Family Mares

by SolidFire

Nothing We Can Do

Nothing We Can Do

"WHAT! NO, THAT IS NOT HAPPENING!" Rainbow was not about to let her daughter go back into the care of that monster.

"Rainbow Dash, I ask that you maintain order in my court." It killed Princess Celestia inside to say that, but she knew if she let Rainbow continue, she would do something that would put her in jail. Her and her bucking loyalty.

"ORDER MY FLANK! NEXT TIME A GOD OF CHAOS DECIDES TO ATTACK EQUESTRIA, I THINK I'LL NEED MORE EVIDENCE OF HIS EXISTENCE BEFORE I CAN DO ANYTHING!" Rainbow could not believe what the Princess had done. She knew what that mule had done to Scootaloo, and now she was sending her back to him?

"Rainbow Dash, I ask that you come with me. I need to talk to you about this more privately."

"Buck. You. Not without my daughter."

"Rainbow-"

"She said no." Spitfire was just as pissed as Rainbow. "Unless you can take our daughter away from that monster, we have no business with you."

"Listen-"

"MOM! STOP THEM! PLEASE!" Scootaloo was sobbing. She couldn't go back home with him, not after she finally found out what it was to be happy, not after she learned what it meant to be loved. She couldn't go back with the stallion who had made her life a living hell. The stallion who only wanted her as a means to spite her adoptive parents for their sexual preferences.

Rainbow Dash charged after her, knocking every guard that got in her way aside. Just before she could reach Scootaloo, a hoof landed on her head, knocking her out cold.

"MOM!"

"RAINBOW!"

“ENOUGH!" Luna was couldn't take any more of the fighting. All activity in the room stopped at the use of the Royal Canterlot Voice. Luna calmed herself. "Sister, are you sure that is a proper ruling? You know what he has done to that filly."

"No, I don't think it's right. But I can't ignore the laws I established regarding this issue. There's nothing we can do."

"You're the eternal monarch of Equestria and there's NOTHING YOU CAN DO?!" Spitfire wasn't about to listen to that. Not while she was standing over her unconscious wife and watching her daughter be dragged away, screaming. "Ignore your law code and do what's right! There's something you can do!"

"Spitfire, it isn't that-"

"LIKE HAY IT ISN'T THAT SIMPLE! BRING ME BACK MY DAUGHTER!" Spitfire was about to charge after Scootaloo herself before the Sun Princess enveloped her in an aura of magic. The last image Spitfire had of Scootaloo was of her holding onto the door frame, looking helplessly back at her adoptive mother. Spitfire's heart broke and she couldn't hold back the tears.

"Princess Celestia, what's- RAINBOW!" Twilight and the others ran to their friend's side. "Princess Celestia, what happened here?" Celestia sighed. She really hated herself for what she had done. She wished it had been as easy as doing the right thing. She knew she could have, but what image would that have established? Corrupted monarchs keeping a stallion away from his daughter so she could give her to friends of the Monarchy? That could lead to far more problems than the pain of the Dash family. Scootaloo's screams could still be heard in the distance. Celestia's heart broke for the filly. She was never going to be able to make up for this.

"I had no choice but to rule in favor of Mr. Jade Crestfall over custody of Scootaloo."

"What? Why in the HAY would you think to do THAT?!" Twilight had never questioned her teacher's judgement before, but this time she knew the Princess had made a mistake.

"I'm sorry, Twilight Sparkle. I had to follow the laws I enacted. I had no choice."

"You did have a choice. And you made the wrong one." With that, Twilight motioned for her friends to follow her. Applejack already had Rainbow on her back. A guard stepped forward.

"We have to take Mrs. Rainbow Dash into custody."

"On what account?!" Applejack demanded.

"Four counts of assault against an officer of the-"

"Stand down. She will not be punished for her actions." Luna wasn't going to let Rainbow Dash be arrested for being a good parent.

"But Princess-"

"Do as she says." At the order of Princess Celestia, he apologized to Applejack and backed off. Applejack turned to the Princesses.

"Thank ya kindly Princesses." With that, she turned away. Spitfire bolted past the doorway where she last saw her daughter, only finding an empty hallway, save for a trio of guards blocking the path to where Scootaloo had been taken. She couldn't take it any more. She broke down and wept on the floor. Fluttershy walked over to her and knelt down.

"What are you crying for?" Fluttershy wasn't about to let Spitfire just give up.

"It's no use. She's gone, Scootaloo is-"

"Then prove that her father is hurting her and get her back."

"Huh?"

"Don't just fall down and cry, do something about it." Something had changed about Fluttershy. She wasn't so worried about hurting ponies’ feelings when they needed to hear something anymore. Spitfire noticed that the change in Fluttershy coincided with Soarin's entry into her life. Soarin' always did have a way of boosting one's confidence.

"You heard what the Princess said. There's nothing we can do." A sharp pain in Spitfire's flank caused her to jump to her hooves.

"Sorry for hitting you, I just wanted to be more assertive. And what kind of parent just gives up on her daughter? You should be ashamed of yourself." Fluttershy's words hit home. What was Spitfire doing, wallowing like a school-filly who just got dumped? She was going to get her daughter back, no matter what the cost.

---

Princess Celestia sat on her throne with a worn look on her face. It had taken all her strength to handle that hearing. If it had involved anypony else, she would have sent it to a different judge at a later date. But anything concerning the Elements of Harmony fell under her jurisdiction and hers alone. Not even Luna could have been allowed to rule over that particular case. As much as it tore her apart to give the ruling she gave, she knew it was the only one she could allow herself to give. Her kingdom wasn't as sturdy as it looked. Though it was in a time of peace, it was also in a time of discontent. The conflict with the western buffalo tribes and the settler ponies continued despite the peace at Appleoosa. Ponies wanted taxes lowered and wages raised. If a story got about about the monarch breaking her own laws for ponies close enough to her to be considered friends, all hay could break loose in her kingdom. Even if it only made it to the Equestrian Enquirer. Celestia hated herself even more for her next course of action.

