The Darker Side of the Job
Blueblood didn't bother me after that.
My guards cleaned him up and sent him packing, and I think he might have been secretly relieved to go. He wasn't even beginning to win the prank war. Why, once his lawyer made the mistake of breaking into my room yet again, and he triggered a trap spell that I had set for him. I walked in to see him frozen in place with a rope, two bottles of shaving cream, a few peaches, and a quill. Lord knows what he was going to do with that. I didn't bother to ask. I simply sat on my bed and read a book that Twilight had lent me on the history of Pegasopolis for four hours. He could only stand there in total silence while I did.
Cheerilee's class had a total blast during the tour, even after we totally destroyed Blueblood's resolve. They got to see the guard's training grounds, got a few lessons in snarcasm, got a more thorough look at my throne room, and even got to take turns sitting on my throne.
Overall, I think that they had the time of their lives, and I was more than happy to provide that for them. When they went back to the carriages at the end of the day to go back to Ponyville, I assured each and every one of them that they would have a job if they wanted to join the snarcasti-guard or something like that once they got old enough. They all cheered at the idea.
I smiled as I watched the carriages drive away towards the train station. Captain Blaze and Lieutenant Rapids were beside me, smiling as well. "It was a good day," I said happily.
"You did seem to enjoy yourself, Princess," Captain Blaze agreed. "They made you princess of foal services for a very good reason, it seems."
I chuckled and led the two of them back towards the castle. "Well, I was going to be an elementary school teacher before I came to Equestria. Even when I did come here, they were the one big bright spot in my life."
"I can tell." Captain Blaze trotted alongside me in silence for a few seconds before speaking up again. "I really like your mane."
I burst out into laughter at that.
* * * *
The next afternoon saw me in day court, listening to various questions about tax reforms in Baltimare and funding for various schools and the like. I was far more willing to fund schools and begin legislation to increase teacher pay than give tax breaks to the rich. Take it from a guy who has been in a classroom setting, teachers are way underpaid for the amount of work that they do. I was quite aware that I was rapidly gaining the support of teachers everywhere, something that pleased me to no end. I had heard tell that various classrooms had put up pictures of me a little higher than the ones of Princess Celestia. I can't imagine that Celestia was totally pleased with that.
Oh well for her, I guess.
I finished ruling that four hundred bits would be spent going to repair a slightly worn down building and turned to Captain Blaze. "Okay, send in the next one."
He inclined his head in a bow and motioned for the doors to open. They were, and I was pleased to see a filly trot into the room next to Lieutenant Rapids. This was not an unusual occurrence after Berry Bloom set the precedent, and it always made my day when a foal came to see me to ask me something. I smiled warmly at her and hopped off of my throne. She stopped in front of me and bowed low. I couldn't help but notice that her legs were shaking, something that made me frown a little. My warm smile returned by the time we made eye contact again, though.
"Hey there. What's your name?"
The filly flinched back and flattened her ears. "Uh... Sh-Shining Star, your majesty."
"Shining Star, huh?" I reached out and gently ruffled her mane. "What can I do for you, Ms. Star?"
Shining Star actually whimpered, something that completely removed the smile from my face. I looked up at Lieutenant Rapids who merely shrugged at me. I sat down in front of the foal and leaned down closer to her. "Hey, it's okay. I'm not going to do anything bad. You're completely safe here, I promise. Whatever you have to tell me is completely confidential if you want it to be, okay?"
Shining Star sniffled and wiped her eyes with a foreleg, but nodded. "O-ok-kay." She looked back up at me. "I h-have a friend named Dashing Wing a-and she's shown up to school the past few weeks with a few bruises."
My eyes widened and my jaw dropped open.
Oh no.
"A-at first she told my teacher that she just tripped into a fence, but sh-she told me that... that..." Shining Star whimpered, buried her head in her forelegs, and began quietly sobbing.
Oh no. No, no, no.
My legs began shaking and my stomach tied itself into knots. All warmth was gone from my voice when I spoke next. "Is she being abused at home?"
Shining Star's sobs became louder, and to my complete horror, she nodded. "I... I wasn't sure what to do about it, so I went to her house today to talk about it... th-then I heard her crying for help!"
