Helpless
Helpless
Scootaloo snored lightly on Rainbow's back as the group walked along. Night had long since fallen over Canterlot and the little filly had worn herself out. As the group reached the castle gates, she was shaken awake by her carrier.
"Scoot, wake up. You want to say goodbye to Soarin, right?"
"Huh, wah? Lemme go back to sleep..." Rainbow shifted and Scootaloo fell off her back. "What the hay was that for Mom?"
"Say goodbye to Soarin. It might be a while before you see him again," Rainbow responded. Scootaloo got up and noticed that one by one the other ponies were lining up for hugs. Judging by the dirt on his coat and Pinkie's, she safely assumed her goodbye hug had been more aggressive than that of the other mares. Scootaloo walked over to him with Rainbow close behind.
"You better come back soon, alright? At least send a few letters my way." Spitfire wasn't about to forget his neglect over the last few months. "And this time if I send one, you reply to it, okay?" Soarin gave her a mock salute.
"MA'AM YES MA'AM!" he shouted. A few of the nearby royal guards spun on their hooves and snapped to attention. When they realized that there were no ranking officers nearby, they grunted and returned to their original positions. The civilians from Ponyville laughed at Soarin's disturbance.
"Yeah, if you don't send something our way, I will have to beat your flank. Badly." Rainbow felt that the emphasis the extra "badly" gave was just the right touch.
"Oh, Rainbow, I don't think that would be such a good idea. I don't want anypony getting hurt." Fluttershy stepped nervously towards Soarin.
"Don't worry 'Shy, I'll keep the part useful to you intact." Rainbow winked. Fluttershy blushed a deep crimson.
"I... don't... oh my...." Soarin laughed.
"Don't worry 'Shy, I promise I won't make any moves on you that will make you uncomfortable." As soon as he finished, he wrapped a foreleg behind her neck and pulled her into a deep kiss. Fluttershy squeaked, but then returned the favor. When he pulled away he grinned. "Okay, just that one time. I promise, not again." Fluttershy's face grew an even deeper crimson than before.
"You better come back soon after that. Or I'll hunt you down and give you the stare." Fluttershy didn't even attempt to apologize like she usually did after being assertive. Or give him an option. The sound of her voice was dead serious. It was unprecedented. Soarin shuddered. He had seen Fluttershy use her stare before; it wasn't a pretty sight. He quickly regained his composure. He had nothing to worry about. Fluttershy was his first marefriend in almost eight years. His last marefriend dumped him because he never spent time with her after joining the Wonderbolts. He wasn't going to lose Fluttershy like that.
"I'll be back before you notice I ever left." He smiled and nuzzled her. She returned the favor and rested her head on his neck. It was just then that the group noticed Scootaloo wasn't with them.
"Where's Scoot?" Rainbow asked. A rare hint of worry crept into her voice.
"Scootaloo?" Spitfire called out. Before anypony could react, an orange blur shot out of the air at Soarin and tackled him to the ground. Fluttershy squeaked in surprise.
"If I don't see you again within two months, I'll do that to you during a show," Scootaloo warned.
"Then you'll see me before the end of this month," Soarin replied.
"Smart." Scootaloo stepped off and smiled.
"Are we tackling ponies again? That is sooooo fun!" Pinkie shot forward at Soarin but was quickly stopped by a purple aura of magic.
"That's enough assault for one night, Pinkie," Twilight chuckled.
"Thanks Twilight." Soarin was very pleased that he wasn't about to be taken off his hooves a third time tonight.
"Anything for a friend. Pinkie, would you stop trying to get out? You're making it more difficult for me to hold on to you." Pinkie's hooves were digging deeper and deeper into the dirt as she continued to try and run after Soarin. Soarin took this as his cue to give Fluttershy one final kiss goodbye and take off.
"I'll see you all soon. I promise." As he said those words, his gaze never left Flutterhy's. Although he truly did intend to see them all again very soon, it was her that he really intended to go back to. 'Maybe Spitfire made the right choice,' he thought as he turned around and flew towards Cloudsdale.
