Arrested
Scootaloo was happy to be reunited with her mother, and she was overjoyed when Twilight Sparkle agreed to be her big sister. In Scootaloo's mind, the only thing she needed to complete her family picture was her father's return.
It was probably for the best that Scootaloo had no idea that she was currently looking at her father.
"Hello, Twilight," Prince Blueblood said. "Long time no see."
"Blueblood!" Twilight said. Her eyes immediately turned red. "What are you doing here?"
"Is that any way to treat your ex-coltfriend?" Blueblood asked. "I have come to collect my due."
"No!" Twilight shouted. She pushed Scootaloo backwards and jumped out of the hospital bed. Using her body to shield Scootaloo, Twilight glared at Blueblood and said, "I won't let you take her."
Blueblood was confused. "Take who? This child here?"
"I won't let you!" Twilight said. "Scootaloo is my sister, and I love—love?" Twilight's voice cracked, upon saying the word "love", and her right eye turned back to its normal color. She shook her head, as the Alicorn Amulet's evil reasserted control over her.
"No, there's no such thing as love! Not from you!" Twilight shouted.
"Dear Celestia, you really are insane," Blueblood said. "I thought you were just faking it."
Twilight's eyes darted left and right. "I'm not afraid of you or your stupid guards," she said. "I beat them up two days ago. I can do it again."
"Is that...a confession?" Blueblood asked.
"Yeah, I'm the pony who attacked you," Twilight said. "And I'd do it again in a heartbeat, you pompous [bad word]."
Twilight leaped forward and punched Blueblood in the face. His muzzle started bleeding, and he let out a girly cry of pain. There was a minor scuffle, as the two guards seized upon Twilight and restrained her.
"To the dungeons!" Blueblood shouted. "I demand she be imprisoned at once! This maniac cannot be allowed to fly free!"
"No!" Scootaloo cried, jumping forward. "You can't arrest her! She's my big sister!"
"Scootaloo, stay back!" Twilight cried.
Blueblood looked down at the filly that Twilight had been trying to protect. The strangest feeling overtook Blueblood, and for two seconds, he wondered if he knew this child from somewhere.
"Why should I care what you think?" Prince Blueblood said at last. "Your sister is a menace to society, Little Sparkle. If you interfere with her arrest, I'll have you thrown in the dungeons with her."
Scootaloo slunk backwards at this.
"That's better," Blueblood said. "I am a Prince, and you must obey me as such."
"Stay away from him!" Twilight shouted. "He's evil! EVIL!"
"At least I don't punch innocent stallions," Blueblood scoffed. "Take her away."
Prince Blueblood did not care much for the Equestrian legal system. It moved too slowly for his tastes, and he thought the judges were far too generous in placing restraining orders against him. Really, if he had his way, he would throw out the entire legal system, except for the law that made him a prince, as the last descendant of Prince Bluebill.
Since he didn't want to wait a week for Twilight to be brought to trial, Blueblood decided to bend the laws and declare the situation as a royal emergency. This let him completely bypass the normal legal system, and two hours later, Twilight was brought before the quickest-moving legal authority in all of Equestria: the honorable Judge Railroad.
Blueblood was in the middle of explaining why Twilight deserved to be thrown in the Friedrich Nutsy Mental Hospital, when the doors to the courtroom flew open, and Princess Celestia stepped inside.
"I'm here!" she said. "What's the royal emergency? Have the Changlings—Twilight? What are you doing in the defendant's seat?"
Twilight glared at Princess Celestia with red eyes, saying nothing.
"Blueblood? What is going on here?" Princess Celestia demanded.
"Quickly!" Blueblood said. "Your verdict! Give it now before my aunt can interfere—!"
Judge Railroad slammed his gavel. "The court declares a ten minute recess! I need to speak with the princess."
Blueblood groaned.
