• Published 4th Feb 2013
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Broken Blossom - BronyWriter



Sweetie Belle's daughter must decide if she is to admit her guilt in the events of The Public Life of Sweetie Belle

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Blossom's Fate

That night brought Blossom her first dreamless sleep in her memory. She endured no torment, she received no comfort. It was merely a deep regenerative sleep brought on by an overwhelming sense that her time had come. Although, in its own way the knowledge both frightened her and relieved her but as she thought more on it, the relief side won the day. It would be good to leave this place, to see paradise, to put down her burden after a long day.

When she awoke, it was with a sense of peace that was foreign to her, but no less unwelcome. She was still chained to the wall in a dungeon, her magic had been taken from her even if her horn had not been, she still had to endure saying her goodbyes, but none of those things frightened her. She suspected that nothing ever would again.

Her ear swiveled in the direction of the door leading to the dungeon when she heard it open up. Curious, she pushed herself off of her bed and stood in the center of the cell. In hindsight, she supposed that she should not have been surprised that Princess Celestia and Princess Luna would want to speak to her before they passed down their judgment, but here they stood.

"Good morning, Blossom," Celestia greeted with a subdued sorrow that punctuated her words. She tried to hide it, but seeing Blossom brought out a sort of vulnerability.

Blossom gave Celestia a small, almost reassuring smile. "Good morning, Princess Celestia." She turned her gaze to the night goddess. "Good morning, Princess Luna."

Luna's contemplative look subtly shifted to a small frown. "Your mood is perplexing to us, Joyous Blossom," she noted. "Is there a reason for this?"

Blossom nodded and took a step towards the bars. "If I'm right, you are here to talk to me about what the rest of my life is going to look like, whatever that may be."

"Yes," Luna confirmed, "you seem strangely peaceful for such a solemn time."

Blossom's eyes trailed to the floor and her smile turned vaguely sad. "It's because I know what I want. I think that I know what's best." Blossom took a deep breath and forced her gaze back to the princesses. "I'd like the needle."

The eyes of both princesses widened and Celestia's jaw dropped. "Blossom, I need you to listen to me very carefully," she said sharply. "Do you understand what you are saying?"

"I do." Blossom took another step forwards. "I'd like to die."

Celestia exhaled sharply, but Luna's expression returned to a contemplative one. "What are your reasons?" she questioned.

Blossom quietly sighed, and sat on her haunches on the floor. "It'd be better for everypony, I think," she began, "my aunt's line dies with me, and we can move on. If I'm alive and in prison, my family has to see me degraded, insane, and a constant reminder of everything that has happened in the past forty years. Because of what I've done, I am the last symbol of my Aunt Rarity's actions.

"But I admit that there's more to it than that. I’m scared of being alive, because if I am, then I might kill again. I see my Aunt Rarity all the time, and if I'm allowed near other ponies, she'll just keep telling me to kill. Eventually, I know that I'd snap, and kill some poor pony who was just doing her job, or I'd kill myself to prevent that." A wry, humorless smile crossed Blossom's face. "I'd hate to be the pony that came to my cell to find out that I'd swallowed my tongue. You could restrain me to prevent that, but that would be torture."

"But your family would be devastated," Celestia pointed out. "Your mother already buried her sister. She could not handle burying you too, I think. None in your family could endure a second execution of a loved one in so short a time."

"And them seeing me miserable, behind bars, wasting away into a shell of my former self would ease their pain, is that it?" Blossom retorted. "If I die, they could know that I died happy, painlessly, and at peace with everything. I wouldn't be suffering anymore." A single tear rolled down Blossom's face, and she reached out to touch one of the bars before her. "And I'm suffering. Every day is like a nightmare, every dream is torture, and every waking hour is misery the likes of which I know you cannot understand. I am guilty of murder. I deliberately murdered two foals, and I can never take that back. When I killed, the death penalty would have been administered to me. If I'm executed, it's well within the legal boundaries, is it not?"

Celestia closed her eyes and bowed her head. "Your family would suffer in your absence."

"But not forever," whispered Blossom. "Their lives could go on without my misery weighing them down. It would be justice, it would be merciful, and it would be peaceful to just let me go."

Celestia merely stood there, rooted to the spot as she contemplated Blossom's words. Every fiber of her being desired to see as many of her subjects as safe and happy as possible, but she was unsure if Blossom's execution would achieve that. The mare's words rolled through her brain, enduring every last bit of scrutiny that her wisdom and knowledge could give it.

"Sister?"

Celestia's eyes snapped open and she turned her head to Luna who was looking worriedly at her. Celestia could see in her eyes that Luna was just as unsure of what to do as she was, but it was time to pass judgement. Slowly the monarch of the sun turned her gaze towards the broken mare in the cell before her.

"Joyous Blossom, I sentence you to be executed by lethal injection at ten o' clock tomorrow morning for the murders of Golden Necklace and Fire Ruby."

To see the look of relief that washed over Blossom's face, one would imagine that Celestia had told her that she could erase all of the damage that Rarity had done. The happiness chipped away the last vestiges of Celestia's composure and forced stoicism and she beckoned her sister away from the cell. The night goddess followed Celestia out of the dungeon, both knowing that it would be the last time that they would ever see Joyous Blossom alive.

* * * *

Three hours later, the two princesses were sitting on their respective thrones in the throne room. Both had long since cried themselves out, and they merely sat in a stoic silence. Neither felt that they needed to say anything, for there was nothing to say. No mere words could erase the pain of the second execution in thirty years. Neither goddess moved. It was almost as if two statues inhabited the throne room.