The door to the Dash family's room in the castle burst open. Four Royal guards stepped in.
"What the hay? It's four in the morning, can we sleep?" Rainbow grunted.
"Rainbow and Spitfire Dash, you are under arrest for the foalnapping of Scootaloo Crestfall. You are to follow us to Princess Celestia's throne room immediately."
"WHAT?!" The entire family shouted in response. A guard grabbed Scootaloo.
"It's alright Scootaloo, I'm here to help," he said calmly.
"GET THE HAY AWAY FROM ME!" Scootaloo kicked the guard in the face. He recoiled, and then tightened his grip around her.
"Stockholm Syndrome. She's going to be difficult."
"We did not foalnap her! We took her in after her parents abandoned her!" Spitfire yelled at the guards as they restrained her wings.
"Tell that to the Princess," the guard responded. Rainbow spread her wings and attempted to fight, but was quickly knocked down by one of the guards.
"RAINBOW!" Spitfire shouted helplessly.
"MOM, NO!" Scootaloo was terrified. She had no idea what was going on. First the ponies who she viewed as her parents were being accused of foalnapping and now they were being beaten by Royal Guards? What the hay was going on?"
All of the ponies in the nearby rooms were woken by the commotion. When they stepped outside, they were horrified to see their friends being dragged away by the Royal Guard. Twilight immediately ran to the guards.
"What the hay are you doing with my friends?!" she demanded.
"They are under arrest for foalnapping Scootaloo Crestfall."
"They took her in after her parents abandoned her!"
"Her father gave us a different story. I'm sorry Lady Sparkle, but it looks like you picked the wrong friends."
In the throne room, Princess Celestia was at a loss. She knew from Twilight's letters what the truth was about the monster standing in front of her. The problem was she didn't have any evidence to prove it. She hoped she would at least be able to prevent Rainbow and Spitfire from going to jail for a crime they didn't commit.
"Sorry to sound rude Princess, but how much longer are your guards going to take? I'd really like to have my daughter back as soon as possible."
"Mr. Crestfall, you're going to have to be patient. You can't take your daughter home until after I hear the case from both perspectives."
"Well make it quick then, will you? I want those fillyfooling bucks put away for what they did to my family."
"You will keep a decent tongue in my throne room, do you understand? And leave your bigotry at home."
"Fine, fine, whatever. I just want my daughter back home. It isn't the same without her, you know?" At that moment, Princess Luna opened the door behind the thrones and stepped inside.
"You asked me to help you with this case sister?" Luna asked.
"Yes. Please, sit with me." As Luna sat on her throne, a member of the Guard poked his head in through the door.
"Princesses Celestia and Luna, we have the defendants."
"Excellent, bring them in." Princess Celestia was a nervous wreck on the inside. She knew the two mares who were about to walk in through that door were innocent of the crime they were accused of and a better family for the young Scootaloo than her father. But would she have evidence to rule in their favor? She couldn't break any of the laws governing court actions that she herself had written, but what if those laws worked against the innocent mares? Before the Princess could continue her train of thought, the guards brought the young family in. Rainbow had a fresh cut on her head.
"Did one of you attack Mrs. Rainbow Dash?" Now the Sun Princess wasn't nervous, she was pissed.
"She attempted to resist apprehension. I was forced to-"
"Break the strict order I gave you that NONE OF THEM WERE TO BE HARMED?!" Princess Celestia finished his sentence for him. "Return to the barracks soldier. I will determine how you will be disciplined after I finish with this matter."
"Y-yes ma'am." The guard scurried off. When Princess Celestia yelled at somepony, it was not a pretty sight. To be on the receiving end was far worse than to get the Stare from Fluttershy.
"Scootaloo! I was so worried about you." Scootaloo's father made a worried voice.
"Stuff it dad. I don't want to hear your voice."
"Scootaloo, what a thing to say? Those mares really made you believe that-"
"SHUT UP! YOU ARE LYING AND EVERYPONY HERE KNOWS IT!"
