Questions Need Answering
Princess Celestia exhaled deeply as she closed the door housing Sweetie Belle and Blossom. She despised how they had to be confined to the room until Sweetie Belle was dragged back to the mental ward, but she was still technically imprisoned by the state and even her flawless behavior couldn't free her.
Celestia moved away from the door and began trotting down the hall. She had decided to trust Sweetie Belle enough to not post any guards by the door or lock it as she knew that the promise of more visits like this would keep her behavior as perfect as it could be under the circumstances. Of course, she'd be ordering a few guards to check the room every couple of minutes. Just to be safe.
However, that was not what was on Celestia's mind right now. What was beginning to occupy her thoughts were Shooting Star and Blossom's fixed entry exam. She had ordered the mare brought to a private conference room where she could pass down judgment on her for her treatment of Blossom at the exam. There was more to it than simply trying to weed out those unworthy to attend the academy, that much was certain. It was doubtlessly connected to Blossom's past and the sins of her aunt and mother.
Princess Celestia reached the conference room and took a brief moment to center herself. Not many ponies knew this, but she needed moments to keep her emotions out of situations just like everypony. After the emotional turmoil that had come in the past few weeks, she needed one such moment now to deal with Shooting Star who would likely not be returning as a judge for her school despite twenty-six years of loyal service.
Princess Celestia ran a hoof through her flowing mane and pushed the door to the conference room open. Immediately she was greeted with the sight of Shooting Star who was looking at the floor until she heard Celestia come in. Her head snapped up and she immediately started to get off the chair for a bow but Celestia forestalled that action with a wave of her hoof. "There is no need for that, Shooting Star," she said. "I'm merely here to talk to you, not to banish you from Canterlot."
Shooting Star sat back down in her chair and nodded slightly. Princess Celestia noticed that her eyes were puffy and red and her face was streaked with tears. She walked up to the chair closest to it and sat down in front of Shooting Star who continued averting her gaze. "I suppose I'm fired for what I did," she muttered.
"That all depends on why you even did it in the first place," said Celestia. "You forced a seven year old foal with little magical training to complete tasks that I expect of older students and when she was drained of her power you forced her to continue without respite." Princess Celestia observed the unicorn for a brief moment before speaking up again. "Shooting Star, I need you to look at me."
The unicorn in question flinched back at the harsh undertones of Celestia's words but forced herself to meet Celestia's gaze. "I'm only going to ask this once and I need you to be truthful with me, no matter how malicious your intent was. Why did you do that to Blossom?"
The tears that the unicorn had thought controlled came streaking down her face once more and she almost broke her eye contact with Celestia. "I..." she sniffled and wiped her eyes with the back of her hoof. "I was scared, Princess."
Princess Celestia cocked her head. "What were you scared of?"
"That foal..." Shooting star's voice cracked and she cleared her throat. "That foal is the niece of one of the most evil mares to ever live and...and then there was that business a few weeks ago where her mother killed two of her classmates just because she got the same rush that her sister did. I was scared that Blossom was..."
Shooting Star's emotions finally overcame her and she bowed her head again and began openly sobbing. Princess Celestia closed her eyes and subtly shook her head before continuing on. "You thought that Blossom was a potential danger to the students, is that it?"
Shooting Star nodded. "Yes, Princess. If it turned out that the foal ended up just like her mother and aunt and I had the power to stop her from entering the school before she killed any of the other foals who were attending..." She took a deep breath and managed to look up at Celestia again. "Wouldn't you try to stop something like that? It's not as though I'd be risking a hoodlum in the school, she could very well be capable of murder!"
"That wasn't your choice to make," said Celestia simply. "Your cruelty to her could have caused her serious harm."
Shooting Star's eyes snapped up. "Did I?" she asked quietly.
Princess Celestia shook her head. "No and she was lucky for it," she answered. Shooting Star seemed to visibly relax at that, a feeling that was rescinded by Celestia's next words. "You caused her a great deal of pain and fear. If your fellow judges hadn't rushed her to a doctor then she might not be in as good of a condition as she is now."
Shooting Star's eyes trailed to the floor once more and she weakly nodded. "I know," she whispered. "I know that what I did was wrong, no matter what she did."
"What do you mean, 'no matter what she did'?"