Naturally, the case was dismissed, the instant that the trial resumed. Princess Celestia, and the judge with her, believed that Twilight Sparkle was innocent of all charges, and even if she did hurt Blueblood, there was just cause. It was ruled that Twilight be safely escorted back to her home in Ponyville, as soon as possible.
Celestia wanted to speak to Twilight privately, but Blueblood did not give her an opportunity to do so. "You can't do this! It is a miscarriage of justice!" he said.
"Blueblood, please step aside," Celestia said politely.
"You're abusing your authority by granting a pardon to your friend!" Blueblood said. "I demand a new trial!"
Judge Railroad slammed his gavel. "Prince Blueblood, the court would like to honor your request," he said. "Let us begin with a new trial: the State of Equestria VS Prince Blueblood."
"WHAT?"
"I would like to represent the state in this matter," Princess Celestia volunteered.
"Agreed. Prince Blueblood, you have been accused of declaring a false state of emergency. How do you plead?"
At the same time as the trial, two Earth ponies walked side-by-side as they headed towards the Ponyville Library.
"This is the third emergency letter we've gotten in a week," Applejack complained. "Twilight's a good friend, but she makes things a mite too hectic for me."
"I couldn't agree more," Cheerilee said. "We both have full-time jobs, after all. We can't always stop what we're doing to come help her."
"It'd help if she said what the emergency was," Applejack said. "That way we'd know if it was a real emergency, or something that could wait a while."
"Yes, 'Come to the library immediately' isn't much to go on," Cheerilee said. "What do you think happened now?"
"Maybe they figured out what monster attacked Twilight, and we gotta use the harmony thingamabobbers to stop it," Applejack suggested.
"Hmmm..." Cheerilee said. "That's possible, but...isn't Twilight still in the hospital? Why are we meeting in the library?"
"I dunno," Applejack said. "Guess we'll find out."
Cheerilee and Applejack continued chatting as they walked through the streets. Topics ranged from Applebloom's performance in school, Cheerilee's plans to give a lesson about cutie marks, and Big Macintosh's social life. Applejack wasn't sure how that last topic came up, but Cheerilee seemed rather interested in it.
When they arrived at the library, the other Elements of Harmony were already there. Rainbow Dash and Fluttershy were there, too; they had insisted on helping their pegasus friend.
"Good, we can begin," a blue unicorn with a purple hat said. She cleared her throat, then spoke loudly to get the attention of all. "Hello, everypony. For those of you who don't know me, I am the Great and Powerful Trixie, stage magician and personal student of Princess Celestia."
"That's my mom," Scootaloo told Cheerilee.
"Yes, I know," Cheerilee said. After hearing Scootaloo talk so much about her mother in school, it was nice for Cheerilee to finally meet the mare in question.
"Your mom? Her?" Rainbow Dash asked. "I thought you didn't have—I mean, I thought you—"
"I asked you all to come here, for a few reasons," Trixie said. "First, you all should know that Twilight Sparkle has been arrested for multiple crimes committed in Canterlot."
The ponies who didn't know this let out various exclamations of surprise and shock. Rarity fell onto a nearby sofa.
"I'm sure Princess Celestia will be able to help Twilight, but in the meantime, I've been asked to assume all of her duties, just in case something goes wrong," Trixie said. "So that means I'll be in charge of the Summer Sun Celebration this year. But more importantly, the Princess says that you all have been working with Twilight on the Elements of Harmony project."
"Ele-what?" Rainbow Dash asked.
Trixie levitated the library's copy of The Elements of Harmony: A Reference Guide onto a table near Rainbow Dash. "The Elements of Harmony," Trixie said. "They're magical artifacts that can be used to defeat Nightmare Moon."
"Nightmare Moon?" Fluttershy asked, scared. "You mean, the Nightmare Moon? The evil creepy alicorn that makes ponies dress up in scary costumes and then eats them alive Nightmare Moon?"
"Yes, that Nightmare Moon," Trixie said.
