Moondancer's Spoiled Rich Reform Test Trial

by Nebbie

A Cold Thermometer

Author's Note:

Warning: Major spoiler for The Washouts within. With the screwy release schedule, a lot have already seen it, but I don't think it's been on Discovery Family at the time of writing.
This is the nature of a fic released right before an episode about one of the characters in it shows up out of the blue.

This chapter faced some difficulty in early writing as I realized I'd made Lightning Dust a little too aggressive. This does mean chapter 1 had a little bit of post-publish editing unfortunately, but I think it's worth having things toned down a little to keep the drama and pacing in check.

Anyways, for the many of you wanting Moondancer, here she is in the role of unapologetic asylum master, essentially.

I woke up to the sound of Lightning Dust eating waffles. For a brief moment, I smiled at her without thinking, but then my better judgement kicked in and I put on my usual scowl.

"Mornin'. You want some?" she asked.

I yawned, then levitated one over, applied a properly-measured amount of syrup, and ate it in chunks with a fork. Lightning shook her head, then ate one like a lion tearing into a juicy steak.

"Hmmph, tell me that eating style isn't the test you had in mind." I said as I got out of bed to use the toilet, thinking that talking while on it would be just enough to appease her interest in debasing me.

"'course not, I don't blame ya for not wanting syrup all over your hooves." she said, eyeing me curiously, clearly to evaluate whether I'd taken her words to heart.

Luckily for me, a large amount of morning wind preceded my urine as I let loose, and I smirked at her as I briefly put myself in the mindset of a pony that thinks physical pleasures are an end goal in life. "Aah~, felt good to let that out!"

"Well now, somepony turned over a new leaf." she remarked.

I flushed and sat down with her. "I just had to pretend that I was my husband, and not keep up appearances within the home."

Lightning Dust smiled. "I'm beginning to like you. Maybe we could team up and bust out of this joint before they do whatever this stupid 'reformation' is about."

I chuckled, hoping my nervousness wasn't noticible. Meanwhile, Moondancer trotted over, flanked by guards. "Are you two ready for your first examinations? It'll take about half an hour and will be mostly painless."

"...mostly?" Lightning asked.

I shrugged. "We are quite prepared for whatever barbarities you have in store." In fact, I had come here hoping to be punished, but I was sure now this place would go too easy on me, considering what I'd done. I tried not to think about it too much, but it was always at the very back of my mind.

Moondancer led us into a room with two tables that I'm pretty sure were for dentistry, and gestured for us to get comfy on them. Standing there was some stallion acting as her assistant, with a black mane, blue coat, and a cutie mark showing a pony covered in bandages. I hesitantly stepped forward, and soon found myself being strapped in. "Are these really necessary?"

Moondancer nodded. "For your own safety, we don't want any accidents."

That almost made me feel better, though the fact I was being strapped in belly-down was most discomforting, as I couldn't see what they were doing near my rear.

Moondancer cleared her throat. "Alright, we're just going to check your vitals first, to make sure you're both healthy." First came a stethoscope to listen to my heartbeat, then a cuff over my hoof to take my blood pressure. "A little elevated on both, but within the norm, understandable and quite good."

However, my blood pressure most certainly shot up when I felt her lift my tail. "Um, what are you do-aah!" I was interrupted by a feeling I'd rather not describe involving a cold rectal thermometer and minimal lubrication. I'd had doctors in my rear before, but they normally gave some sort of warning at least.

Once it was fully in, I shudderingly exhaled, and heard a giggle to my right and behind a bit. Lightning Dust was definitely entertained. "Heh, not what you expected, Spoiled Ri-aaaah cold! Oo-ooh!"

I chuckled, in part to try not to focus on the intrusive nature of what had just been done to me, but also to preface my rebuttal. "Not what you expected? You sound like a mare on her first date!"

Moondancer put a hoof to my mouth. "Refrain from insulting your fellow test subject or there will be further discomfort in your rear." she said sternly, dashing my confidence.

I looked her in the eyes and nodded. Soon enough, our thermometers were taken out with two popping noises in a row. Lightning Dust grumbled, the words too low to make out. "Running a little hot, you two probably need more fluids. Should be a simple fix." The way she said it was like a filly that needed to tape a broken corner of their ant farm, combined with the treatment of our personal space and calling us test subjects, it all made me feel like nothing more than an object at Moondancer's disposal.

As Moondancer, without warning, poked a needle into me to get a sample of blood, I wondered whether she could simply declare us to be unreformable and do the kinds of experiments that happened in horror movies. I began to get chills as I imagined myself being given mind-altering chemicals just to see how I'd react, and spending my life in a white room with the unempathetic Moondancer in control of everything, and my only source of interaction. At least she seemed better than Lightning Dust. Then, I had the most horrible thought, of being stitched together with Lightning Dust into one pony with two heads. It made me want to vomit.

My train of thought was broken only by an odd metal helmet placed on my head, which certainly didn't help alleviate my fears. "Try to think of each other, I want to figure out the brainwave patterns associated with relationships." Moondancer said. I complied, although there was little else I could think of at the moment, other than...the past. That was even worse to think about, however, so I avoided it. Soon enough, she pulled the helmet off. "Alright, back to the cells with you two. The psychological examination will be tomorrow."