Shooting Star flinched away at her words but she retained enough composure to answer. "There are whispers," she said, "rumors going around that it wasn't the mother who killed those unfortunate fillies but Blossom herself. I have talked with more than one of your staff here at the palace when I am here to talk to a student of put some business in order. You have more than one pony in your service who thinks that Blossom is the true murderer and that her mother was just as much of a victim in this case as she was when her sister was executed."
Princess Celestia remained silent for a few seconds as she processed Shooting Star's words. She had long suspected that some of her staff distrusted Blossom but to hear it so plainly stated by a mare that had herself done Blossom harm... "How many ponies have you talked to that believe Blossom is the killer?"
Shooting Star shrugged. "I'm no rat; I won't name any names but it's more than I think you know." Shooting Star turned her gaze from the floor to the opposite wall. "Cooks, maids, guards, professors at the school, I've even heard a few of the foals spouting out different theories and rumors surrounding the case of the two murdered Ponyville children. One doesn't hear whispers and rumors without starting to question it themselves."
"Why was the belief so engrained that you decided to administer vigilante 'justice' to keep her out of the school? Why did you think that I would not hear of it?"
"I don't know," she sighed. "It was a foolish action that was more than just a biased mistake and I'd take it back in an instant if given the chance."
"But you do not have that," said Celestia simply.
Shooting Star shook her head. "No, I don't." The unicorn paused for the briefest of moments before shifting gears. "There's a little more," she said, "a few extra things that contributed to my poor choice."
"And that is?"
Shooting Star wiped the last traces of tears from her eyes before responding. "I saw an article, more than one as a matter of fact, about the murders."
"That is hardly so unusual given the circumstances," said a frowning Celestia.
"I know, Princess," she said. "But this time was different. This time...this time the papers in question claimed to have pictures of the unfortunate foals."
Despite herself Celestia let out a soft gasp. How had pictures of their bodies leaked?! Who would have done such a thing and what in Equestria could have possessed them?! However, Shooting Star trudged on with her explanation despite the sun goddess' shock. "I...I had to know what she had possibly done," she said glumly. "I was scheduled to conduct her entrance exam in an hour's time and I needed to know what she could have done; I needed to see it with my own eyes so I would know what I was potentially dealing with and what I might be letting into the school. If she was a foal murderer then what is the benefit of exposing her to more foals?"
Celestia didn't respond to her train of thought, instead choosing to contemplate the implications of somepony who printed the pictures of Fire Ruby and Golden Necklace's dead bodies. She let out a sigh that was part anger and part sorrow before returning to the matter at hoof. "Which paper or papers printed such an article?"
Shooting Star shrugged. "I didn't see which particular one it was; I was more focused on the headline. I did buy a copy that I still have if you want it."
"Yes I do want it if you could fetch it right now," said Celestia sharply. "I need you to be quick about it."
Shooting Star stood up and rushed out of the room. If Celestia was worried about the implications of such an article then it must be important. She was only gone for fifteen minutes before she returned with a rolled up newspaper in her telekinetic grasp. Princess Celestia instantly snatched it out of her grip and unrolled it to reveal what had potentially gotten out.
Serial Killer Sister pictures revealed!
We are all, of course, aware of the tragedy befell the small town of Ponyville for the second time in too short of a time when the sister of The Ponyville Butcher, a mare that slaughtered as many as eighty ponies in her basement, continued the bloody family tradition by violently murdering two of her young daughter's classmates, Fire Ruby and Golden Necklace. Sources say that both of the victims were the daughters of two mares that had allegedly made cruel remarks to Sweetie Belle about her lateness in obtaining her cutie mark.
However, sources have come up with new information and one such source leaked pictures of the unfortunate foals. Forensic evidence confirmed Sweetie Belle as the killer but some ponies are questioning just what went on in the woods that fateful day. One or two of our more valuable sources claim that Sweetie Belle's conviction was a conspiracy to protect the real murder, Joyous Blossom, Sweetie Belle's seven year old daughter.
Cont. on page six with the pictures.
Princess Celestia's breath had long since died in her throat and she had to expend a serious amount of mental effort to will herself into opening up the paper to page six. She had seen the pictures right after the murders; she had seen them and knew what they looked like. If the pictures held within were fakes then she would merely place a heavy fine on all papers involved.
However if they were real...
Slowly Princess Celestia engulfed the page in her magical glow and pulled it aside to reveal the information on page six. The picture stuck out immediately and she had to hold back a gasp for the sake of the pony watching. There was no doubt about it, those pictures were real. Not only that, but they came with an article pinning the blame for the murders on Blossom herself. As if the poor child needed any more of this.
