> Caught and punished
>  by TheHardie-Boy
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Prologue
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The mountains of this area were always covered in snow. Nopony really knew why; the weather team almost never paid any attention to the area. The mountains were always usually deserted, free of life. Now, however, was an exception.

Starlight Glimmer, a unicorn, ran up the path as fast as she could, trying to get away from her former friends. 

‘To think, after all I’ve done for them, they would betray me like this. I showed them happiness, I gave them a home, and they just spit it back in my face,’ she thought to herself. She glanced back to see Double Diamond was still on her tail. If she let up now, she would be caught...and that wasn’t an option.

Towed in a cart behind her, she held the Cutie Marks of six of the strongest ponies she knew. She couldn’t simply teleport away or she would risk leaving them behind, and they would be able to get them back. If that happened, they would be on her faster than she could find anywhere to hide. 

She managed to put some distance between herself and her pursuers. She began to cross a narrow arch of rock that lead to the other mountain. A large pile of snow came crashing down on her and the cart, causing it to drift off the mountain, along with the Cutie Marks. She quickly recovered and reached out her magic to levitate them safely back to her. She crossed a bridge and stopped a moment to destroy it before continuing her getaway.

She could see the cave in the distance. Once she got in there, she would be free to go. But out of nowhere, a pair of ponies on skis flew over her. One of them, Double Diamond, landed on top of the entrance to the cave, causing snow on top of it to began to fall. Starlight sprinted as fast she could to get under, but the snow collapsed right on top of her, making her lose her grip on the six Cutie Marks, which flew back to their rightful owners.

Starlight popped her head up from the pile of snow, filled with anger. A few of her pursuers had caught up to her. She composed her balance and charged her horn with magic. She fired a spell at them, but it was blocked at the last moment by a lavender shield. When the shield went away, it revealed Twilight Sparkle, a lavender alicorn, who was also supposed to be the Princess of Friendship. 

Starlight was shocked that her spell was blocked, even if Twilight was an alicorn. “Wha-I’ve studied that spell for years! How can you-?”

“I studied magic for years too,” Twilight cut off as her friends, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Pinkie Pie, Rarity, and Fluttershy came rushing up as well. “But what I didn’t know then was that studying magic could only take me so far. Each of my friends has taught something different about myself. It was their unique gifts and passions and personalities that helped bring out the magic inside of me. I never would’ve learned that I represent the element of magic without these five. And I certainly wouldn’t be here to stop you now!”

“Spare me your sentimental nonsense! I gave these ponies real friendships they never could’ve had otherwise!” Starlight spat back.

“How do you know that? You never even gave us a chance!” shouted Double Diamond.

Instead of responding, Starlight ignited her horn and unleashed a blinding, blue field of energy and dashed into the cave.

“She’s getting away!” yelled Rainbow Dash, flying toward the cave and seeing Starlight continue to run with her horn giving her light.

“You can’t go in there; you’ll be lost forever,” said Double Diamond, getting in her way.

“We’ll be fine. We can’t just let her go free. She’s too powerful for that,” said Twilight.

With that, Twilight and her friends rushed into the cave to further pursue Starlight.

“Where is she?” asked Rarity.

“I don’t see her anywhere,” said Applejack.

“Maybe she’s already gone,” suggested Pinkie.

Starlight, having heard them, moved as quietly as she could without lighting her horn or making a sound. Unfortunately, she didn’t get far before she tripped on a rock, making a small squeak. 

Twilight rotated her head to where Starlight was. “There!”

Starlight lit her horn again and made an attempt to keep running. She even fired a dizzying spell in hopes they wouldn’t be able follow her any further. She looked back to see Rainbow Dash flying after her. She rounded a corner, but it lead to a drop. She tripped down and twisted her hoof. Luckily, Rainbow Dash didn’t seem to be able to see her.

Starlight began to slowly limp away until she saw Twilight’s horn light up next to Rainbow. The two of them saw Starlight and continued to give chase. Starlight started firing off random spells, hoping one of them would do something to ward them off. Twilight was grazed by one of them, but Rainbow made a straight line for Starlight. All Starlight could do was reach out to Rainbow with her magic. She managed to catch her tail and hold her in mid-air.

“You away took away my village and my friends. Can’t you just leave me-“ Starlight started to say. She was cut off once again by Twilight, charging into her and knocking the wind out of her. The two of them rolled around and fought for control until they came to another drop. They fell down as Rainbow and the others got to the edge.

Once Twilight and Starlight hit the bottom, Starlight was coughing and a little dazed. Twilight took this opportunity to use her magic to create a suppression ring that would block the magic of a unicorn wearing it around its horn. 

Twilight began to slip the ring on Starlight’s horn as she recovered. The second Starlight saw what was happening, she began struggling and panicking. “No, no, no, no, no, no, please, no! Not that, not my magic. Anything but that, please!” she begged. Struggling proved to be useless, as Twilight was holding her still with magic. Starlight stopped as her breaths became uneven. “P-Please, don’t take my magic away from me,” she begged again as tears began to fill her eyes.

Twilight hesitated as when she saw Starlight break down the way she did, unsure of whether she should pull through. It was just, sure, but was it a little overboard?

“Twilight? Are you okay?” Applejack asked as she came up next to Twilight. 

“What’s going on down there?” Rainbow called.

“We’re fine,” Applejack replied. She looked back to Twilight and Starlight and what was going on. When she saw the ring hovering right above Starlight’s horn, she was surprised it was still in the air. “What’re you waitin’ for? Put it on her already!”

Twilight looked at Applejack and saw her serious expression. She then looked back at Starlight, who was staring back at her with tear-filled eyes.

“Come on! She deserves it!” Applejack urged.

Twilight blinked a few times before slowly, hesitantly sliding the suppression ring down Starlight’s horn. There was a bright blue flash as the ring hit the base of her horn. As Starlight saw this, she clenched her eyes shut as tears managed to find their way out of them. “N-No!” she bawled as she rolled over to face away from Twilight and Applejack and began to cry.

“Serves ya’ right,” Applejack said in a stern tone.

Twilight put her hoof on Applejack and shook her head at the cowgirl. She then walked over to the crying unicorn and levitated her onto her back with her front and back hooves dangling off either side of her. She bound them together with her magic so she couldn’t try to get away, put a gag around her mouth so she couldn’t speak, and placed a deafening spell on her so she couldn’t hear anything. “I’m sorry, Starlight; I really am. But unfortunately, you’re just not gonna be allowed to use your magic for a while,” Twilight said, even though Starlight couldn’t hear her. She couldn’t help but feel bad for said unicorn. “Let’s go,” she told Applejack with a frown.

The six of them made their way out of the cave, and surprisingly, Starlight didn’t put up much of a fuss. As soon as the villagers saw them, they all started crowding them and shouting hateful messages at Starlight, which were all unheard by said mare. 

“Now, everypony, please settle down! I know you’re all really angry at Starlight for what she’s done, but please leave her fate up to my friends and me,” Twilight shouted.

Eventually, the villagers all backed off of Twilight and the unicorn she had on her back. 