"You will not speak to me in that tone of voice ever-"
"If your little family reunion is done, I'd like to get underway," Princess Celestia interrupted. "Now, from the letters I have received from Twilight Sparkle, Scootaloo was abandoned by her parents in Ponyville. It was then that she was taken in by the Dash family. Is that the truth Rainbow Dash?"
"Yes Princess. Plain and simple. The MULE standing over there ditched his daughter after beating her up right before a snowstorm was scheduled to hit Ponyville!" Rainbow was fuming. She couldn't believe this was happening.
"Mr. Crestfall, do you also perceive this to be the truth?"
"No. My daughter was missing when I got home from work my last day in Ponyville. I heard from a townspony that the golden one was seen carrying her away from my home while she was waiting for me to take her up to the house."
"I flew her up to your bucking house you lying sack of-"
"Spitfire, I ask that you keep your mouth clean in my courtroom," the Princess interrupted. "Mr. Crestfall, I do have to wonder why, if your daughter had been taken from you, that you didn't take every measure possible to retrieve her from her foalnappers? In fact, I have hotel records saying that you checked into a hotel in Canterlot the very night you claim your daughter went missing in Ponyville. That is very unusual of a concerned father."
"I needed to get my wife and I away from the snowstorm. We didn't have time to move the house above cloud level before it hit, and I had a job interview the next day in Canterlot. It broke my heart to leave while my daughter was missing, but I did what I had to do to protect who I could in my family."
"In my experience, a father who's foal is missing will do anything in his power to find that foal and will ignore everything else in his life until he does," Celestia countered. She had never hated anypony before, not even Discord, but this stallion was the spitting image of everything wrong about a horrible father.
"I knew I would find my daughter soon enough. I missed her terribly, but I had a family to support. I still do. If I couldn't bring any money in I wouldn't be able to feed my wife."
"That is most likely the worst rationalization for your actions you could have possibly made." The Princess had no qualms about berating that stallion. "Rainbow and Spitfire Dash, I hereby declare that you are not guilty of the crime you have been accused of." Rainbow and Spitfire hugged each other and smiled at Scootaloo. "The deciding evidence in my verdict is the Right to Maternity issued to you by the mayor of Ponyville that you would not have requested had you been her foalnappers." Princess Celestia swallowed. She hated herself for having to say the next part of her verdict. But she had no choice. Never had she felt so helpless in her life. "However, there is no evidence to support the claim that she was a victim of abuse and is thus released into the care of her father, Mr. Jade Crestfall."
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Warning! I come from future the you know as tomorrow or Saturday! I must warn you that you will be in grave danger should you not post more of this fantastic fic on the day I am from!
Grave Danger!
Bad timezone joke is bad.
Bullshit. The fact that Scootaloo says he did is more than enough to account. If domestic abuse was only valid when there's an unbiased outside witness then no one would ever be caught for beating their kids or husband/wife, and while we know it happens much more than the law gets involved with, the fact remains many are still arrested for it - even after the bruises and scars are healed, even if there are no witnesses other than the victims.
If I'm being told to believe that Equestria, under the rule of immortal beings with wisdom that humans cannot comprehend, overlooked something like THIS when they were signing laws, my whole immersion is completely shattered. (It was shaky at best with the pacing and issues of Dash and Scootaloo having advanced vocabulary.)
I hope this gets fixed quickly in the upcoming chapter.
There's also the fact that Jade Crestfall is a Wanted Criminal. Criminal Charges alone in this chapter include Perjury (Lying in a Court of Law - the Solar Court), Conspiracy (with Royal Guards to attack Rainbow Dash), and my personal favorite; Child Endangerment - Scootaloo is under Medical and Psychiatric Care and has not proven that he could adequately care for Scootaloo since he is on his way to Prison as I believe Canterlot has an Extradition Agreement with Cloudsdale being that they both are Celestia's Domain.
The fact that R.D. and Spitfire are found innocent should be proof enough to grant custody to them.
3556419 Good point there.
3556852 Perjury maybe, but if Equestrian court works as American courts claim to work (yes, I know American courts have been operating with a "guilty until proven innocent" mentality), Tia would need to prove that he knew he was lying. This is likely impossible, as his description of events differed from reality only in his stated intent, so the only way to prove guilt would be to read his mind.
