The Friendship Initiative

by Jatheus

Salvage

Scootaloo had a few hours to think as she sat locked up in the Ponyville jail. Even so, that only gave her time to regret letting herself become hotheaded. Her ears perked up at the sound of the iron door opening.

“Oh no no no, no no no!" Princess Twilight Sparkle entered the jail.

Her eyes were wide, and her breaths were shallow as it seemed a panic might take hold. She began pacing the length of the room.

“Twilight,” Scootaloo greeted the new arrival.

As though she hadn’t heard, the alicorn continued, "This is bad. This is really bad. This could be a catastrophe!"

“Best to let her finish.”

A dark figure had entered unnoticed by the pegasus. Queen Chrysalis stood motionless near the door. Her expression was impossible to read. She was adorned with dog tags similar to what Ash Eater wore, but hers were green.

“One day, not even a whole day really,” Twilight frothed, “We have a plan, and we need to stick to the plan. That’s all. Just keep our heads down and hope nopony noticed!”

She stopped, spinning to face Scootaloo, “But those were reporters downstairs, one of them was in town from Manehattan! I’m going to have to tell them something!”

She returned to trotting across the room, “The next headline could completely destroy all the faith everyone had in my plan, in me! ‘The Friendship Implosion’, or maybe ‘The Friendship Inferno’, or maybe they’ll stick with alliteration instead of the initials, ‘The Friendship Failure’.

“I don't know if it’ll play out quite that dismally. We should at least hear their excuses before we write your epitaph," Chrysalis smirked.

“Excuses?" Twilight gasped. "Excuses for fighting in the street? Excuses for starting a brawl that could have escalated into a riot? We could have ended up with a second war on our hooves! What kind of excuses could there possibly be?"

Catching Scootaloo's gaze, Twilight's shallow breaths began to slow. The incarcerated pegasus was about to speak, but the princess held up a hoof to forestall such as her composure was regained. She took a deep breath, "Sorry, I've just been trying to think through what could possibly have happened, and my imagination ran away with me."

“I noticed," Scootaloo said.

Despite the time she'd had to plan what she would say, a tightening in her stomach seemed to steal her words.

“Scootaloo, I am deeply concerned about this situation, but before I say anything else, would you like to tell me what happened?”

Ash Eater seemed to have a confident smirk on his face. For what reason, Scootaloo could only guess. She tried to ignore him.

“Really, it’s just a misunderstanding. He didn’t attack me. I got a little frustrated and thought, if we sparred a bit, it might help clear the air.”

“So, it was your idea?” Twilight went pale.

“Yes, ma’am. It was my idea. I challenged him to the fight, and we set a few rules before we started. I guess I thought that fighting is really the only thing we have in common right now, so if we could start there, maybe it would be helpful.”

The princess frowned, “As glad as I am to hear that you two weren’t trying to kill each other, I’m very disappointed. While competition between friends can be fine, outright fighting, especially at this early stage... I just don’t think it’s a good idea..”

“We are not, friends!” Ash Eater growled.

A low giggle came from the other side of the room. All eyes turned to Queen Chrysalis. Scootaloo was rather surprised as the giggle turned to a pure laugh that was totally devoid of any hint of menacing or vileness. It almost made her more unsettled that the changeling queen seemed genuinely amused.

“What is so funny?” Twilight gasped.

“You are. You can’t force them to be friends, as you’ve admitted yourself. Yet, you somehow think that the way you would do things is the only way for both of them. They were letting off some steam. If she asked him for a fight, and he agreed, then no crime was even committed. Why don’t we just let them go about their business?”

“Well,” Scootaloo added, “I may have assaulted a guard. When they first arrived, they thought Ash Eater was the aggressor and came down on him only. He didn’t fight back, and so I shoved them off... once or twice.”

A wild look of terror made itself plain on Twilight’s face as she took in that information. She turned to Chrysalis, “So, you think I should do nothing?”