“Just outta curiosity, what’re y’all gonna do now?” asked Applejack.

“I think we’re just gonna stay here,” said Party Favor.

“Really? Even after everything that’s happened?” Rainbow said.

“Why not? Sure we’ve had our...drawbacks, but this place can still be our home,” replied Sugar Belle.

“Well, alright then. We should be going, however, and we’ll be taking Starlight here with us,” said Twilight, motioning to Starlight, who was still crying a little on her back.

The seven of them made their way from the village and to the nearest train station. On the way, Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Rarity were arguing whether they should keep Starlight in the Ponyville jail for a night before taking her to the Canterlot dungeon, or just take her straight there instead. Pinkie Pie was simply hopping along, singing to herself. Fluttershy stayed quiet, not really wanting to contribute to the three-way conversation.

As for Twilight, she kept glancing back to Starlight every once in a while, thinking of what she was going to do with her. Starlight still had her eyes clenched shut, but the tears seemed to have stopped. Twilight had no idea what was going to happen once they got back to Ponyville, but she didn’t really want to simply have her thrown in prison, not after seeing her fall apart back in the cave. 

She looked back to her friends, who were still arguing, and worried that she might not be able to convince them not to have Starlight imprisoned. Twilight wouldn’t stand for it.

She would just have to convince them otherwise.
> A deal made
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The train ride back to Ponyville had some...mixed features. Pinkie Pie was still in her own little world, Rarity, Applejack, and Rainbow Dash were still arguing about which prison cell Starlight deserved, Fluttershy stayed quiet as usual, and Twilight simply took it all in, switching from listening to the argument and looking at Starlight.

Starlight Glimmer still had all of her bindings on, and she was currently looking out the window with an expression mixed with anger and regret.

’I can’t believe I got captured so easily,’ Starlight thought to herself. She felt tears moving in behind her glare. ’No way, I am not giving them the satisfaction. Just gotta think about happier times. Like back in Sire’s Hollow, with my dad and Sunburst...no that’ll just make this worse.’

Twilight looked at her with a small bit of sympathy. 

“By the time we get back, it’ll be way too late to go all the way to Canterlot,” said Applejack.

“But if we keep her in Ponyville, there’s less security, and she’ll just escape,” countered Rainbow Dash.

“I still think we should make her do manual labor. After all, she did enslave an entire village of ponies. She deserves to feel what that’s like,” Rarity said.

“Wait a minute, how do you know about Ponyville’s security, Rainbow Dash?” asked Applejack.

“That’s none of your business!” Rainbow shouted back.

The three of them began to shout over each other, all fighting for verbal control of the situation. Twilight tried to ignore them, but they just kept getting louder, and louder, and louder, until Twilight had enough.

“Stop!” Twilight shouted.

Her friends stopped what they were doing and looked at Twilight with shocked expressions. Starlight did not shift at all.

“We’re not gonna solve this by shouting!” shouted Twilight.

“Well...how do you think we should punish Starlight?” asked Rainbow.

Twilight looked over to the bound unicorn again, who still wore the same glare as before, and took a deep breath. She may have seemed angry now, but Twilight remembered how Starlight fell apart back in the cave when her magic was being taken away from her.

“You’re all gonna disagree with me...but I don’t really want Starlight to simply be thrown in a prison cell,” Twilight admitted.

“See, Twilight agrees with me. Manual labor it is then,” Rarity said with a triumphant smirk.

“No...not that either,” Twilight countered.

“Well then...what do you want to do?” Applejack asked.

“I...I don’t know...but I don’t think she deserves any of those,” Twilight confessed.

“What?! Are you crazy?” Rainbow yelled.

“You just want to let her go without some sort of punishment?!” Rarity added.

“No! Of course she needs to be taught what did she was wrong and why...but I don’t think any of those ways will do it. You girls didn’t see her back in the cave. She broke down. She was devastated, losing her magic,” Twilight told them.

“Of course she was. Because now, she can’t use to hurt anypony,” said Applejack.

“Applejack’s right. Starlight doesn’t care about ‘learning the error of her ways’; she just wants her magic back,” Rainbow added, sick of having to use that worn out cliche.

“You three really think Starlight isn’t the least bit sorry about what she’s done?” Twilight asked. The three of them simply looked at her like she was crazy. “Fine then. I hate to do this, but you three leave me no choice but to pull rank.”

“What are ya’ sayin’?” Applejack asked.

Twilight sighed. “As the Princess of Friendship, I order you three to stop trying to come up with ways to punish Starlight.”

Rainbow crossed her hooves over her chest. “So that’s how it’s gonna be? Fine!”

Rarity gave a huff in disgust and turned away. Applejack lay down and pulled her hat over her eyes, giving a small glare as she did.

Twilight gave another sigh and turned to her other friends. “What do you two think?”

“Oh, I don’t know. I was just listening to the argument,” said Pinkie with a big smile to finish.

Twilight rolled her eyes and turned to Fluttershy.

“I-I think you’re right about Starlight. I can tell she doesn’t want to admit it, but deep down, I think she knows what she did was wrong. A-And I think that she might be able to make up for what she did if we...gave her a chance,” Fluttershy said.

Twilight was filled with relief. “I’m so glad somepony sees this my way.” She got up and gave Fluttershy a small hug.

“Anything I can do to help,” chuckled Fluttershy.

Twilight backed off a little. “So what do you think we should do? Physically, I mean.”

“First, she needs to be taught what she did was wrong and why. Then, I think we just treat her like a friend.”

“But how? I can’t do it because I’m too busy with Princess duties. You can’t do it because you’re too busy with your animals. And none of them can do it because, I think it’s safe to say, they don’t want to,” Twilight explained.

“What about Sam? You said he was having trouble making friends. Starlight would be a great start,” Fluttershy replied.

“Hold on just a second. Don’t get me wrong, I like Sam as much as all of you, but do you really think it’s a good idea to expose him to...her?” Rainbow cut in.

“What did I just tell you?” Twilight snapped.

“All I’m saying is...Starlight might not be the best...influence on Sam,” Rainbow explained.

Twilight shot her a look that just said, “I don’t care what you think,” and Rainbow rolled her eyes and rested her head on her hoof.

Twilight turned back to Fluttershy. “I think that’s a great idea, Fluttershy.”

Fluttershy smiled in return.

Twilight looked out the same window Starlight was looking through. She saw Canterlot in the distance. ’Poor Starlight. You probably think that’s where we’re going, so we can throw you in the dungeon,’ Twilight thought to herself.

Starlight looked up and saw the palace in the distance. ’Great. At least Sunburst won’t have to find out what I did.’

Twilight looked back to her friends. “We’re nearing Ponyville. Do you mind giving us a minute to talk?”

Her friends all got up and made their way to another train car. On their way out, Rarity, Rainbow Dash, and Applejack shot small glares at Starlight.

Twilight went over and sat next to Starlight and gave her a tap on the shoulder, taking off the deafening spell as well. Starlight winced at all of the sudden noise her ears were filled with and looked at Twilight, who was giving her an earnest smile.

Starlight couldn’t say anything, but Twilight saw her confused expression.