With a blank expression that masked a fury that would have had her burn down every news station in Canterlot were it not contained, Princess Celestia gently placed the newspaper down and stood up. This took priority over everything right now. This was not only about protecting Blossom from potential slander, but also finding out who had given, or taken, the pictures from the police.
As she opened up the door, she heard a voice behind her that gave her pause. "I take it I'm fired?" said Shooting Star sadly.
Princess Celestia sighed and slowly nodded. "I'm sorry, Shooting Star. I wish there was another way for this to go but I cannot overlook your actions. I will meet with you later to discuss what that means in more detail."
With that, the solar princess walked out of the conference room, doing her best to drown out the sobs of the unicorn still contained within.
Her mind was racing as she went down the hall towards the room housing Blossom and Sweetie Belle. It was in her best interests to deal with the two of them before dealing with the press and who had leaked the photos. She rued the fact that facing a foal murderer was simpler than facing the press.
She reached the room with the two of them inside and forced a mask of happiness on her face. There was no reason to alert them to any issue right now. They would surely find out, but now was not the time. She opened the door revealing Blossom and Sweetie Belle, both of whom were smiling wider than they had in ages. Blossom was amusing her mother by levitating a carrot stick around the room and changing its colors at the same time. Sweetie Belle applauded whenever the color shifted and Blossom basked in the warm glow of her mother's love. The sight warmed her heart just as much as it saddened her.
After only a few seconds of watching Sweetie Belle realized that Princess Celestia was watching and put a hoof on her daughter's foreleg to signal to her that she needed to stop. Blossom placed the now turquoise carrot stick back on the plate and looked over to see Celestia standing in the doorway smiling warmly at them. "Good afternoon," she said, walking up to the happy pair. "I just came by to discuss something with you. I was talking with my sister about how you two seem to be having such a wonderful time together and we decided that after the time you two have had recently we should extend your visit to an overnight stay and Sweetie Belle could possibly stay until as long as tomorrow evening."
A small gasp escaped Sweetie Belle's lips and her eyes widened as they filled with tears of joy. "Do you really mean it?" she whispered. Princess Celestia widened her now more genuine smile and nodded. Blossom squealed happily and wrapped her mother in a giant hug which she tearfully returned.
"I'll come by later to discuss sleeping arrangements for the two of you," she said as she began leaving the room. "You two be sure to enjoy yourselves. I know you deserve it."
The happy duo continued hugging each other, both crying tears of joy at the prospect of staying a whole other day with each other. Princess Celestia smiled once more at the pair before walking out of the room and closing the door behind her. Almost instantly her happy mask slipped off as the realization of the daunting task ahead of her began to register in her mind.
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I shudder in fear of a truly angry Celestia. But just punishment must be dealt, and I can't wait to see exactly what she will do.
The thing is, Star is the one who acts rationally here.
And the decisions Celestia makes regarding Blossom are also in character with the kind of a soft-hearted ruler that she is. Even though she suspects Blossom, she wants her to be happy... and will go a long way to ensure her happiness. Because Star's career certainly is worth less than a foal's happiness!
And when the whole thing blows up in Celestia's face and more ponies end up dead, I'll laugh. And laugh. And laugh. And laugh. Oh boy.
Let's see... Arrest everyone even remotely involved with the article, fine the paper for as much as she can get away with, and sue them on behalf of Blossom and Sweetie Belle. Then come up with an excuse to seize their property and "accidentally" burn it down. Then burn down the prisons holding the newspaper staff. And so on.
Much as I feel bad for Sweetie and Blossom, and even Star, the real victims here are Diamond and Silver.
Just think about how unbelievably horrible it would be to have graphic photos of your dead foal's corpses suddenly presented for all the world to see.
It would be a beautiful piece of irony for DT to beat the absolute shitstained crap out of the staff of that paper in a very similar fashion to what Sweetie did to her.
Even if Star had some sort of basis for her actions, I still think she got her comeuppance and will not get any sympathy from me.
A career of someone who does stupid and harmful shit like that isn't worth anything, let alone Blossom's happiness.
2243808
Riiiight.
Blossom shouldn't even have been sent to the School in the first place. Because, in case you forgot, she's under suspicion. Even though Celestia doesn't *know* that Blossom had actually killed, she should have considered the value of the **lives of all the other foals in the school** - in case the suspicion proves correct - against **this one's happiness**.