“Not at all,” Chrysalis let a smile curl her lips, “Our job is damage control. We spin it in such a way to downplay any of the unpleasantness. We order the guards to do the same. It was a misunderstanding. We can leave it at that.”

“But, what about the next time?”

“Oh, for the hive’s sake! Give them some additional rules if you think it necessary to protect the image of your friendship initiative, but holding these two longer than absolutely necessary will only make things worse.”

Twilight Sparkle’s brow furrowed in thought as she continued pacing back and forth.

“I’m curious,” the changeling queen addressed Scootaloo, “Why did you challenge him to a fight in the first place?”

Scootaloo felt a bit uncomfortable, her stomach sinking a bit. She had been so surprised when the restaurant manager had asked them to wait outside that she hadn’t known what to do.

“The manager at the hay burger asked us to go outside, because Ash Eater... he wasn’t doing anything, but the manager said he was scaring the other ponies.”

Chrysalis’ expression became somewhat guarded, but she raised an eyebrow. Twilight stopped pacing and returned her attention to Scootaloo.

“Then when he brought us our food, Ash Eater crushed it, and I got a bit mad that he wasted it.”

“I see,” the queen said simply.

“For the moment,” Twilight added, “Keep that detail to yourselves. I’ll get the other princesses together and see if we can come up with a solution. We can’t have any of our citizens treating another group that way. But if you just hadn’t still been there, maybe nopony would have noticed the fight, and you wouldn’t have made a scene. I’ll also, quietly, issue orders and come up with some new training so the guards will use more restraint in the execution of their duties.” She took a deep breath, “I still don’t like it, but if you feel the need to fight again, at least go somewhere you won’t be noticed. We can’t afford any more of these misunderstandings.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

Chrysalis looked at Ash Eater.

“I understand and obey, my queen.”

The changeling monarch turned to Twilight, seeming completely satisfied. It made Scootaloo feel all the more unnerved that she was the one defending the incarcerated pair. She wanted to take the action at face value, that Chrysalis also wanted Twilight’s plans to succeed, but there was a knot in her stomach that urged caution against such optimistic thinking.

The Princess of Friendship took a deep breath, “Alright, I’ll order your release and deal with the reporters. I can send some guards to escort you out if you’d like.”

Scootaloo didn’t much like the thought of feeling like she needed any help, but she also had no desire to deal with inquisitive journalists trying to spin the day’s events into a full blown disaster.

“Sure. We’ll wait here.”

“Thank you. Try to keep your head down this time,” Twilight made a nervous smile.

Scootaloo returned the gesture. Gears soon turned, and locks were opened. The pair of prisoners waited near the iron door for their escort. Scootaloo felt somewhat sick to her stomach for causing so much trouble. She just wanted to get home and settled. Her stomach growled loudly. That would be another problem. She seriously doubted whether the cupboards were well stocked.

Ash Eater stared at a spot on the floor, unmoving for quite some time. At first, the pegasus hadn’t thought much of it, but she began to grow concerned. She decided to reach out once more, despite the previous setbacks.

“Is something on your mind?”

Ash Eater looked up at her, uncertainty in his blue eyes, “You surprised me.”

“How so?” the mare’s head tilted to one side.

“I expected you’d use this as an opportunity to be rid of me.”

The thought hadn’t so much as occurred to her. Certainly had she said the wrong thing or even made a fairly small lie about how events unfolded, it could have placed Ash Eater back in prison and destroyed Twilight’s plans. What other choice would the princess have had? Scootaloo began to wonder whether she had stumbled upon a second thing she had in common with Ash Eater.

“I wouldn’t do that,” she began. “Princess Twilight asked me to do this as a friend and as a favor to her. I gave her my word that I would get to know you and teach you about us. She thinks a deeper understanding will eliminate the fear and distrust between us, and I’m going to see it through.”

He snorted, “At least you had a choice.”

She was afraid to say more, as Ash Eater seemed agitated again. However, she was certain that he held his duty at least as valuable as she did hers. It sparked a small hope that perhaps they had more in common than she’d imagined. It was equally an exciting and unsettling thought.