“Welcome to Ponyville, Starlight!” Twilight said with a cheery tone. Starlight just became more confused. “Okay, I know you probably hate me right now, but please hear me out,” Twilight pleaded. 

Starlight’s expression changed into one that said, “I’m listening.”

“My friends were discussing possibly sending you to Canterlot to be out in prison, but I think that’s a bad idea. You may not realize it, but I can tell you’re at least a little sorry for what you did. That being said, I’m willing to let you try to make up for it. I think that, shown a little kindness, you can become a very nice pony, or at the very least, we can stop being enemies. Basically, I’m saying you deserve a second chance, and here it is,” Twilight explained. Starlight’s expression turned to a scowl. “But...if you’re not willing to make amends or accept that what you did was wrong...I may just have to take this issue up with Princess Celestia. I really don’t want that, but I will if I have to.”

Starlight’s gaze moved away from Twilight. ’Second chance? From her? No way, not after taking my magic. But, then again, she kind of has the upper hoof right now. I’ll just have to play along...for now.’

The train stopped, signaling they had returned to Ponyville. “I’m gonna take your bindings off now, except for the suppression ring. Please don’t try any funny business; I don’t want this to be harder than it has to be,” Twilight said. With that, she removed the magical bindings around Starlight’s hooves, and took the gag out of her mouth. Twilight motioned toward the door, and Starlight slowly got up and moving, Twilight following lose behind until they got off the train.

Twilight moved next to Starlight. “Would you please take her to the castle while I go sort out her living arrangements?”

“Of course, Twilight,” Fluttershy responded for the group.

“Thank you,” Twilight said. With that, she ran off in the direction Sam’s house was.

Rainbow walked up to Starlight with a hard glare. “Come on.”

The six of them walked toward Twilight’s castle, Applejack and Rarity keeping close quarters from behind in case Starlight tried anything. They finally got to Twilight’s castle. It was made of dark blue crystals with a few purple crystals around the top. Starlight couldn’t help but silently marvel at it.

“You think this is impressive? You should’ve seen it what it first appeared. It just popped right out of the ground!” Pinkie said, popping up right next to Starlight, making her flinch.

“Come on, let’s just get inside,” Applejack said. She went up to the door, bumping into Starlight in the way, and knocked on the big, wooden doors.

The doors opened to reveal a small dragon with purple skin and green scales. “Oh cool, you’re back!” 

“Hey, Spike. Mind if we come in for a minute?” asked Applejack.

“No problem. Where’s Twilight?” Spike responded.

“She’s off, sortin’ stuff out,” Applejack explained.

The six of them made their way inside, Rainbow giving Starlight a shove to get her moving.

When Spike saw Starlight, his entire world just stopped. He thought she was just drop-dead gorgeous.

“Wh-Who’s th-this?” Spike stuttered.

“This is Starlight Glimmer, somepony we met during our travels,” Rarity responded with a small glare towards Starlight.

“N-Nice to m-meet you,” Spike said with a dopey grin on his face.

Starlight just stared at him, confused. ’A dragon? Why would Twilight have a dragon around here, let alone a baby dragon from the looks of it?

Spike stared at Starlight with the same dopey expression on his face.

“Spike? You okay there?” asked Applejack.

No reply came from the baby dragon.

“Spike?” said Rarity.

Nothing.

“Spike!” yelled Rainbow Dash.

Spike shook his head. “So...what now?”

“Twilight asked us to look after Starlight until she got back,” Rarity explained.

“Look after her? What are you talking about?” Spike asked.

“It’s a...long story. We’ll fill you in later. It’s gettin’ kinda late,” said Applejack.





Twilight walked up to the house on the edge of Ponyville. It was a simple house, two stories, average size. She saw a light on in Sam’s living room, meaning he was still probably awake, even though it was getting close to midnight.

Twilight had been to Sam’s house more than any of her friends, or anypony in general. Sam had only been in Equestria for three weeks now, after a freak accident in both his and her world. Since he arrived, he had been trying to make friends, but most of Ponyville’s citizens were freaked out by his unusual appearance. 

Twilight and her friends found Sam in the castle, not a day after it appeared. At first, he was extremely terrified everypony until Fluttershy managed to calm him down. He was a bit...less mature than most, but he was really smart and funny once one got to know him. Twilight was one of those few. 

Sam was nice, but he was still a little weirded out by ponies. Apparently, where he comes from, ponies aren’t quite as...intelligent as humans. That’s what Sam was; a human. Twilight remembered a certain aqua-marine unicorn named Lyra, who was obsessed with humans. In fact, Twilight actually had to verbally convince Lyra to leave Sam alone until he was more comfortable.

Twilight snapped herself out of her trip down memory lane and knocked on Sam’s front door.

A few moments later, the door opened, revealing Ponyville’s, and Equestria’s, only human. Right now, he was wearing shorts and a torn up shirt.

“Hey, Twilight! I see you’re back from your little trip. What brings you here?” Sam asked with a smile on his face.

’Well, at least he’s in a good mood,’ Twilight thought to herself. “You see, Sam, I kind of have something to ask you.”

“Alright. Why don’t you come in? It’s freezing out there,” Sam said, shivering.

Up until now, Twilight had not taken notice of the cold weather. Now that she did, she shivered as well. “That’s a good idea.”

Twilight went through the door and into the house. The living room, as Sam liked to call it, was about half the size of one room in Golden Oaks Library. There was a white couch, a black box that Sam called a “DVD player” whatever that was, a bookshelf, and dark-brown, wooden floors. It was the biggest room in the house, but Sam didn’t seem to mind.

“So what did you want to ask me?” Sam said, sitting on a black chair he claimed belonged to his father.

“Well, before I ask, you’re gonna need some context on our journey,” Twilight responded.

“Oh yeah, you guys just kinda told me you were going away somewhere and that you’d be back in a day or two.”

“Okay, so anyhow, we were summoned to a village in the middle of nowhere. All of the ponies had the exact same equal sign for a Cutie Mark and creepy smiles that managed to creep Pinkie out,” Twilight began.

“Woah, if it can creep her out, it must have been really weird,” Sam assumed.

“I know, right? Anyhow, the village was run by a unicorn named Starlight Glimmer, who had the same equal sign on her flank. She said they represented the fact that nopony was better than anypony else, but we could tell she had darker intentions. She even took ours!”

“Well, you have your Cutie Mark now, so how’d you beat her?” Sam asked, intrigued by the story so far.

“Well, it turned out that Starlight had kept her Cutie Mark when she took the village’s. We exposed her for her lies and got ours back. She tried to get away, but we caught and brought her back here,” Twilight finished.

“So...what does this have to do with me?” Sam asked.

“Umm...Rainbow, Applejack, and Rarity are convinced she’s an evil pony to her core, but I don’t think that. I think she deserves a chance to redeem herself instead of being thrown in prison, but I can’t just let her go free. Her magic is nearly as powerful as my own, so if I just let her go away, she probably won’t learn her lesson, and get into serious trouble. That being said, someone needs to teach her why what she did was wrong and how she can make up for it,” Twilight explained.

“Well, you’re the Princess of Friendship. Why don’t you do it?”