And she didn't, of course. Her heart is just too soft for that. She "just wants little Blossom to be happy" and clings to her like she's her own daughter which she never had.
All the more tragedy for her, and fun for me.
2243835 That may have been Celestia's mistake, but she would've dealt with it somehow. Blossom wouldn't kill without provocation (if ever again), and Celestia would've kept an eye on relationships between her and other students. Star however decided that it was her business, though her job is solely to judge the foal's adequacy at magic. She thought she knew better than Celestia and nearly seriously hurt a pony in the process. So yeah, she failed to do her job spectacularly.
2243849
Really? How do you know?
The thing is that she *did* know better, in that particular instance. Because Celestia is blinded by her desire to fix the situation in a way that makes Blossom happy. She's hardly impartial.
2243854
I don't know, but I strongly suspect that Blossom is not in fact a completely insane misanthropic (well not really "-anthro-" but you get the idea) sociopath (yet?). She killed the two bullies because they were provoking her quite a lot, and she does lack the restraint. She wasn't happy about it in the slightest. Why would she just kill someone else randomly? Even Rarity had some sort of twisted and stretched reasons for her murders, if I remember correctly.
She didn't know anything whatsoever. Sure, we, as readers, know the truth, but she was just following rumors and a crappy newspaper article and was willing to go ahead and ruin Blossom's exam and hurt her based only on that and her assumption that Celestia was utterly incompetent and clueless. Which I still say she isn't, she's hardly blinded. Based on the evidence she has, there's no real reason for her to seriously suspect Blossom so far, and she sees Blossom as hurt and traumatized enough already. Of course she is going to try to make her happy.
Are we reading the same story?
The evidence that Celestia has is inconclusive in that it implicates either Sweetie, or Blossom, or both. Though the punishment went to Sweetie, Blossom is still under direct suspicion. Or at least, she should be. And, as a suspect, she shouldn't be allowed anywhere near the School. You know, the place where there's lots of other foals that, if she's really a killer, can potentially set her off and be killed.
Yeah, she had less information.
Still, what she had was enough to conclude that there's an actual, real chance that Blossom may be a killer. And letting her in would be putting the lives of other students in jeopardy. Star didn't want to put the lives of other students in jeopardy, so... that makes her a villain? Really?
Nice chapter. The media is always stirring up trouble, can't wait to see what comes of that.
2243420 As if stealing the nickname I've been using for 18 years wasn't enough, they made that god-awful Mass Effect 3 ending. As far as I'm concerned, I'm not on Virmire because that entire universe is dead to me.
2243141 The con was Cloudsdale Congress, and they brought a bunch of lesser known members of the community so they'd get noticed. They had fan voice actors who voiced shed.mov, double rainboom, and a few other pony videos. They had a Q&A panel just like the real VA panel, but with the fan VA's. They also had about a dozen muscians, the only ones I'd heard of before were Silva Hound and DBPony. I didn't get a chance to hang out with any them, but I did get to see Lee Tockart beatbox on stage. I also got to listen to him talk about Shatner and Nemoy at breakfast.
So interesting con, tons of cosplay, nerds etc... Even had a self-defense class so we can love and tolerate the haters into a choke hold.
Okay, please tell me what her special talent is! I am trying to make joyous blossom on 'The Fabulous PonyMaker' on hubworld and it would mean so much to give her a cutie mark. please?
2244345 Huh. And where was this?
2244357 Uh... if you want it message me. It's not coming up for a few chapters. Or you could just leave her as a blank flank. Either way I'd like to see it.
Based on what was told to the public: Blossom's aunt was a psycho and her mom randomly killed 2 students.
Based on what S.S was thinking at the time: Serial killer Aunt, the niece possibly killed her classmates, and her mom could be innocent. No way in hell am I gonna let her get into this school where she'll 1. become more advanced in magic and 2. she'll have the chance to kill more students.
Celetia: Sure there's a slight chance that she might be a killer but oh well, she's just a little girl and doesn't deserve to have anymore troubles in her innocent little life. Everyone should stop being so mean, leave her alone, and pretend like nothing happened! Oh, and S.S, you're fired for playing it safe.
2244359 Alexandria, Virgina at a holiday inn. It's about 45 minutes south of D.C., though it's only about 3 miles from D.C. That's how awful the traffic is out here. . . But I digress, it was in D.C. for all intents and purposes. This was the first time this particular con was done, and almost all of us there were first-time visitors to a con.