"Well, it's been really nice talking to you, but I really have to get going, and BYE!" Fluttershy said quickly. She tried to run out the door, but Applejack tackled her.
"Come on, Fluttershy, this is important," Applejack said. "If you don't help, the world will fall under eternal darkness."
"But I'm scared of Nightmare Moon!" Fluttershy said. "Ask anypony! I'm not even brave enough to leave my house on Nightmare Night!"
"Princess Celestia will be there to help us," Trixie said. "She'll protect you if anything goes wrong."
"The...Princess Celestia?" Fluttershy asked. She let out a sigh of relief. "Why didn't you say that? She's nice, and not evil and scary."
"I don't know everything yet, but we have half of the Elements," Trixie said, gesturing to the display case. "We need the final three to finish the set. I volunteered to be the Element of Magic, but that still leaves...um..."
"Honesty and kindness," Spike said.
"Right," Trixie said. "So, who wants to volunteer for honesty or kindness? We've got four ponies here without Elements."
"I tried touching one of the orbs to get an element," Cheerilee said. "It didn't work." Under her breath, she added "thankfully".
"Me neither," Scootaloo said.
"Oh," Trixie said. "Then I guess that leaves the two pegasi. Which one of you is more honest?"
Rainbow Dash flipped through the book in front of her. "Um...when exactly is all this happening again?" she asked.
"Nightmare Moon returns during the Summer Sun Celebration," Trixie said.
"I guess I can go two weeks without telling any lies," Rainbow Dash said. "And Fluttershy here would be a great Element of Kindness."
"Oh no no no no no!" Fluttershy said. "I'm not kind at all! I'm mean! Really, really mean! I do nasty things all the time!"
"Like what?" Rainbow Dash asked.
"Like...um...um...like this!" Fluttershy said. She walked to Pinkie Pie and tried to talk in a tough voice. "Hey, Pinkie! Since you're a baker, would you like a Hertz Donut?"
"I love donuts!" Pinkie said. "...But what's a Hertz Donut?"
"It's this!" Fluttershy said. She threw a weak punch at Pinkie's side. "It hurts, don't it?"
Pinkie Pie burst into fits of laughter, and Fluttershy brought her hooves to her mouth in worry. "Oh, dear, I didn't hurt you for real, did I?" she asked. "I'm so sorry!"
"What was the yellow one's name again?" Trixie asked Spike.
"Fluttershy," Spike said.
"You don't have to do this if you don't want to, Fluttershy," Trixie said. "But we could really use your help. We need a kind pony to stop Nightmare Moon."
"Besides, if you don't do it, it'll be Nightmare Night forever!" Scootaloo said.
"Nightmare Night forever?" Fluttershy gasped. "But I—that's even worse—I—I—you're sure Princess Celestia will be there?"
"We can't have the Summer Sun Celebration without her," Trixie said. "She won't let anything bad happen."
"...Okay," Fluttershy said. "I'll do it...only if I get to stand in the back."
When the meeting in the library was over, some of the ponies went home, and others stayed behind. Rainbow Dash questioned Trixie about Scootaloo—"Aren't you a little young to have a full-grown filly? And besides, how does a unicorn have a pegasus daughter?"—while Rarity went over to talk to Spike.
"Huh...hi," Spike said.
"Hello, Spike," Rarity said, fluttering her eyelashes at him. "I have a problem, and I was hoping you could help."
"I'd love to!" Spike said, little hearts appearing in his eyes.
"This entire situation is horrid," Rarity said. "And I'm afraid that it's left me feeling lost and worried. I'd appreciate it if I could get some comfort from a loving colt."
"I would be more than happy to do that for you," Spike said.
"Great!" Rarity said, clapping her hooves together. "I have my letter to Shining Armor all prepared!"
"I...wha?" Spike asked.
"My letter to Shining Armor," Rarity said. "I need you to send it to him. He should know what happened to his sister, after all."
"I—but I thought you meant—I—" Spike sighed. "Sure, I'll send it."