I bit my lip and got to my hooves. Captain Blaze came up behind me. "Princess? How do you want to handle this?"
"Where does your friend live?" I said sharply.
Shining Star sniffled and wiped her eyes. "One-two-six Cherry Lane."
I nodded and bolted out of the throne room, stopping briefly when I reached the door guard. "Have one of the servants take care of her until I get back. Get her something to eat or drink. Day court is postponed until further notice."
The guard saluted, and I walked out. There was an open window nearby, and I took wing and flew out of it towards Cherry Lane. I knew the place. As the princess in Baltimare, I had to get to know my city, so I spent my time memorizing where everything was. It wasn't far from the palace.
As I flew, a feeling that I had not felt in quite a while began building up inside of me. It was purer than what I had felt when I had discovered that I was a female pony that had to rule the nation, it was even more potent than what I had felt when I had been brought into Equestria to begin with.
Rage.
Pure, unadulterated rage.
Foal abuse... no, I was not going to tolerate it. I wasn't going to even consider the notion for a moment. The idea that something like that was happening right on my doorstep and I didn't know about it hurt me, and this scumbag was going to pay in ways he or she couldn't even imagine for even thinking about hurting the foal. I clenched my teeth and my lips curled into a snarl as I saw the house in question in the distance. I put on more speed and flew right above it just as I heard the most horrifying noise imaginable.
A scream.
With a snarl I ignited my horn and engulfed the entire house in my magic. I tore the entire front off of the house, revealing the horrors inside. In a small room, a small filly was curled up into a ball, her forelegs over her head to protect her from the stallion standing above her. His hoof was raised over his head, but he stood frozen in place when he heard the sound of his house being ripped in half. I let out a guttural cry of pure rage and slammed the bit of house I was holding to the ground before casting a protective spell over the filly. The stallion seemed to realize what was going on and he bolted, but I wasn't letting him get away that easily. I shot a beam of magic at him, freezing him to the spot. His head and neck thrashed about, indicating that he was trying to escape from me, but there was no way I was letting this evil, evil pony go. I fired up my horn again and levitated him until he was snout-to-snout with me.
"How dare you," I growled, venom dripping from every syllable. "WHAT THE HELL WERE YOU THINKING?!"
The stallion whimpered and tried to flinch back, but I held him tight. His mouth flopped up and down like a fish out of water for a few seconds before he spoke. "I'm s-sorry. I w-won't h-hurt her again."
"Oh, you think that will cut it?!" I screeched. "You listen to me, you little punk: if I don't put your head on a freaking pike for this outside of my palace you had better consider yourself the luckiest stallion in all of Equestria!!"
I was vaguely aware that my guard was mobilizing around me, and that some residents of the street were beginning to come out of their homes to see what the issue was, but I only cared about the most evil thing in the entire universe since Nightmare Moon. "Now you listen to me. You are under arrest. You had better thank your lucky stars that I didn't do to you what I did to your house, is that understood?"
The stallion whimpered again, but managed a single nod.
"Good." I roughly set him on the ground and two of my guards dragged him away. I watched them put him in a police wagon for a moment, and then looked back to the foal. Captain Blaze was standing over her with a medic who was healing her bruises. Seeing her like that made my rage melt, and replaced it with pure sorrow. I took a deep breath and walked up to her. She opened her eyes when she heard me coming, and whimpered when she saw me. I smiled comfortingly at her and wrapped her in a gentle hug once the bruises were healed. I began rubbing her back. "Shh. You're okay now," I soothed. "I'm gonna protect you. I'm gonna make sure that you're okay."
The filly relaxed in my forelegs and leaned her head on my shoulder. I felt tears staining the fur, and I had to blink back some of my own. "You're gonna be okay. He can't hurt you anymore."
* * * *
The medics took Dashing Wing back to the palace and placed her in the medical wing until further notice. I notified Shining Star that she was there, so the two of them were together. With the foal taken care of, it was time to deal with that rat that dared to hurt her.
So many ways to go about that. Turn him to stone and start my own statue garden of foal abusers. Cut off the hoof that struck the foal. Beat him to a pulp; see how he likes it when he feels what it's like to be completely defenseless and at the total mercy of somebody stronger than he is. So many ways to punish him for daring to think about doing something so... evil is really the only word that I can think of to describe abusing a foal.