Also, I find it kinda creepy that you reply so quickly. It's awesome, but it's also like you're standing behind me, watching, and waiting to bludgeon me with a rock...
2244388 It's not so much why she did what she did that got her fired, it's how she did it. She essentially tortured her and almost really damaged her before leaving her alone instead of coming to Celestia directly and relaying her fears on the matter. It's not that her fears were unfounded, it's just that she went about it the wrong way entirely.
Two updates in as many days... I am pleased
2244447 Bronywriter, i know that it might be absolutely wrong and out of every scheme, but are you going to make celestia incinerate somepony?
2244959 Who knows? I might be on a roll and update as often as I updated TD's Little Rarity.
2246134
Please don't. I'll have a heart attack.
A GOOD HEART ATTACK! Rock ON freaky bro!
I really miss Rarity, she knew how to get away with it.
2243700>>2248731
YEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH LET THE SLAUGHTER BEGIN!!!
2254614 Uh...Celestia.
2254620 1. Fixed.
2. Finally somebody got that.
3. Fixed.
4. A. Fixed. Changed to 'cried'.
B. Er...another movie reference.
5. fixed.
6. Yeah and they were called out on it big time. Having said that, a few chapters later reveals that a bunch of them still think she's a murderer and when you add that to the fact that she just attacked them... They plead their case in the next chapter.
I guess overall the motivation was just a matter of perspective. From the guards' perspective, a filly that they suspect is a foal murderer just attacked them so they negated her horn as a precautionary measure, Shining apologizes for them with placating statements to Blossom because what else is he supposed to do? Say "Yeah kid, turns out I trained a bunch of sociopaths. My bad."
2254709 1. no, notice the '. Without the quotation mark you have 'm sorry.
2. Would it be better if I changed it to Princess?
3. Again, what's he supposed to say, that they're a bunch of weaklings? Yes Shining doubtlessly knows that but as their captain he can't really casually throw that out.
2254749 1. I think he was more making an exaggeration to really drive home how much they screwed up here. I can tone it down, but that's my take on it.
2. Changed to 'fire and brimstone'.
2254765 My rule for that is if the letter or word after the ellipses is the same as the one before then I don't have a space but if it isn't I do. So
T...They
or
They... didn't know.
That's how I tend to do it. It may be incorrect.
2254803 1. Fixed.
2. fixed.
Damn you BronyWriter, why did you have to make these three stories so damned interesting.
My heart weeps for my eyes have no more tears to shed.
2255263
I am a little confused.
In the first story Rarity gets caught because she slaughters Iron Will in public outside of his trailer/caravan (I cant even remember)
She had been killing for a very long time... I'm pretty sure she gives into her bloodlust and acts on impulse. In my opinion it doesn't sound like Rarity.She, in the show is seen as a calm, calculating mare, why could she not have used charisma to lead him to a private area and slit his throat?
Disclaimer: Intense violence, gruesome executions. Not for the faint of heart.
I guess violent torture just doesn't effect me.
I blame playing Manhunt 2 at an early age.
2445020 bloodlust make people do stupid things,as anything involving the servants of Khorne would show you
2445020Why thank you for posting those lovely videos.
feeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeellllllsssssssss
this story series has left me feels dead, so as of right now my continuation of reading is for story and nothing more :|
Well this is an interesting turn of events, there are who knows how many ponies against Blossom within the very castle that's supposed to keep her safe. This can only go so well.
6147100 No matter what went down... theres no good reason to do something like that to their children. It was bad enough they both practically sent the kids to their doom but to have the graphic images of the children they lost and their rotting carcasses displayed for the world is NOT ok no matter how you spin it... if I was in DTs position I would be frothing at the mouth with sheer rage! Im literally about to move to the next chapter so im acctually hoping that DT gets a piece of this reporter who has no respect for the deads flank in a future chapter.
...I can't believe it but im rooting for DT despite how horrible she is.
Thats a first
The things a well written story will do to your perspective...
6479013 if could have been Diamond Tiara who purposefully leaked the images to gain sympathy and to further alienate Blossom/Sweetie Bell
Who printed the pictures?
Rita Skeeter!
Oh wait, this is some pony story.
The Foal-Free Press.
Led by Diamond Tiara!
I still can't get over how MINDS ARE SANCROSECT but WE ALSO EXECUTE EIGHT YEAR OLDS.