"You're such a sweetheart, Spikey Wikey," Rarity said, rubbing the top of Spike's head.
Spike wrote down the letter that Rarity dictated, then sent it using his fire breath. She thanked him again, then hummed to herself as she left the Golden Oaks Library. Spike watched her go, with a forlorn look on his face. He might have stayed that way for several minutes, had not a pink face suddenly appeared two inches away from his.
"Hello!" Pinkie Pie said.
"Augh!" Spike said, jumping backwards. "Don't pop out of nowhere like that!"
"So, when are we going on a date?" Pinkie Pie said. "I was thinking we could visit the Ponyville Clock Tower!"
"D-date?" Spike asked.
Pinkie Pie pouted. "You said you'd date me if Rarity turned you down!" she said. "And you just helped her send a letter to her coltfriend, Lover Boy!"
"I never agreed to that!" Spike protested. "And besides, he's not her coltfriend! He's just some random colt she doesn't even know that well!"
"But Spiiike!" Pinkie said, jumping up and down. "You have to be my coltfriend! My family is thinking about visiting for the Summer Sun Celebration, and that'd be the best prank ever! Can you imagine the look on my dad's face when he learns I'm engaged to a dragon?"
Spike scratched his head. "Wait, you want to date me as a joke?"
Pinkie giggled. "Of course it's a joke!" she said. "I mean, you're nice and all, but I'm over twice your age! That's probably why Rarity turned you down. You're not even out of elementary school yet! You're only good as a fake coltfriend, not a real one."
Spike groaned. "Love stinks," he said.
Up in the sky, Nightmare Moon was getting annoyed over what was happening on Earth. During her exile, she had spent centuries, coming up with intricate evil plots to defeat Celestia and conquer the world. Her current plan was pure genius: turn Twilight Sparkle evil with the Alicorn Amulet, then win her loyalty by turning her into a unicorn.
It would have been so amusing to see Princess Celestia killed by her own student, Nightmare Moon thought.
But was this ultimate evil strategy bearing fruit? No! So far, all of Nightmare Moon's complicated plans were being completely usurped by the simple, backup plans!
Send Trixie to Ponyville and watch the resulting explosions.
Send Blueblood to Ponyville and watch the resulting explosions.
Honestly. You didn't need an evil genius to come up with those plans. An evil seven-year-old would have done just as well. It was a complete waste of Nightmare Moon's intelligence and planning.
Convincing Blueblood to go to Ponyville had been ridiculously simple. Any smart pony would have questioned the logic of seeing a doctor to get a tattoo removed, but not Prince Blueblood! He never questioned any idea that popped into his mind. After the dream was over, he instantly made it a priority to see the doctor at the same hospital as Twilight.
He's easy to manipulate, and he's dead set against Twilight and Celestia, Nightmare Moon thought. Prince Blueblood is playing right into my hooves, and he doesn't even know it.
She would have manipulated Blueblood's dreams that night, but there was really no point in doing so. Blueblood was already set on a destructive path. Hopefully, his interference would prevent Celestia from working with the Elements of Harmony.
Prince Blueblood was woken up the next morning, when the door to his cell was opened with a loud rattling. He yawned, then glared at the guard.
"Is that it?" he asked. "Am I finally being released?"
The guard nodded. "You're free to go home now. Princess Celestia only ordered us to keep you overnight."
Blueblood rolled his eyes. He knew she wouldn't have the nerve to give him a real punishment. She was far too kind-hearted for something like that. But did she honestly think a single night in holding would be enough to "teach him a lesson", as she put it? What an optimistic fool.
On his way out of the Royal Guard Station, Blueblood was stopped by one of the guards. In general, Blueblood had a hard time telling the guards apart from each other—they all looked the same—but he knew this one on a first-name basis.
"Hold it," the guard said. "I want to talk to you."
"Ah, Shoe Armor," Blueblood said. "I've been expecting a lecture from you."
