friends never realised how bad a friend you were to them! Guards take her to the dungeons,” The gryphon said victoriously. Just as the guards got close enough to grab Princess Gum Drops they got knocked out by a pegasus who flew in quickly, and a unicorn who teleported in.
*Knock, Knock, Knock*
“One Minute!”
“What is the meaning of this! Guards!” the gryphon yelled at the top of his lungs with no response. Apparently all the ‘guards’ he had make all those hasty traps were still resting, “It would seem I’ll have to deal with you three…”
*KNOCK, KNOCK*
“Fine! I get it I can’t have fun, because I’m grounded!” Sweetie yelled as she approached her door and unlocked it.
It was then gently opened by Rarity, who poked her head in, “Sorry Sweetie, I didn’t want to interrupt what little fun you could get while being grounded, but it’s just you’re too loud and disturbing some of my customers,” Rarity said while looking embarrassed for some reason.
“Sorry Rarity. It’s just so boring! Why’d I get grounded longer than Applebloom?” Sweetie questioned. Sweetie doesn’t get grounded too often, and when she does it’s always CMC related.
“If you really must know. It’s because the note Scootaloo left said it was your idea. Honestly, I would have thought Scootaloo would think up that kind of dangerous activity…” Rarity stared into space for a second, “It was your idea right?”
Sweetie sighed, “Yes it was my idea, it just seemed like it would be cool to be like Daring Doo.”
“I don’t know about that… well she certainly is quite a capable mare,” Rarity said while in thought.
“What?” Sweetie wasn’t sure why Rarity would say that, she thought for sure Rarity would be berating her for trying to follow a fictional character.
Rarity snapped out of her musings and brought her attention back to Sweetie with an awkward smile, “Nothing, nothing you need to be concerned about darling. In any event, sorry for interrupting your play just please keep it down at least until after I close up shop,” then she gently closed the door and left Sweetie alone again.
This was the first full day of her being grounded. She should have been at home with her parents, not at Rarity's. Instead her parents had to accept a last minute vacation their friends practically threw on them. Heck, if they weren’t on another vacation right now she would have been spending some quality time with them. They just got back from a vacation to, like a week ago. She thought she’d have more time with them than a week, but that was proven wrong. She went crusading with her friends, instead of going shopping with her mom or fishing with her dad. She should have known better, they even missed her fifth birthday party. It was frustrating, and it just wasn’t fair. She loved them though; they have always been very supportive and caring. She just wishes they weren’t always going on vacations or work trips like Scootaloo's own parents seem to do.
Her room has a round window, bed, desk, and toy box. The furniture and walls have a white with purple outlines theme to it. She had dolls currently on the ground, in and around a pillow fort. She hasn’t played with these dolls in a long time, at least not until a little after she met Scootaloo. She never really had any friends before then. After the debacle of her fifth birthday party she kind of just shut out everypony at school and focused on learning.
The game she was playing would have to wait till Rarity closed, because she was just getting to the interesting part. Trying to not vocalize what was to come next would just ruin it for her. So she moved to her bed to sulk and look outside. It’s a bright sunny day, and she was stuck inside. There wasn’t much to look at, as her window looked out at an open field and some tents. Tents would get set up every once in awhile for new business prospects but they’d usually leave, as Ponyville's marketplace supplied most of What ponies needed/wanted. Rarity was able to make a more permanent fixture in Ponyville's least traveled business zone, because she supplied a unique service and product that Ponyville didn’t really have. That and their parents helped her out with the initial cost. Time slowly went by for Sweetie, until she could finally continue where she left off.
The next day Sweetie got to see her friends at the library because Twilight had an announcement. They didn’t get much room to talk though as they were technically still grounded. It was nice to see Applebloom and Scootaloo though, and apparently Scootaloo wasn’t grounded. She kind of felt bad for Scootaloo; if there was ever a time to ground them, she would have to agree that they earned it this time. That didn’t mean she liked it, far from it. She should be out crusading with her friends, not trapped inside.
The meeting with Twilight was very interesting, if brief. She couldn’t help but feel as thrilled as Rarity in going to the Gala. They found a sword and journal left behind by Commander Hurricane and Chancellor Puddinghead! She has grown up celebrating Hearth Warming Eve every winter with her family, and heard the story of them several times. Now she’s learning that she and her friends stumbled on something that those famous ponies hid from ponykind, well she couldn’t help but feel great. She felt like she shouldn’t be grounded, but she should be rewarded. Sadly, Rarity didn’t change her stance on the subject. Luckily, Sweetie would get to see her friends again tomorrow thanks to Twilight. Twilight had a test planned for them.
The next day Sweetie totally failed to earn herself and the her friends some bits. Her stupid magic was now on the fritz and it could be very dangerous at that. It reminded her of Twilight's cutie mark story. She was actually kind of scared of her horn, she didn’t want to accidently turn Rarity into a lawn ornament. She at least got to somewhat hang out with her friends. Still it wasn’t crusading, and it’s been so boring without being able to do stuff with them. It was cool watching Scootaloo pick up a large rock like it was “paper mache” as Scootaloo put it. Applebloom could heal things. Sweetie wished she could do that. She just hated seeing anypony or anything really in pain or sick. The sapling Applebloom grew was also pretty neat.
After the test she went straight back to the Carousel Boutique with Rarity. Rarity has been too busy to do more than make meals and give commands ‘like brush your teeth,’ and ‘go to bed,’ even though she’s been in her bedroom pretty much all day. The day was at a close and she spent it drawing pictures and sulking. She would no longer be grounded tomorrow. Finally.
End Chapter 8