“I would, but I’m really busy with all of my princess duties. So...I was hoping...you could?”

“Me?! I know almost nothing about friendship! I haven’t even been here that long!” Sam countered.

“I know, but none my other friends can do it, and if you ever need help, you can just ask,” Twilight offered.

“Why me though? Why not someone like...Zecora or something?” 

“Because...I also thought it would be a good opportunity for you to make a new friend...even if the circumstances are kind of...interesting. Besides, you’re my best option. I wouldn’t be coming to you if I didn’t think you could do it. I really want Starlight to have this chance, but if nopony agrees to help her, I’m afraid of what’ll happen to her,” Twilight explained.

“Look, I’m all for giving her a chance, but I just don’t feel like this is a good idea. I have to go job hunting, I have to buy food, but if I agree to this, it would be like an anchor,” Sam countered.

“Like I said, you would always be able to come to me for help, and you know what? I’ll even be willing to pay you!” Twilight exclaimed.

“How much?”

“How about...two thousand bits a week?”

“Woah! How do you even have that much?” Sam retorted.

“Sam, please, I’m a princess,” Twilight responded.

“I...I just don’t know, Twilight,” Sam said.

“Please?” Twilight begged. She then tilted her head and put on a sad frown. Her pupils grew huge, and her eyebrows curved at just the right angle.

“Don’t look at me like that!”

Twilight tilted her head even more. “For me?”

Sam tried his best to resist, but he eventually let out a sigh. “Fine, I’ll do it.”

Twilight’s face instantly changed into a smile. “Thank you so much, Sam! You don’t know how much this means to me!”

“But on two conditions. One, you don’t interfere unless I ask you two, and two, you...actually, that’s about it,” Sam admitted.

“Of course! She’d be under your supervision. You do this however you see fit!” Twilight cheered.

“So, you said she was back at the castle? Should we go get her now or in the morning?” Sam asked.

“I suppose we could go bring her here now. She’s wearing a suppression ring, so she can’t use her magic,” Twilight answered.

“Alright then, let me get some better clothes on, and we’ll get going,” Sam said, making his way upstairs.
> First day (part 1)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I never went out at night. It was always freezing. Twilight said it was because winter was nearing, but that didn’t make it any better. I quickened my pace, so we could get to the castle a little quicker. Even with this coat on, I could still feel the cold, night air against my skin. I was really used to warmer temperatures, so this was very uncomfortable for me.

We finally made it to Twilight’s huge, crystal castle. I’ve been inside once before when I first appeared in Equestria a few weeks ago. I really freaked out when I saw all the ponies, but I’m getting used to it. It really helped that ponies here were like humans back where I came from.

We walked inside, and I took off my coat, expecting it to be a little warmer in the castle. Unfortunately, it was just as cold inside as it the castle as it was outside.

“I really gotta say this; this castle is cool and all, but it sucks when it comes to insulation,” I told Twilight.

“Spike and I never really notice it. Ponies’ fur coats help protect them from the cold, and dragons are just inherently warm on the insider,” Twilight explained to me. Even though I lived here, there was still so much I didn’t know about ponies.

“So where are the others?” I asked.

Twilight moved ahead of me a little. “They’re probably in the Map Room. You know, the room we found you in.”

I chuckled as I recalled the memory. Soon, we came up to the doors I barely recognized. Twilight opened them with her magic, and we stepped inside. Our other friends were all in there, just hanging out and doing whatever.

“Hey, girls!” I said, waving a hand.

There was a short chorus of greetings as they all turned to face us, save for Spike, who seemed to be staring dreamily at the corner of the room.

“So I’m assuming you took Twilight’s offer to look after...her?” asked Rarity.

“Yeah,” I replied.

Rainbow Dash turned her head to Twilight. “I still think this is a bad idea.”

“I told you before, stop thinking about it. Starlight’s in Sam’s hooves -er hands, now,” Twilight countered.

“I promise I’ll do my best to help. Where is this ‘Starlight’, anyhow?” I asked.

“She’s over there,” answered Rarity, motioning to the corner of the room Spike was staring at.

I looked over to where she mentioned, and I saw her. She was a unicorn, like Twilight had said, with a lilac coat of fur. Her mane was a dark shade of purple, just brighter than Twilight’s, with a streak of green flowing through it. It was done up in a ponytail in the back, and the front was done similar to Twilight’s. I noticed she had a small bit of chubbiness in her cheeks and belly, but only because my other friends were pretty slim. One wouldn’t be able to tell without comparison. She was staring at me with big eyes, which were a certain shade of purple. At the moment, I had only one thought going through my mind: ’How could someone so cute do something so bad as what Twilight said?’

That was the thing about me. Even though I didn’t really see them in a romantic sort of way, I thought ponies, especially mares were somewhat cute. I had foolishly expressed these thoughts before to my friends, and although they told me they were flattered, they said I should keep those thoughts to myself when it came to other ponies. That didn’t stop me from poking fun at it with my friends, though. Every time one of them did something cute around me, I would give them a little *boop* on the snoot. It always made them giggle cutely when I did that, even Rainbow Dash, who apparently hated, quote unquote: mushy stuff.

I walked around to the back of Starlight, who turned as well. She kept staring at me with those big, curious eyes. I couldn’t tell if she was intrigued or scared. 

“You must be Starlight. My name’s Sam,” I said, kneeling down.

She simply stared at me in response.

“So...you do know that she-“ Rarity started.

“Yes, he knows, Rarity. He doesn’t need you to tell him again,” Twilight interrupted.

“Umm, how exactly am I gonna get her back to my place?” I asked.

“That’s...a good question. I can’t teleport you there because the ring would probably come off. You can’t really walk her there because she’ll probably run off,” Twilight mused.

“I guess...I could carry her, unless you happen to have a collar and leash?” 

When I said that, I got a few...mixed reactions from my friends. Fluttershy hid her face behind her mane, Rarity put a hoof in front of her mouth to hide a tiny smile, Applejack stifled a laugh, Pinkie Pie was...Pinkie Pie, Rainbow Dash burst into laughter, and Twilight looked away from me, trying to hide what I think was a blush.

Remembering my deals with them, I walked up to Twilight, cupped her cheek in my hand to make her face me...and booped her on the nose. She flinched and giggled a little. I rolled my eyes and went back to Starlight, who was still just staring at me.

“So...?”

“Yeah, we don’t have an better ideas. I’ll come by tomorrow to see if you need anything. Thanks again for doing this, Sam,” Twilight spoke for her friends.

“Alright then,” I said. I moved around Starlight and knelt down. I put my arms under her torso and heaved her up. Her expression was now just pure shock. “Umm, Twilight, could you get the door for us?”

“Oh, right,” Twilight said, following me down the hall. She opened the front door, and we said our goodbyes.





’What is this thing? And what does he think he’s doing with me?’ Starlight thought to herself. She had never seen anything like Sam before. He seemed nice, but the way he was handling her...she was really not having it.

’It’s not like I can do anything right now. I’ll just have to wait until we’re out of sight of this stupid princess.’