"It's Shining Armor," Shining said. "And what you did to my sister was unforgiveable. I'm going to—"
"Yes, yes, I remember," Blueblood interrupted. "You went through this song and dance when I dumped her. Do you honestly think I'm impressed by your concerned big brother act?"
"I'm not acting! You tried to throw her in a mental hospital!" Shining Armor said.
"And she's not acting! She's completely crazy!" Blueblood said. "If you're such a concerned family member, why didn't you notice that earlier?"
"Don't you say that!" Shining Armor said. "I love Twilight! Unlike you, I don't abandon my family!"
"Abandon my family? What nonsense are you talking about now?" Blueblood asked.
"Gee, I dunno," Shining Armor said. "What about your wife and daughter? When I saw them, they looked pretty homeless to me!"
"You're as crazy as your sister," Blueblood said. "I don't have a wife or daughter."
"That's not what she said," Shining Armor said. "What was her name...Trixie? Yeah, that was it. She says you're the father of her child."
Blueblood scoffed. Where had Shining Armor drudged up that old name? Blueblood hadn't seen Trixie Lulamoon in years, not since she got pregnant and...
Shining Armor felt great satisfaction in seeing Blueblood's eyes go wide with fear.
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I still like the story, but you would think they would see the Alicorn Amulet on Twilight, at least I think she's still wearing it?
Ummm... wow, not really sure where this is going now. I was honestly curious to see what happened with a pegasus Twilight running the show, but now she's in a mental hospital, with very little realistic chance of getting out legally. The side-plot with Blueblood and Trixie/Scootaloo is getting more convoluted and ridiculous by the moment, and what the heck is Celestia doing during all this? Her big play to help her student/friend is to basically slap Blueblood on the wrist and call him a bad pony?
Don't get me wrong, this isn't a bad fic, I just don't think it's the fic for me anymore. Thanks for the ride, it was fun
Oh boy...
I wonder what's gonna happen next.
I said it before but I’ll say it again. This just keeps getting better and better.
I can’t wait to see what happens next
Came for the Pegasus Twilight Sparkle.
Stayed for the remaining unicorns.
@arglefumph...
Been enjoying this Alternate Universe story of yours.
1. I was a bit disappointed that you did not re-assign at least some of the Elements of Harmony. It might have been more interesting if Cheerilee had become a Element, and more dramatic if Scootaloo finds her Cutie Mark AND thus becomes the Element of Honesty in the twilight hour (pun intended
). But I can understand wanting to keep the canon-Elements too.
2. As a critique for Chapter 14, I would suggest rewriting or revising how Twilight is committed to the asylum and forced to remain there. I understand that you want Twilight in a bad place as the Threat of Evil looms, however...
You have Prince Blueblood, a mid-tier noble, to be able to abuse/subvert/ignore whatever justice system Equestria has to illegally imprison Twilight.
But then Princess Celestia, the unquestioned ruler of the kingdom with literally absolute power and over a millenia of political experience, being unable to have Twilight released, or at least transferred to a better facility than a prison-asylum to treat her injuries and mental instability, or even visited by friends & family...?
I understand that you are trying to portray Prince Blueblood as the moral antagonist, and Princess Celestia's tenous/desperate position in the larger scale of Good vs. Evil. However, this is one leg, an arm, and a full torso over the line for reader believability, so refinement (or an overhaul) may be in order.
Overall, however, you have a good story going
.
2273346 You're the second person to mention Celestia's incredibly ineffective actions against Prince Blueblood. I will certainly edit this chapter now, to give clarification on that topic. I did not intend to make Celestia look so inept.
You are absolutely correct. The truth is that Princess Celestia can easily override Prince Blueblood and have Twilight removed from the mental hospital. Her plan is to set Twilight free tomorrow (i.e. in the next chapter), no matter what happens.
First, though, Celestia is giving Blueblood a brief opportunity to change his mind. Maybe it's stupid for her to think that spending a night in jail will reform him, but...well, Celestia likes to give everypony a second chance to reform, even villains like Discord.