My guards locked him inside a private room, and I entered it with my officers by my side. He was there. That monster was there lying on the floor when I came in. He gasped when he heard me enter and shot to his hooves. He sank to his knees in a low bow, and I scoffed at him. "Spare me your groveling. It won't help you."
He quickly straightened up again and stared down at the floor. "Y-yes, your majesty."
"Now..." I tightened my jaw and began circling him like a shark. "Dashing Wing is your daughter?" He weakly nodded. "I see." I stopped in front of him and leaned down until I was snout-to-snout with him again. "You have ten seconds, I repeat: ten seconds, to explain just what the heck you have been doing. Don't say it was a one-time thing, I've been told that she's been coming to school with bruises for quite a while now."
He was caught, and he knew it. There was no way that he could pass this off as punishment for not doing her homework or something like that, this was flat-out foal abuse, and we both knew it. He gulped and, to my total surprise, put on a brave face. "P-Princess, I didn't hurt her that badly. If I didn't, then I don't think it's really your concern how I raise my daughter, is it?"
My eyes widened, and the simmering rage that had been flowing through my veins completely boiled over and I slammed my hoof into the side of his head. He flew back into the wall, but I didn't even give him time to hit the floor. I grabbed him in my magic and slammed him against the opposite wall. He was completely limp in my magical grasp, but that didn't even begin to stop me from bringing him closer to me and repeatedly slamming my hooves into ever single inch of him that I could reach. I screamed profanities at him that would make a sailor blush. The back of my mind told me that I was killing him, heck, he could already be dead, but I didn't care. This scumbag had to pay. It was what he freaking deserved.
No.
No, that's not what I did.
It's what I wanted to do. It's what I wanted to do more than anything at the moment, but I withheld the urge to leave him as a bloody mess on the ground. Not to say that I didn't completely lose it, of course.
"WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?!"
He flinched so violently that he fell backwards. I stood over him, my face inches from his.
"YOU DO NOT EVER UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES BEAT A FOAL, YOU ROTTEN, SCUMBAG SPAWN OF NIGHTMARE MOON!" I snorted steam and stomped my hoof next to his head so hard I cracked the floor. "I PROMISE YOU THAT YOU ARE GOING TO PAY FOR WHAT YOU DID! YOU WILL NOT--"
"TD, STOP IT!"
My anger faded into shock, and I looked back to see who had yelled at me. I have to admit, I didn't think that Captain Blaze would have been so forward with me. Only the ponies I knew when I was a human called me by my human name.
I know that I could have fired him on the spot, but I wilted under his livid glare. He stomped up to me. "Take five, Princess. Let Lieutenant Rapids and I deal with him." I opened my mouth, but he cut me off with a wave of his hoof. "We're not going easy on him, but you are not in an emotional state where you can deal with this rationally, okay?"
I tightened my jaw and locked eyes with him for a minute before sighing and flattening my ears. Yeah, if I was having... well, I didn't want to call it a 'fantasy' of beating this guy senseless, but it wasn't healthy. I averted my eyes and lowered my head. "You're right. 'M sorry."
"Fine." Captain Blaze opened the door with his magic. "Let us handle this. I'll let you know what happened."
I inclined my head in a nod and trudged out of my room. The memories began replaying through my mind the second Lieutenant Rapids closed the door behind me, and I was left with nothing more than my thoughts. I walked down the empty halls of my palace, trying to force the nagging realization from my mind that I was close, really, really close, to snapping that guy's neck. It would have been really easy.
When I looked up next, I'm not sure how long it was later, I found myself in my throne room. I exhaled deeply and trudged over to my throne, but I didn't make it there. I turned around and sat down in front of it. My ethereal mane had had lost a little of its shine, and it now covered my eyes.
And so I sat there.
Alone with my thoughts and the realization of what I had just about done.
I wasn't a violent man by any stretch of the imagination. Sure I had punched Celestia a few times, but only after news so life-alteringly bad that I couldn't help myself. Besides, those could hardly be considered attacks. What I had just about done, though? That was... I didn't even want to think about it. All I did was sit.