Sam began to run through the peaceful town of Ponyville. It didn’t take long for the cold, night air to hit her coat. She began shivering in Sam’s grasp, although he did provide an extra bit of heat.

“See that house over there? That’s mine...or well, ours I guess, for now,” Sam told Starlight.

’Good. That should mean we’re far enough away not to be noticed.’

Starlight started struggling and wiggling as hard as she could to get out of Sam’s grip. Sam stopped a little, but he tightened his arms around her. Starlight tried kicking Sam to get him to let her go, but her hooves were in bad spots to reach him. She would’ve just ended up kicking herself in the flank.

“Woah, woah, what happened? You were fine back at the castle,” Sam said. Starlight tried even harder for a few seconds before just giving up. “There you go. It’s alright. You don’t need to be afraid of me, I promise.”

’That was useless. This...whatever it is, is way too strong for me. I’ll just have to find another way.’

Sam arrived at the house he was talking about with Starlight still in his arms. She was thankful it was the middle of the night, or she would’ve been humiliated. Well, even more, at least. Not that she wasn’t feeling humiliated anyway.

Sam stepped into his living room and up to his white couch. He gently set Starlight down on it and knelt down to her.

“So...welcome to your new home...for now, at least. It’s not much, I know, but it’s enough for me. I’ve never really had a roommate before, so that’ll be a new experience for me. Here, the couch isn’t a pullout, but it’s still comfortable enough to sleep on. I would know,” Sam said, chuckling a little at the end.

Starlight stayed silent.

“Well...Twilight said you did some pretty bad stuff with your magic, which is why you can’t use it for a while, but she also believes you can make up for it. And even though her friends obviously don’t think the same, I trust her judgement. She’s always been there for me. Living in a land of ponies is pretty weird. Don’t get me wrong, this world is amazing.”

Starlight said nothing, but began to grow annoyed.

“Umm...I’ll go get you a blanket and pillow so you can sleep. You look pretty tired out. I can imagine you’ve probably had a long day. Be right back.” Sam left the room and returned a moment later with a white, fluffy pillow, and a brown blanket. He placed the pillow on the end of the couch and laid out the blanket next to Starlight.

“Feel free to read anything from my bookshelf if you want. The bathroom’s down the hall right there; you can’t miss it. And if you need anything at all, don’t hesitate to come ask. I’ll be upstairs, in the last room to the right...I’m rambling here, aren’t I?”

Starlight nodded.

“Well, at least I got a response this time. Umm...sweet dreams, I guess. If you wake up before me, like I said, go ahead and take a look at my books, just don’t wake me up early.” 

With that, Sam went up the stairs.

“Finally, he left,” Starlight whispered to herself. “Now I can get this stupid ring off my horn and get out of here.”

Starlight poked the ring with her hoof and tried to slide it up her horn. It didn’t move.

“Come on. Why won’t you come off?” Starlight said.

She tried again, with both hooves this time, but got the same result.

“Come off!” Starlight could feel tears beginning to well up in her eyes. She tried firing a spell, but the ring glowed lavender and absorbed the magic.

“No! I can’t go without my magic!” Starlight cried. She kept trying to get the ring off as tears started falling down her face. When she still couldn’t get it off, she hopped off the couch and began to sob. “There has to be a way to get this off.”





I woke up next morning earlier than I wanted. It had taken forever to get to sleep last night, and had no sleep the night before since Twilight and the others were away. 

I sat up and stretched, trying to remember what I had planned. Nothing new, just job hunting, 

“Wait a second, that’s right. I have a roommate now!” I exclaimed as I facepalmed for not remembering.

I changed shirts and put on some decent pants before going downstairs to see...my living room was in shambles.

The bookshelf was tipped, and there were books everywhere. My glass table was turned over and broken, making it pretty much useless. The couch was in the wrong spot, and the cushions were all across the room. My father’s chair was misplaced, but otherwise oaky. 

Finally, in the middle of the room was the one who caused it. Starlight was asleep on her side. It looked like she had cried herself to sleep, judging by the small puddle next to her face and the large bags under her eyes.

This didn’t do anything to calm my mood. 

“Starlight! What did you do to my living room?!” I yelled, nearly at the top of my lungs.

Starlight shot awake, literally catching a foot of air, with her back slightly arched. Her eyes became pinpricks as soon as she saw me, and she stated backing away.

“What. Did. You. Do?!” I yelled again.

“I-I-I’ve never b-been without my magic b-before, so I tried to get the ring o-off my horn, b-but it wouldn’t come off, a-and I...” she trailed off, clearly scared out of her mind.

Seeing her like that snapped me out of my anger. 

’I am such an idiot. I told her she didn’t need to be afraid of me, and I go and do this. Great, things are off to a just peachy start.’

I slowly started walking toward her, and she backed away from me like I was a monster until she backed into the couch. I knelt down in front of her, and she looked away with her eyes clenched shut. I put my hand on her.

“Hey, it’s okay. I-I’m not mad,” I cooed.

She didn’t look at me.

“I’m sorry I yelled. I told you that you don’t need to be afraid of me, and I intend to keep that promise,” I said.

Her breaths became a little more steady, and she opened her eyes a little, but she still didn’t look at me.

“I get it. You’re scared, and frustrated...and you have every right to be.”

She looked at me. Her eyes were still filled with fear, but I thought I also saw what resembled regret.

“Here, why don’t you go back to sleep. You still look pretty tired,” I said, lifting her back onto the couch and covering her with the blanket.

“R-Really? Y-You’re not gonna make me fix all this?” she asked.

“No, it’s fine. I’ll get it,” I said, gently stroking her mane. Her breaths were still very shaky, and her eyes still showed she was afraid. I kept stroking her mane until her eyes slowly closed. Even though she didn’t look as...good as back in the castle, I still had to admit, she looked pretty cute when she was asleep.

I turned back to the room to asses the damage. I put the bookshelf back up, and saw it was still in one piece. The books were everywhere, but they were all fine as well. I slowly pushed the couch back into place, careful not to wake up Starlight. I then realized that I had not yet put the cushions on the couch. After I gathered the cushions, I pushed my father’s chair back into place. She had left all the pictures of my family untouched, as well as my DVD player. The only thing that was unsalvageable was the table, which I didn’t mind too much. Sure, it looked nice, but I was always afraid the glass in the middle would break, so I meant to get a new one anyhow. I simply opened the front and tossed it out.

I started to put the books back when I heard a knock at the door. I opened it to see Twilight.

“Hey, Sam. I just came by to give you your first payment,” she said.

I stepped outside and put a finger over my mouth, closing the door behind me. “She’s still sleeping in there, so we have to be quiet.”

“Oh right, sorry. Like I said, I just came by to drop off your first payment,” she said, giving me a saddlebag full of bits. It was then that she noticed the broken table on the porch. “What happened to that?”

I ran my hand across the back of my head. “She...kinda had a little tantrum last night...”

“And?” Twilight said, raising her eyebrow.

“...And she kinda messed up my living room.”

“What?” she silently yelled. 

“It’s not that big a deal, really. The only think she really broke was the table,” I assured.