* * * *

Rolling Thunder put down the book he had been reading and stretched his forelegs. He put them down and let one hang limply over the edge of the couch he was reclining on and he draped the other across his chest.

Normally reading helped him keep his mind off of things, but the letter he had received telling him that Blossom had never made it back to Ponyville weighted heavily on his mind. He hadn't known her for that long, but she didn't strike him as the type of mare that would disappear and not tell anypony for no reason. If she was missing there was likely some nefarious cause and he wished that he could help with the search, but he was needed in Baltimare in case she showed up at his house again.

He was brought out of his thoughts by a loud knocking on his door. Hopeful that it might be Blossom, he leaped off of the couch and ran towards it. He threw it open with an expectant smile on his face but found not Blossom, but Applejack and Apple Bloom on the other side of the door. He sighed and shook his head. "She hasn't been around here, I'm sorry to say," he mumbled sadly. "I would have told you."

"We're not here ta ask you where she is, we're here ta tell you," said Applejack solemnly.

Rolling Thunder's ears perked up and he shifted his gaze between the two Apple sisters. "Yes, where is she?"

"Who's at the door?" asked the voice of Lilly.

Rolling Thunder turned his head back and saw his wife walking towards them. "It's Applejack and Apple Bloom. They know where Blossom is!"

A look of relief spread across Lilly's face and she smiled as she trotted over to stand next to her husband. "That's wonderful news! Where is she?"

At the question Apple Bloom burst into tears and collapsed onto her haunches. Applejack had to blink back tears of her own, but she remained resolute despite the growing fear of the two ponies in front of her. "Blossom is in Canterlot," she explained, "she went there because she was the one who killed those two foals when she was just a filly. She's turned herself in to Celestia now."

Lilly gasped and took a step back while Rolling Thunder began blinking back tears. "N-No, she's not a killer," he whispered. "S-She's a good mare, I know she is! This has to be some kind of mistake!"

Applejack sadly shook her head. "No, Blossom and Sweetie Belle both told us the truth: that Blossom was the one who did it." Applejack sighed and wiped her eyes with her foreleg. "We're all goin' ta Canterlot right now. We're gonna go talk to the princesses and ask for her to spare Blossom's life."

Rolling Thunder bit his lip and slowly nodded. "Of course. We'll meet you there."

With that he shut the door in the faces of the two Apples and ran to the middle of the living room and collapsed onto his haunches. He grabbed his head in his forelegs and began moaning as though in pain. Lilly walked up beside him and wrapped him into a hug in an attempt to comfort him despite her own tears. "She's not a killer," Rolling Thunder whimpered. "S-She's a good mare."

"I know," said Lilly sadly as she nuzzled her husband's mane. "She's going to be fine. The princesses are merciful ponies and I know that we can convince them to spare her life."

"What are we gonna tell Comet?" he groaned. "Her and Blossom..." He sniffled and wiped his eyes. "Well, you know."

"I don't know," Lilly sighed. "We have to tell her now though if we're going to make it to Canterlot in time to help her." She turned her head towards the stairs where Comet was playing quietly in her room. "I'll go talk to her."

"No." Rolling Thunder shakily got to his hooves and took a deep breath. "I'll tell her. You make sure we're ready to go to Canterlot once I'm done; we need to leave as soon as possible."

Lilly nodded and trotted over to the closet where she kept her saddlebag and Rolling Thunder slowly trotted up the stairs. As he approached the door, he heard Comet playing Wonderbolts inside her room and he had to pause as the memory of Blossom playing Wonderbolts with her such a short time ago burned itself in the forefront of his mind. He shook his head and exhaled. He had to do this.

He walked up to Comet's room and knocked on the door three times. The sound of Comet making whooshing sounds to signify the Wonderbolts flying around halted and after a second he heard Comet telling him to come in. He pushed open the door and saw her sitting in the middle of the room with her Scootaloo and Rainbow Dash dolls at her hooves. She smiled at him when she saw him enter. "Hello, Daddy," she chirped. "Do you wanna play Wonderbolts with me?"

Rolling Thunder let out a half chuckle/half sob at his daughter's demeanor, and the knowledge that he had to essentially crush it. "I'm sorry, Comet, but it isn't time to play Wonderbolts anymore." He pushed the dolls aside and sat down in front of his daughter.

Comet was remarkably perceptive in picking up her father's mood and she flattened her ears and leaned back a little. "Daddy what's wrong?" she whimpered.

"It's about Blossom," he began. "We... we know where she is."

Comet's eyes widened and she perked up her ears. "Where is she?" the filly cried. "She's okay, right, Daddy? Nothing bad happened to her like when that mare hurt her, right?"

"Uh..." Rolling Thunder blinked back a fresh wave of tears and nervously scratched the back of his head. "Blossom is in Canterlot with the princesses right now. She... she did something really bad and they put her in jail because of it."

Comet gasped, followed by a pained whimper and instant tears. "Blossom wouldn't hurt anypony!" Comet sobbed. "She's going to be okay, Daddy! I know it!"

Rolling Thunder reached forward and hugged Comet close to him. The filly threw her forelegs around her father's waist and began sobbing loudly into his chest. "We're going to go to Canterlot now, okay? We're going to go ask the princesses to be kind to Blossom and not hurt her."

"Then she can come home?" Comet sniffled.

Rolling Thunder let loose another sob but collected himself and cleared his throat. "No, Comet. If the princesses listen to us then Blossom still can't come home. They want to give Blossom a shot that would make her fall asleep forever. We're going to go ask them not to."

"Are they gonna listen, Daddy?" Comet whimpered.

Rolling Thunder began stroking his daughter's mane and he nuzzled the top of her head. "I don't know, Comet, but we're going to try. I promise you that we are going to try.