I don't know how long it was before the door to my throne room opened again, but I could tell that the pony who walked in was far larger than Captain Blaze or Lieutenant Rapids. Man, she really didn't need to be there right then, but she would see it as her duty, wouldn't she?
I heard Celestia sigh as she sat down next to me. She draped a wing over my shoulders and put a hoof on my right foreleg. "I came to Baltimare as soon as I heard."
I didn't respond. I didn't really feel like it.
"Captain Blaze thought it prudent that I be told what had occurred." She squeezed me tighter with her wing. "Do you want to talk about it?"
I tried to stop my legs from shaking, I really did. Still, the memory of what I wanted to do to him, and what part of me still wanted to do, was fresh in my mind. Right next to the memory of Dashing Wing's face when I tore that house in half and her father was over her, ready to hit her again. Now Celestia was here trying to talk to me about it. Here she was trying to play the motherly figure again.
"It's okay to let it all out."
That time I graced her with a snort. "We're princesses. Aren't we legendary for our stoicism in hard times?"
"In public, perhaps," Celestia admitted, "but if you think that after times like this I have not gone back to my room and cried like a foal, you are sorely mistaken. Both Luna and I have done it many a time."
"I can't see that," I said with a humorless chuckle. "You're Princess Celestia: you don't--"
I was cut off when a sob welled up in my throat that I quickly forced back down. I couldn't do this in front of her. Yeah, I lost my temper at the Gala, but crying in front of Celestia wasn't something that I was comfortable with, particularly not when it was because of something like this.
"TD, it's okay. You are not a bad princess because of this. You are young yet. Don't be too hard on yourself."
"I almost killed him," I growled. "That's the kind of thing people feel bad about."
"TD, I have actually killed to protect my little ponies," said Celestia. She paused for a moment. "Some of those deaths were more... rash than others, but I have done it."
"Y-yeah we--" My voice cracked and I cleared my throat. "I... she..." This time a sob did escape my throat. "She looked so scared. He was over her and hitting her and about to hit her again and she was really scared. I saw that and, I dunno, I just kinda snapped. You know that when I first came to Equestria, the big thing that kept me sane was the foals. Teaching Cheerilee's class about my world, playing hide-and-go-seek tag with them, or even just hanging out with them; it gave me a reason to get up in the morning.
"When I saw her huddled in the corner, I didn't see Dashing Wing, I... I saw Sweetie Belle, I saw Scootaloo, I saw Dinky, I saw Featherwieght, and Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon, and all the rest of them huddled in the corner, hoping to whoever would listen that it would all be over soon. That somebody would come save them and that the nightmare would be over. Well, I did save her, and the nightmare is over." I raised a foreleg and wiped my eyes, but failed to stop a pair of tears from streaking down my face. "And I almost killed the nightmare."
Celestia rubbed my foreleg again. "It's okay to let it out, TD."
I scoffed and wiped more tears away. "Yeah, w-well..."
I couldn't help it. I didn't want to break down in front of her, but I felt her wrap her forelegs and other wing around my shoulders. After that, I couldn't do anything else. I buried my head in her shoulder and began sobbing.
Stats
Page generated in 0.084 seconds
Total duration
1,022 users online
2,124,172 hits today, 2,561,572 yesterday
FIMFiction
My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic Fanfiction
Designed and coded by knighty & Xaquseg - © 2011-2024
Follow & Support Us
Support us
SubStar
Chat!
Discord
Follow us
Twitter
MLP: Friendship is Magic® - © 2024 Hasbro Inc.®
Fimfiction is in no way affiliated with or endorsed by Hasbro Inc.®
now for the insane shippers to ship Celestia and TD. you know its gonna happen...
Sounds like this subject is very personal to TD...
How am I supposed to get any work done when you keep posting new chapters while I'm supposed to be doing my homework? Luckily for you, it's hard for me to really be angry at anyone updates stories I love.
You know what, just keep updating. It's not like sleep is actually important.
3285194CelesTD. It's a thing now, because you said it.
When someone has only one thing keeping them sane, you don't threaten it. If you do, then they have nothing to lose. And that is the worst kind of enemy to have. Child-abusers, beware.