"Send for the Captain of the Guard."

"Yes Ma'am," a guard replied and took flight towards the barracks. A short while later, the Captain appeared. He had been ready since the arrest warrant had been placed on the Dash couple.

"Princess, I am at your service." He gave a bow.

"Make sure the mares from Ponyville return home before I raise the sun. I don't want them causing any trouble here in Canterlot. I can only protect them for so long."

"It will be done Your Majesty." With that, the guard called his troops to follow him down to the current living quarters of the Princess' guests. A single tear fell from Princess Celestia's cheek.

---

"BACK TO PONYVILLE!?" Spitfire shouted. "HAY NO, NOT WITHOUT MY DAUGHTER!"

"Ma'am, these orders came directly from the Princess. You have no choice but to follow them." The guard captain really wished somepony else had gotten this job. These mares were not going to give up easy.

"I think the Princess would change her mind if I gave her a Sonic Rainboom to the face." Despite having only woken up a couple minutes ago and enduring the throbbing pain of a concussion, Rainbow was fully alert and ready to fight. Two guards came from seemingly nowhere and restrained the civilian pegasi's wings.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?! LET ME GO!" Rainbow yelled. She struggled against the guards, but to no avail. She wasn't strong enough to break free. Spitfire also tried to fight, but she couldn't manage any better than her wife. The guards dragged them out of the castle and forced them onto an aerial chariot.

It appeared the rest of their friends didn't make the guards’ task any easier than they had. Twilight had to be restrained by the magic of Princess Celestia herself, seeing as none of the unicorn guards were powerful enough to beat Twilight's counter spells. A cluster of guards were unconscious outside of Twilight's room. None of her friends had ever pictured her as one to use combat magic against another pony, but she was apparently quite capable of it.

As for Applejack, applebucking sure had given her some serious leg strength. Before she was successfully restrained, three guards had their helmets bashed in and were bleeding from cuts BEHIND their bronze headgear. As for Pinkie, the party cannon was not what the guards expected to face in combat. How Pinkie even got it to the castle completely undetected was a mystery to everypony.

"Don't expect a letter anytime soon," Twilight grunted at the Princess.

"When you get these mares back to Ponyville, don't remove their restraints. Guards, set the restraints on the wings of the pegasi to release after two days. Twilight, you and Rarity will be without magic for the same amount of time. The restraints are magic, so Applejack and Pinkie Pie won't be able to remove them either. I'm sorry, but this is the only way to avoid trouble here in Canterlot. I know you won't make it easy for us here if we allow you to return for Scootaloo."

"I trusted you Princess. We all did. Now you send a helpless filly back to the care of an abusive father for the sake of conserving the image of the monarchy? You're just another worthless politician." Celestia didn't show it, but Twilight's words stung her. She felt she could always count on Twilight to support her actions, but the Princess also knew that, in time, Twilight's loyalty would shift to the other Elements as opposed to the monarchy. She never anticipated that it would happen so quickly, but there was nothing she could do.

As the mares were loaded onto chariots and flown away, Princess Celestia had to force herself to look away. She had a country to rule. She couldn't allow herself to let her nation fall apart because of a decision she made regarding a single filly's custody ruling. Even if she was beginning to think she made the wrong choice.

Author's Note:

Disclaimer once again (because keeping up with this is so much better than getting essays done) I did not write this story, nor do I take any credit for it. I simply got the permission of the author and the okay by the site's moderators to put it back up.

Comments

[Twilight Best Pony]

bloody hell, celestia was stupid in this.
i never read the original, did they get scootaloo back?

[SolidFire]

3561693
You'll just have to stay tuned to find out.

~SolidFire

[Aurora Dimmet]

There is more than enough suspicion that her father is abusive. The only way I would have agreed with this writing is if Celestia had made a show of following the law openly by remanding Scootaloo into Douchebag's custody and restraining the girls, while quietly informing them she was sending spies to keep 24/7 watch over Scootaloo to gain proof/whisk Scootaloo away if he so much as looked at her funny.

What has been done to Celestia's character here is atrocious. How is a thousands-of-years-old ruler this incompetent? What happened to chessmaster Celestia? If anything she's just playing the part of "big dumb authority" to foil the protagonists. Ugh.

[Gundamdragon]

And thus scorned and betrayed the elements turned to discord for help and soon the elements of harmony over threw there former princess Celestia with out Luna lifting a hoof to stop them..... harmony is neither good or evil and neither is friendship thus Celestia found her self on the receiving end of there power wielded out of rage sorrow and hatred. And thus fell equestria all cause of one little filly.

[Aziraphael]

3561999
Yeah, I remember reading this in the original posting and wanting to beat my head into a wall at what he does with the "law" in this story. Thankfully it's over quickly and there's only one more spot later on (that I can remember) where he bends any pretense of effective legal authority over and fucks it raw......

[NightmareBlaze]

MY GOD CELESTIA! THIS IS THE SAME REASON YOUR SISTER BECAME NIGHTMARE MOON!!! YOU WERE TO BUSY RULING YOUR FUCKING COUNTRY!! DO YOU WANT MORE NIGHTMARE INCIDENTS?

[Hoovester]

3566190 and Spitfire without is = Fluttermac without the += = and without the parties = without apples = without the magic/egghead stuff

[Titan Commander Sebaste]

Oy... Celestia, you dun bucking goofed!

[Fluttershyisacutegal]

you messed up celestia tsk tsk tsk