2278019...
It is not so much about Princess Celestia looking inept, but impotent (though looking inept also hurts the story quality/believability too). Yes, Princess Celestia may allow Prince Blueblood to roam free due to her desperate hope that he may be the Element of Magic, but nor should she allow him rampant excesses to do such harm to her subjects either, especially her favoured agents (e.g.: Twilight Sparkle, Trixie Lulamoon, Shining Armor, the Element Bearers, etc.).
Princess Celestia should be hampered by her own morality &/or conscience, not by a lack of political, legal, authorative, &/or direct power (even the appearance of it). Threats like Nightmare Moon, Discord, Queen Chrysalis, & King Sombra? Yes, those should be overarching concerns and fears for Princess Celestia since they are threats of equal or greater power to her, which in turn could devastate Equestria ("big heroes, big villains"). A character like your Prince Blueblood? More a source of frustration and disappointment, with the inclination to simply crush him under golden-horseshoe stayed only because she is indeed one of the Good Guys.
This is known as "the Superman Conundrum." Superman does not simply incinerate Lex Luthor with his heat-vision, because of his morality, integrity, and his position as the paragon of heroic ideals among DC's super-heroic community. The counter-balance to this, is that Superman also does everything in his considerable power to safeguard the many lives Lex Luthor would casually and callously ruin & destroy in his villainous schemes & ambitions, while seeking a way to bring down Lex Luthor without becoming just as bad (or worse) than him. This is the metaphorical line that many writers of powerful characters must carefully walk, and many fail at.
Hope this helps
.
2283898 Yes, that's helpful and interesting. And thanks to the Season 3 finale, we can all have a field day, trying to figure out Celestia's motivations. Clearly, she had "Twilight could become a princess" in mind when she gave Twilight the test of defeating Sombra. As for Discord...I'm not so sure. That was more like a test for Fluttershy than a test for Twilight. Maybe it was all a convenient coverup for putting the Elements of Harmony display case in Twilight's house.
In any case, I made the changes to this chapter. It was simple enough to add a few more details about Celestia's actions here and there. Now it's time for me to write the next chapter, in which we see Celestia's backup plan for dealing with Prince Blueblood!
2285319...
Always happy to provide insight, inspiration, &/or constructive criticism
.
And it will be good to see what Princess Celestia's own plans and counter-plans are. Just as Nightmare Moon has had a thousand years to plot, it would be unreasonable to think Princess Celestia has not put any thought &/or effort into her own counter-plans, back-up plans, and contingency plans.
If the Good Guys relied solely upon 11th hour solutions and desperate last ditch efforts, the world would be naught but dust and ash long ago.
BTW in the comics, Cadance was a pegasus that became an alicorn.
JUST SAYIN!
2285892
That plus Celestia is well known in cannon for having tons of Xanatos and Batman Gambits. She's a chess master of epic proportions, although not in an evil way. So I'm also waiting to see what Celestia has plan and counter plan wise.
I've never liked the concept of Celestia having knowledge of the changelings before the wedding incident, because it makes her look even dumber by not realizing Cadence had been replaced. Seriously, there was an unknown threat to Equestria, and the princess of love pulls a 180 in personlity, yet Celestia wasn't able to put two and two together and figure out it was Chrysalis. What the actual &#%& Celestia?
Okay, this is getting ridiculous, this is the 5th mistake in identity in your story, and the 4th directly involving family. There was RD thinking Scoots and Twi were sisters, Spike thinking Rarity was Sweetie Bells mom, Twilight thought Mrs. Cake was Pinkie's mom, Rarity thought Shining Armor was Twilight's coltfriend, and now Shining Armor assumes Blueblood and Trixie are married. What is wrong with these idiots? Stop jumping to conclusions.
2285319
Said backup plan probably involves explosions.
Brutally AWESOME
Technically, Scootaloo is the other descendent.