I don't know what is going to happen to Mr.Worse then Sombra, Discord and Nightmare moon combined but I hope he never come in contact with any child ever again
Random. So very random.
Um. Written well. And I appreciate this chapter's content much more than the prior chapter.
3285221 That's a terrible ship. The name itself is disease ridden.
3285194>>3285221 I think you're both forgetting something.
wow, this is some major character development. my sir you are truly the kind of dramadies on this site, whether it's happy or series, its awesome. you get 5 mustaches
NUKE THE MOTHER FUCKER NUKE HIM UNTIL HE DIES GODDAMMIT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
TD may be an Alicorn now but he's still only human.
Finally sit down and tell myself it is time to do some homework, prior to this I just finished reading the previous chapter and several other stories. Then I get the notification a new chapter is here............. resist............2 minutes pass.... Okay a small break wouldn't hurt. Completely thrown myself out of my working mood, cant get back to work, But you know what?
Worth it
3285261
i.imgur.com/1IXmLKC.gif
That was magically induced lust, it doesn't count.
Dang those female hormones, driving TD to cry. In front of Celestia no less.
And here I was hoping that Equestria was too nice to have child abuse.
But good for TD not giving into the dark side and all.
Here is my editing advice!
"Oh, you think that will cut it?!" I screeched. "You listen to my you little punk
*me
3285355
My little punky, my little punky
Aah aah aah aah!!
Being abused does fucking suck, you just feel helpless especially when the person abusing you guilt trips you into not saying anything. Talking from personal experience here. Just happy that that fucker got what came to him.
3285261
Perhaps he views them in a different light now. He has become an Alicorn now so it wouldn't really suprise me. But yeah, romance wouldn't work in this story because it would drag the attention away from TD's shenanigans.
3285369 Oh don't worry about that. This isn't the story for romance.
That bastard better be glad I wasn't writing/there. Head on a pike'd be the least of his problems...
Sadly, a perfectly accepted argument less than a century ago.
And now comes a public announcement from Princess TD discussing her actions to baltimare and apologizing to the scare she h as s given her subjects.... and threaten murder of the worst painful way imaginable should she hear that any foal be abused once again @-@
TD X Captain Blaze. Do it.
Noooooooo he is letting his human side go and becoming more ponylike. Where's humanities anger, hate and spite. Head pike I say! HEEEAAAADD PPIIIIIIKKKEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Bravo.
I'll be honest. Were I in TD's horseshoes for this situation, I'm not sure even Blaze would've been able to stop me from breaking that stallion. If he doesn't see the light of day for the rest of his natural life, he'll have gotten off too easily.
I'd give that kid beating fucker over to Ramsay Snow...
Feels.
So this gets updated minutes before I had to go to school, huh?
You made me completly forget the chemistry book, hurt my first class' performance by making me eager for the recess.
And then I had to ask around for the school's Internet connection password and ID.
Good Job.
3285779
Even if Dashing Wing´s father was released with no charges, that could be an ever crueler punishment. Think about it, he has been catched by Princess Antares literally with the hoof in the foal, his daughter will be removed from his side, the press will be putting his face in the newspaper for weeks... He will be an outcast maybe for the rest of his life.
3285560
Ponies aren't really known for creative punishments that don't kill you... but you'll wish you were dead, begging for it. If there's one thing humans are really good at, besides killing each other, is torture (they didn't call them the dark ages for nothing folks). I can only imagine the very wide eyes when TD start listing off possible punishments for foal-abusers and foalnappers. You can almost hear the bowels loosening when TD gets to the really nasty ones in explicit detail.
But all the threatening aside. TD has yet to deal with a truly sticky legal case where no one is completely innocent. It's those grey cases that make you feel guilty just trying to deal with it.
3285417 Disciplining a child and beating a child are two different things. Sadly you're right, less than a century ago a lot of bad fathers beat their children instead. they still do....
Harming a child is always wrong.
Okay, time to step through the minefield.
Given TD's responsibilities and his affection for children, it doesn't seem unrealistic that these scenarios would crop up. It also makes sense that TD has some knowledge of what told to look for on the matter of whether a child is abused, since teachers are trained on that and he does have a teaching background.