Conspiracy? No. He seems to have gone through the proper channels.
Child Endangerment would require that he be shown to be abusive (which gets us back to square one), not just that she'd be moving between homes.
The "wanted criminal" part should, however, be sufficient reason to leave Scoots in R.D.'s and SF's company.
I remember how much hate this chapter got on the original, but this time seems to have a better reaction.
3556995 The fact R.D. and Spits were charged grants credence to the accusation. If they were charged, then the Abuse must have happened for him to be able to make the Charges. If the Abuse did not happen, then Scootaloo would be in Canterlot with him and not in the Palace in the midst of a Blue-On-Blue fight between Royal Guards and Element Bearers.
The Guards themselves would be up for Courts-Martial for Disobeying a Lawful Order at the very least, and at worst getting smacked with a Dishonorable Discharge for attacking a Minor Noble (since R.D. is an Element Bearer and a Knight of Equestria).
I still believe there is insufficient evidence for Celestia to grant Jade custody without at least looking into the accusation. At the very least, place Scoots into protective custody until the matter is settled. This would give plenty of time to confirm the Warrant, Extradite Jade to Cloudsdale, then grant the two mares custody. Any other way would allow further harm to come to the foal.
3557111 Your final (third) paragraph is correct, to the best of my knowledge.
However, the "if the abuse didn't happen, then why isn't she with him" is a poor argument. He could claim to not know where Scoot was, or that he believed her to have gone to a friend's place (or run away, under the assumption that she'd come looking for him in a day or two). It does indicate abuse, but it does not prove abuse.
There are not, I believe, any charges that can be brought against him for reporting it as a kidnapping, given that there is no evidence that he knew (at the time of accusation) that it was not. As such, the guard's actions (beyond the appropriate response to an accusation of kidnapping) are on their own heads, not his.
3556995
There's also the fact that he did not adequately prove that he attempted to find her again. Police were not contacted, and it's been what? A week or more? By his own admission he cared more for his own life than his child's. At the very least, Celestia should be putting off releasing Scootaloo back to him pending psychiatric evaluation to check for signs of Stockholm Syndrome. If she's not exhibiting, then there's further solid evidence against the douchebag. Even without that pretense, there's still the fact that getting left behind in a storm for ANY reason is a traumatic event - and the small child should be seen by a professional.
Celestia has all the authority, legal right, precedence, and moral/ethical right to deny or delay Scootaloo's remanding into Douchebag's custody. She can literally tie this up as long as she wants. (Let's not forget he's a known/proven bigot, which is always destructive for a young child's mental state)
Thus, this is bullshit.
3547860 what religious issues? and wheres the sequel XD
3557727 You'll notice that I did agree with you when you made that same point before (in the third paragraph of your previous reply). Celly should be able to keep Scoot out of harm's way, even when the only evidence is Scootaloo's testimony.
For criminal charges, however, you must realize that it is currently a case of "her word against his" (R.D. and S.F. got their information from Scootaloo, so Scootaloo is the only witness). Yes, there are some indicators that she is correct, but none of them seem strong enough to make a criminal case against the father.
3558215
The sequel will be coming out once I finish posting this one up. As for the religious reasons... they are very complicated.
~SolidFire
3558990 thats dumb
I knew it was going to happen.
dass Hurensohn von einem Vater.
U missed something it's also been like 2 bucking week since he's been in canterlot not to mention the hole house thing celestia would be smart enough to say if your daughter can't fly why is your house so far of the ground. Just letting you know you missed some.
I thought the father had warrants for his arrest from tax evasion? Cant Celestia get him imprisoned for that alone especially if its warranted multiple times?
Is it gonna be a luna turn around? PLEASE LET IT BE THAT!!!!
I mean hell that's how they got freaking Al Capone--Tax Evasion....Wait, didn't Celestia ask Luna to sit in...she hasn't made a peep...what's going on here
"Rleased into the care of Jade Crestfall".
WHAT!? WTF!?
bruh