Twilight opened the door a little and looked inside. She sighed when she faced me again. “Well...I guess it looks okay. But you’re still gonna have to take some kind of measure to make sure she doesn’t do it again.”

“What do you mean?”

“Well...my friends suggested something last night back at the castle, and while I’m not the biggest fan of what they said, it looks like they might’ve been on to something,” she said, unable to face me.

“What did they say?” I asked, rubbing the bridge of my nose.

“I don’t think you’re gonna like this, and I know for a fact that she won’t, but...they suggested maybe getting her a fairly large cage for her to sleep in and a collar and leash for when you need to go out, just until she shows she can behave,” she said, very sheepishly might I add.

“What?! You can’t be serious,” I nearly yelled. I checked back inside to see if I had awoken Starlight, which I didn’t. “You said you didn’t want to throw her in prison. How is this any different?”

“I know, but...between what happened at the village and this tantrum...I don’t have any better ideas.”

I thought about it for a second. “Well, a cage is completely out of the question...but you’re right. I’m probably gonna have to get her a collar.”

“I’ll watch her for you,” Twilight offered.

“Thanks. Help yourself to anything in the fridge,” I responded.

“There’s a pet shop not too far from here. If you’re gonna find a pony-sized collar anywhere, it’ll be there,” Twilight told me.

“Alright, I’ll be right back,” I said, walking off with a handful of bits. I walked around Ponyville, getting a lot of weird looks. The ponies around here were still kind of warming up to me. Except for a mare named Lyra Heartstrings, who was furiously waving at me. I chuckled and waved back. She may have been a little...crazy for humans, but I could tell she meant well.

I finally found the shop Twilight was talking about and walked in. It was big, and it had a lot of stuff you’d expect to see in a normal pet shop. There was food, cushions, toys, and junk like that. I’ve never owned a pet, so the whole experience was fairly new to me.

“Well, hello there! How can I help you?” I heard a cheery voice. I looked at the counter and saw a female earth pony with a bright blue coat and a dark blue mane. She wore a big smile that seemed to compliment her cheery tone.

“Hey...I’m, uh, Sam, and I was wondering if you had any...collars and leashes?” I asked sheepishly. I wasn’t exactly sure how she would respond to me treating a pony like a...pet.

“Well, of course we have collars and leashes, honey. What kind of animal were you thinking of?” she asked. Her tone was still cheery, so I lightened up a little.

“Umm...a pony,” I answered.

“Oh...oh, why yes, we have collars for ponies,” she said, her voice growing sly.

I gulped. “Well, that’s great. Where are they?”

She gave a sly chuckle. “Oh, we don’t keep those out for all to see. I’ll be right back with one.” She walked into a back room. I don’t know why, but I had a feeling I wasn’t gonna like what she came out with.

Sure enough, she came back out with a green collar. It had a little charm that had a little bow tie behind it. “It’s rather...rare somepony asks for a collar for another pony, but it’s happened before, so we always try to be prepared. This one’s made from the finest leather in Equestria, shipped all the way from Phillydelphia.”

I hesitantly took the collar in my hand. One would have to be an idiot to not know what it was really for. “Y-You aren’t appalled by leather?”

“Some are, but most aren’t. I can also have the little charm engraved for the lucky mare,” she answered, giving me a wink at the last part.

“You don’t have anything a little...less? I’m not really sure Starlight would like this,” I said, realizing my mistake too late.

Of course, she took the leash and made her way back to where she got it. A few minutes later, she returned with the leash. “Here you go. I’m sure your Starlight would love this, lucky mare,” she said dreamily.

I shuddered and looked at the charm. It was now engraved. 

’Starlight, property of Sam’

There was also a heart dotting the “I” in “Starlight”. I grimaced as I read the words.

’I can’t believe I was stupid enough to say Starlight’s name in front of her. Great, it’s not like I can’t buy it now that she’s engraved it.’

“How much?” I asked dejectedly.

“Well, normally the collar and leash alone cost thirty bits, plus an extra twenty for the engraving, but you’re cute, so I won’t charge you for the engraving, bringing the final cost back to thirty bits,” she said.

I blushed a little when she called me cute, and started counting bits. I handed her the bits, and took the collar.

“Oh, and don’t forget the leash, no charge,” she said, giving me a blue string. I took at and tried clamping it to the charm, hoping it would cover the engraving. It didn’t.

“Thanks. I should be going,” I said, walking back to the door.

“Oh by the way, my name’s Lilly. Give your precious Starlight my greetings,” she said in a tone that I was not at all comfortable with.

I sprinted through Ponyville back to my house. I did not want any of these ponies to see me with a pony-sized leash.

I got to my house and caught my breath before walking inside. Starlight was still asleep on the couch, looking a bit more peaceful than before, and Twilight was using her magic to put all my books back on the bookshelf. I tapped her on the shoulder and motioned toward the kitchen. We both walked in, and I showed her the collar.

“Do not ask me to go there again. Lilly is way too much like Pinkie without actually being for my liking,” I told her as she inspected the collar.

She grimaced at something. “Well, this collar is certainly...interesting.”

“Is it the leather? Or the engraving?” I asked.

“The engraving. Leather doesn’t gross me out quite as much as it used to, but the engraving...it’s a bit much,” Twilight admitted.

“Yeah, I made the mistake of saying who it was for in front of Lilly. I couldn’t really back out of buying it, though,” I responded.

“At least it’s a fairly nice collar. Although, I doubt that’d do much to help.”

“I’m definitely gonna find something to cover those words,” I said.

“And hey, who knows? Maybe she’ll start behaving quick, so she won’t have to wear it long,” Twilight said.

“Yeah,” I agreed. 

There was a small pause.

“This is gonna get ugly isn’t it?” I asked.

“Probably,” Twilight admitted.

Starlight suddenly walked by us, ignoring us and looking very tired still, and into the bathroom.

“I guess I should be going. I’ll come by again, probably tomorrow, to see how you’re doing. Good luck,” Twilight said.

“Thanks. I’m probably gonna need it,” I responded.

Twilight left, and I leaned on the counter, waiting for Starlight to return. After a moment, Starlight came back out. I had a guilty look on my face that made her pause.

“Hey, listen. I really don’t want to do this...but it’s kinda out of my hands,” I told her.

She tilted her head in confusion.

“Just, with your little outburst last night, I have no choice but to take...tighter measures until I can fully trust you,” I said, holding up the collar.

As soon as she saw it, her breaths became shaky again, and her expression from earlier when I had yelled at her returned. 

’I am just doing a terrible job not scaring her.’

I started walking toward her, collar in hand. She started backing away from me until she hit the wall and had nowhere to go. I slowly knelt down and fastened the collar around her neck. Surprisingly, she didn’t put up a fuss as I tightened it, not enough to strangle her, but enough to keep it from falling off.

I stood back up and observed her. Her eyes were wide with fear, and she was starting to hyperventilate. She brought her hoof up to the collar, as if trying to get it off. She looked like she was on the verge of crying.

I looked away from her. I felt terrible. I had promised her she didn’t need to be afraid of me, but I wasn’t doing a very good job.