I also don't think you're someone who would throw it in for cheap drama, unlike a lot of hack authors who casually throw in abuse, or rape, or whatever. You're a better author than that.
As presented in the narrative, TD has absolutely no reason to think it's the father here. Not even a single piece of anecdotal data like "I've heard her father screaming and yelling at her several times". Nothing. As it stands, it's the same presumption of guilt that unfortunately is a reality in society, despite woman making up a very significant proportion of abusers, far more than you'd expect looking at prosecution rates, or the way it's portrayed in the media (which shows just how many get away with it).
What I will say is that catching this person right in the middle of him abusing his daughter does seem ridiculously convenient. Extremely as it substantiates TD's completely unproven beliefs, without him having to ask a single question. If only every child protection service had it that easy.
These subjects need to be handled with tact and care, and I think there are a few missteps here.
And for the record, I think child abuse is one of the most horrific crimes out there, and those who suffer from it have my uttermost sympathy. The fact that so many get away without ever receiving justice for their crimes is appalling.
3285196
With a background of trying to become a teacher, you tend to stand up for the younger ones a lot.
3285975
Agreed. TD may be temperamental, but not an idiot. He should know that there are better, subtler, more professional ways to handle this cases in order to ensure both the capture of the culprit and the protection of the child while denying the future attorney the highest amount of ammunition possible (like procedural irregularity).
Send him to prison wearing a jumpsuit with the words 'foal abuser' where his cutie mark should be.
He wouldn't last a week.
3285918
If he does get off scot-free, then he's got the best goddamn lawyer in the entire universe. Maybe the multiverse.
Hmmm the last couple of endings of alot of stories/chapters I have read always end in TD crying to Celestia.
3285975
THIS. I wanted to mention it myself, but now I don't have to.
Damn, now Celestia might tell Luna and Twilight, who might tell the rest of the Mane Six who might tell Cheerilee and TD will be absolutely enveloped in a huge wave of sympathy.
To be honest, we should all feel a bit of pity for those in power. They are not only gifted, but burdened by extreme responsibility. Sometimes people are unable to handle it but have to because that is their job. I feel mostly sorry because TD is starting to be overwhelmed. being a 'princess' means you gotta ditch all that other stuff a regular person gets to do. Which is why when this first came out i said that he probably should have just gone and done whatever the hell he wanted lol.
More fun that way
Also mermahgerd! IT BE NEW CHAPTER!
3285975 While I agree with you that the situation was unbelievably convenient, you must also remember that everything in Equestria is so. Remember the Pinkie-sense episode? Now just where in the hell would you find rock formations just perfect enough to make your way across a gorge?
But alas, I suppose the author can use dramatic convenience any way he likes, though you still bring up a fantastic point. 
Ouch. That really sucks, although at the very least TD has set one heck of a precedent and there is no doubt in my mind that he will take this opportunity to implement some of the more creative human punishments which should greatly discourage further incidents.
I wanted to quote the part where he "lost some of the shine in his ethereal mane" and such, but I can't find it.
I honestly hope you don't pull the "NIghtmare" thing on him at some point (IF you do), would be the first thing I didn't like from TD's universe since Pinkie setting him on "fire".
This might just be me, but If I saw some 1 hurting a child like that, I wouldn't be even remotely resentful for hurting the one hurting a child...
That is just something no one should do.
3285975 1. You're right, I changed it so he doesn't know it was the father until he rips the house in half and sees it.
2. You are also quite correct that I didn't put it in just for cheap drama. It's a major character moment for the whole story.
3. Of course there were a few missteps: that's the point. TD knows he should have handled it better from minute one.
3286096 TD hasn't proven to be completely rational in high-emotion situations, and stuff like this would definitely have him worked up to the point where he isn't thinking straight.
3286096
Yeah, TD might be normally more temperamental about things, but really I think it might have been the shock of finding out about something like child abuse in Equestria of all places that might have pushed him over the edge. Theories about Scootaloo aside, he came from Ponyville where most family relationships are shown as pretty much loving and caring. Then he gets alicorn'd and has something like this land in his/her lap, which is already a subject that apparently hit close to home, so that combined with the aforementioned shock at encountering it in a semi-utopia like Equestria probably just really set TD off.