I was quite complaint, but Lightning Dust tried to hurt the assistant that had been dealing with her, apparently having snapped. She was quickly subdued by a guard, who held her down awaiting instructions from the two. The assistant told him to keep her pinned as he spanked her butt once. Moondancer then came over and spanked it a few more times, leaving it red. "Will you comply, or do we need a more effective punishment? We won't injure you, but we are authorized to use a wide variety of punishments as we feel appropriate."

Lightning Dust looked to me with a glare that melted under my calm gaze. "No, no further trouble, ma'am."

The rest of the walk to the cell was indeed uneventful, though I could feel a tension in the air. As soon as we were in, and most of the guards were away, Lightning took it out on our pillow, rapidly punching it and grunting like she was in one of those action movies that the idiotic masses loved. When she took a moment to breathe, I decided to try to stop her. "You know, if you succeed in what you're doing, you'll leave us without any head comfort."

She grunted and collapsed forward onto the bed, hooves pounding into it. "It's just so frustrating! They're treating us like dirt! I used to be somepony, you know!"

I sat next to her and put a hoof on her, which due to her pose, meant a hoof on her butt. It certainly felt like they'd done more to her than I'd seen a mother do to a misbehaving foal. "Tell me about how you used to be, and how you got this low, perhaps then you can calm down and act properly."

She huffed a bit. "Fine. Well, the short story is that after I finally left that stupid old amusement park, I set out to become the best flyer there ever was!" She sighed and put her forehooves under her chin. "...and then when I tried out for the Wonderbolts, they told me I was too reckless. They didn't even give me a second chance, and nopony got hurt!"

I didn't particularly care either way on the matter, but I felt it was important to support her to get in her good graces, and I stroked her back a bit as I patted her. "Hmm, I always suspected that the Wonderbolts were more than they were chalked up to be..."

She seemed elated at my response. "Right? And then I formed my own stunt group out of the ponies that were too hot for them to handle, The Washouts. There was nothing too dangerous for us! Then the very pony that got me kicked out of the Wonderbolts dared interfere with me helping some orange filly with her dream to fly. Sure, the rocket probably would've killed her, but at least she'd die living her dream with a roaring crowd."

I gulped as I briefly considered the implications, but kept on with pretending to care, starting to give her a bit of a massage. "...yes, I suppose so."

"Well anyways, we went to another town to find more ponies to entertain, and there was this one filly who reaaally liked me. She was like that orange filly, but green, and her wings worked at least a little bit. Mmm, she was dreamy." Lightning Dust seemed to breathe like she was a bit more than friends with the filly, which disturbed me a little bit. "It all went well for a few shows, just a few minor scrapes, really added to the drama and the tension of our death-defying stunts. The audience absolutely ate it up. But that filly...she kept asking me to make it a little closer, and I couldn't say no to her...and then when she wanted out, I made sure she couldn't say no to me." Her voice started to crack a little, and I was sure she was on the verge of tears.

"What happened?" I asked as I stopped the massage.

"Everything went wrong that night. Rolling Thunder rolled right into a Manticore's mouth with lit dynamite up her butt, and when I tried to tell everypony to continue, Short Fuse quit. Sure, I shot it at Rolling a little too accurately and it sent her off-course to her doom, but it wasn't on purpose and the crowd loved it!"

I had to put a hoof to my mouth to stop from chuckling at such a humorous end. As a filly, I'd been very strictly not allowed to laugh at dead ponies or butt humor, and I wasn't about to start now.

"...but then it was just me and my filly and we knew the crowd would eventually realize that Rolling hadn't escaped the blast. She insisted that I hold the saw she had to dodge. She said that there was no way I could cut her." She inhaled sharply. "I thought all the calculations were right...I thought if I just flew on cue...oh Celestia..." She started sobbing. "Her head just came right off! I thought quick and got one last tongue kiss with her midair, but...that was it. Oh, I was so stupid!" she finished with a hit to the pillow for emphasis. "...that's what I'm here for."

I wasn't sure how to react; rich ponies weren't even to associate with the sort of rabble that touched fillies, nor the sort that got them killed on stage, but here I was with no choice in the matter. I eventually, against my better judgment, and realizing that I had done things that were arguably worse, cuddled up with her to continue the charade. "Shhh, it's alright, I'm here for you."

We hardly said anything to each other the rest of the day. Even lunch and dinner were quiet as we sipped some fine apple cider. I passed most of the time reading, while Lightning preferred instead to sleep...and touch herself before doing so. It certainly made going to bed easy with her out like a light already. The only thing that kept me awake a while was when I realized that it was starting to not become a charade; I eventually brushed the thought aside as another musing of my tired mind.

Comments

[superfun]

I swear I added this to my tracking, but I only saw this chapter when double checking the status.

Anyway, man that got even darker than I was expecting.

[Nebbie]

9146972
I had a lot of trouble with coming up with LD's backstory as a reason for her being here. At one point, she was going to have murdered her love interest in a fit of jealous rage. This version, where the deaths are accidental, is the logical result of her being with a dangerous stunt group that very nearly killed a pony in the actual show because of her. It makes her a little more tragic in that, for all her faults (and boy, you'll see her faults next chapter), she got worse than she deserved.

[superfun]

9147014
That makes sense.
I don't see LD as being capable of intentional murder, at least not yet