“I’m really sorry about this, but...you’re just not leaving me with much of a choice. Look, when you start behaving, and I can start to trust you, I’ll take it off, okay?” I said.

She looked at me again before dipping her head and breaking into crying. 

I just couldn’t look at her like that.

’At least she looks pretty cute, wearing that collar and being all sub...No, no, no,  no, NO! Do NOT go there right now!’

“W-Why don’t I make us some breakfast?” I offered, trying to cheer her up a little.

She calmed down a little.

I looked at the clock and chuckled. “Okay, forget breakfast. How about brunch?”

I opened the fridge to find...almost nothing. I looked back at Starlight, who was now looking back at me. “I...don’t have anything here. Looks like we’re gonna have to go out and get something,” I said, my voice laced with guilt.

Starlight nearly broke down again and looked away from me. “F-Fine...let’s just get this over with.”

’At least she’s talking now. That’s good...right?
> First day (part 2)
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I handed the stallion a few bits and took the stuff I bought from him, eager to get away from him, not that it would help. I was getting dirty looks from almost everyone in Ponyville. None of them said anything, but I knew they were judging me by the fact that I had a pony on a leash.

Speaking of which, Starlight was one of the few that wasn’t silently judging me. At least, I didn’t think she was. She was moving a little slower than I’ve seen ponies walk, but I didn’t mind. She had stopped crying before we left the house, but she was still hanging her head. In fact, her horn was nearly touching the ground. I couldn’t help but feel bad for the poor unicorn.

I currently had two bags of food in one hand, and a pouch full of bits in the other. Finally, we were coming up to Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack had always been nice to me, along with her siblings, so I figured she wouldn’t be one to judge me.

“Hey there, Sam. What can ah do ya’ for?” she asked in her southern accent.

“Hey, Applejack. I’m here to get some apples. I figured I may as well,” I told her.

“No problem then. How many do ya’ need?” 

“About two dozen should be enough.”

She nodded and walked away. I looked back to Starlight, who was sitting on her haunches.

“You’ve met Applejack, right?” I asked.

She simply nodded.

Applejack quickly returned with a bag full of apples. I offered her a few bits, but she swatted them away with her hoof. “No trouble. Yer’ still new here.”

“Thanks,” I said, looking back. There were a few ponies giving me death glares. I turned back to Applejack. “Do you mind if we come in for a minute? I don’t want to go back there quite yet.”

Applejack chuckled. “Of course. Big Mac’s outta town, and Applebloom’s with her friends.”

I started to follow Applejack to her barn before I looked back to Starlight, who seemed a little scared of Applejack.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

She does nothing in response.

“Applejack’s nice. You’ll see. Come on,” I said, trying to sound as nice as possible.

She slowly starts to follow. I didn’t really want to have to pull on the leash to get her to move, and so far, she hasn’t made me.

Once we get inside the barn, Applejack hands me a bottle full of cider. “Here, new recipe. Granny Smith just made it.”

I take a small sip, and it tastes great, albeit a little strong. I tried a little bit of apple cider before, but Twilight warned me it was alcoholic. I was old enough to drink it, but I still made sure not to overdo it.

I took notice of Starlight idly rubbing her hoof on the ground and held the bottle up the her. “Want some?”

She shook her head. 

Applejack looked at her as well and smirked a little. She then walked up to me. “Ah see ya’ took my suggestion of the collar,” she whispered.

“So it was your idea?” I asked.

“Yeah. I thought she might try something, so I came up with it,” she explained.

I rolled my eyes and sighed. “Anyhow, you wouldn’t be able to make me a new, wooden table would you?”

“What happened to yer’ old one? Ah thought it looked nice,” she responded.

“Well...we had a bit of an...incident last night, and, long story short, I need a new one,” I explained.

She looked back to Starlight with judgement. “Ah see. Well, sure, ah can make ya’ a new table. Free of charge, on account of this...incident.”

Starlight flinched away from Applejack. I rolled my eyes and set down the leash holding onto Starlight. “Can we talk for a minute?” I sternly asked Applejack.

She nodded and we moved outside the farm.

“What is your problem?” I whispered harshly.

“What do ya’ mean ‘what’s ma’ problem’? Ah don’t trust her. Frankly, she’s lucky she’s gettin’ a chance to redeem herself at all,” Applejack replied.

“Well, you’re not exactly helping,” I responded.

“What? Just look at what she did ta yer’ table,” Applejack countered.

I rubbed the bridge of my nose. “Applejack, she was scared. She’s never been without her magic before. Just give her some time, ease up on her a little. She’ll come around. And besides, I wanted a new table anyhow, so if anything, she did me a favor.” Applejack looked back into the barn where Starlight was sitting. “Just put yourself in her place. Wouldn’t you be scared and frustrated?”

“Ah...Ah guess yer’ right. Ah’ll...go a little easy on her then,” Applejack admitted.

“Thank you. Why don’t you go in there and just...try to talk to her?” I said.

“Alright,” she said, walking back inside. 

Starlight was sitting in the same spot. As far as I could tell, she didn’t even notice I wasn’t holding the leash.

Applejack gave her a little tap and a small smile. “Look, Ah’m sorry Ah’ve been giving ya’ such a hard time.”

Starlight gave her a confused look. She opened her mouth to respond, but didn’t say anything.

“Hey, guys!” said a familiar, raspy voice. It was Rainbow Dash.

“Hey, Rainbow. What’re you up to?” I asked.

“Nothing much. Just thought I’d swing by...oh, she’s here,” she said, finishing with a deadpan glare at Starlight.

I threw my head back and buried my face in my hands. “Not you too,” I whispered to myself.

“Rainbow, Sam here was just gettin’ some apples, an’ he had to bring Starlight along. You don’t need to be makin’ a fuss,” Applejack warned.

“Alright, alright. Just let me read what the collar says,” Rainbow said, moving toward Starlight.

Starlight took on a serious blush and tried to move away from Rainbow. Unfortunately, she tripped on the leash. Rainbow held the charm in her hoof.

“Starlight, property of Sam,” Rainbow read aloud. After, she snorted and burst into hysterical laughter.

“It’s all I could get! And it’s none of your business anyhow!” I yelled at Rainbow.

“Sure. Why don’t you take your little ‘pet’ for a walk then, huh, Sam?” Rainbow taunted.

Starlight looked like she was about to cry.

“She’s not my pet!” I shouted back.

“You two should probably go. Sorry about Rainbow here; I’ll deal with ‘er,” said Applejack.

“Thank you,” I said. “Let’s go, Starlight.”

The two of us are our way back through Ponyville, and I had to endure the dirty looks and whispers once again. Starlight seemed even more down than before, thanks to Rainbow Dash. Once we finally get to my house, I quickly shut the door behind us. Starlight sat on her haunches in front of the couch.

“Sorry about her. If it makes you feel any better, I really don’t see you as a pet,” I told her.

She did nothing in response.

“Let me put the stuff away, and I’ll get to work making us brunch. Until then...want an apple?” I asked, holding up an apple.

“No thanks. I don’t really like apples,” she admitted, still looking at the ground.

I sighed. “You know, you could’ve said something back when I was buying them. You get a say,” I said, hoping she would cheer up a little.

She looked up at me. “Really?”

“Yeah, you live here too. Anyhow, I’ll go make those pancakes. You do like pancakes right?”

She tilted her head. “Umm, yeah.”

“Alright then,” I said, walking into the kitchen. I put all the stuff I bought away, and got out the ingredients I needed for pancakes. “Let’s see; flour, baking mix, syrup...what else?”

“Butter?” 

I looked at the table. To my surprise, Starlight had followed me in and took a seat in one of the chairs to the table.

“Right, thanks,” I said, chuckling a little. I got busy making pancakes, and I finished about twenty minutes later. All the while, Starlight was watching me, her expression somewhat hard to read. All I could say for sure was that she wasn’t really as afraid of me as before.

“Here you go. I’m not exactly the best chef, but Spike taught me a thing or two on how to make simple home cooked meals,” I said, presenting a plate of pancakes. “You want some whipped cream to go with it?”

She seemed to light up, albeit just a little. “Sure.”

I sprayed a dollop of whipped cream on our pancakes, and dug in with my fork. Starlight looked at it from a few different angles before rolling her eyes and just using her muzzle to eat. I had to stifle a chuckle as she ate. It looked adorable. 

“H-How is it?” I asked.

She removed her, now syrup-covered muzzle from the pancakes. “They’re good.”

“Good. Like I said, I’m not a very good cook,” I said. I got a bit on my fork and chowed down. They were good. We finished eating in silence. 

“Um...how should I clean up?” Starlight asked.

I couldn’t help but giggle. “Here, I’ll run some water in the sink so you can clean up,” I said, putting our plates next to the sink. 

I put the plug in and started the water. As it filled up, I got a chair from the table and put it next to the sink. The chairs were moderately tall in case I had ponies over, so Starlight was able to reach the sink without much trouble.

I went into the living room and laid down on the couch while Starlight did her thing. I heard the water turn off, and Starlight joined me in the living room.

“So...what now?” she asked.

“Not sure. I don’t know about you, but I’m tired after all that’s happened today. I’m gonna try to read myself to sleep,” I said, grabbing a book from my bookshelf. “If you wanna do something, you can...I don’t know, wash the dishes or something.”

Starlight sighed and looked down again. “Alright.” 

I looked at her and saw her going back into the kitchen.

Wait, is she really gonna do it? I only meant that as a joke. Maybe she does feel bad about what she did. If she does, maybe I can convince Twilight to let me take the leash off of her.’

I opened my book and read until I couldn’t keep my eyes open.





I was woken up by the sound of glass shattering. I looked at the clock and saw I was only asleep for a few minutes. 

I got up and stumbled into the kitchen to see a broken plate on the ground and Starlight on her haunches in the chair and head buried in her hooves on the counter, crying. 

’Either she had another meltdown, or she accidentally broke the plate. Probably the latter.’

I walked over to her and rested my hand on her back. She stopped crying and looked at me with tearful eyes. “I-I dropped the plate. I’m sorry-“

I cut her off by putting my finger on her muzzle. “It’s fine. I didn’t think you’d actually come in here and wash the dishes. I really just meant it as a joke. Here, let me get that.”

I scooped up the broken glass with a dustpan and threw them in the trash.

“I’m not gonna make you do menial chores while you’re here. Like I said, you don’t need to be afraid of me, even if you do hate me,” I told her, walking back to the living room.

“I don’t hate you,” she said, making me pause. 

“Really?” I asked.

“No. It’s my own fault I’m in this mess. If anything...I hate myself. And Twilight and her friends too, a little, I guess. You just kinda got caught in the middle of this,” she explained.

“The situation isn’t really the best for either of us, especially you,” I reasoned.

“It’s not like I don’t deserve it though,” she countered.

’Now, we’re really getting somewhere.’

“Well, now’s your chance to make up for it...to fix yourself. But either way, I’m not gonna make you do chores,” I said.

“I know, but I want to make this as easy for you as possible. You don’t deserve to be in this situation,” she reasoned.

“You know, Twilight’s friends made it sound like you brainwashed an entire village and stole their Cutie Marks for no reason, and that you were just a villain who doesn’t care about anyone but herself, but I can clearly see that’s not true,” I said.

“What do you mean?”

“Save for Twilight, all I was told was that you were rotten to the core. But Twilight thought you could make up for it, and I can see she’s right,” I explained.

“Really?” she asked, sounding the loudest I’d heard so far.

“Yeah. In fact, even Twilight got something wrong. You’re not a villain at all. Just a little misguided right?”

“I-I guess. I mean, I legitimately thought I was doing everypony in that village a favor. The whole time, I had no remorse whatsoever, though, until Twilight and her friends showed up,” she mused.

“And let me guess. Once they did, all you could do was panic and try to keep things on track,” I assumed.

“That, and I had just been doing it for so long, I had kinda brainwashed myself in a way. I’m not trying to make it sound like what I did wasn’t my fault, but...”

“Twilight and her friends just kinda knocked some sense into you,” I finished.

“Exactly,” she said. She actually chuckled a little to herself. “I’m glad to know you’re not a monster.”

“Yeah, I know my appearance can apparently come off as big and intimidating, but I’m not really that different from you ponies. Although, I guess I didn’t do a very good job not scaring you, huh?”

Starlight sighed. “I’ll admit I was a little scared at first, but-“

“Why, Fluttershy told me you didn’t think of ponies as pets. I can see she was wrong in that sense,” said a new voice I didn’t recognize. What appeared next was...I don’t even know how to describe it. What had one green horn, one yellow antler, a talon, a paw, a dragon tail, a blue wing, a bat wing, and two yellow eyes with red irises suddenly appeared in my kitchen.

“Who-What are you?” I asked.

“Why, I’m Discord, the God of Chaos, and you are a human, and that is a unicorn. Any more questions?” it responded.

“Why are you here?” I asked.

“Fluttershy and I were having tea, and she suggested I come meet you. Well, I’m here, but I can see you think of ponies as nothing more than pets, like Miss...Starlight, here,” Discord responded.

“She’s not my pet!” I yelled.

“Oh really, then why is she wearing a collar that says.” A pair of glasses appeared on his face. “Starlight, property of Sam?”

Starlight’s face turned red as Discord read it.

“Because-“ I started

“Oh, I see how it is. She’s your slave,” Discord cut off with a sly tone.

“N-No, because that’s all I could get,” I stammered.

“Oh please, I see that blush of yours. You like that idea, don’t you?” Discord countered. I looked in the mirror and saw my cheeks were in fact red. “Here, let me put her in some more suitable attire for the role.” Discord snapped his fingers, and Starlight suddenly was wearing a poofy maid outfit that, as much as I absolutely hated to admit, was pretty cute.

“Discord!” I shouted.

“Well, then why is she wearing a collar?” Discord said, giving me a bit of a glare. 

“I-It’s a long story,” I stammered. After seeing what Discord could do just by snapping his fingers, I was intimidated by his eyes.

“Well, time means nothing to me,” he stated. He snapped his fingers again, and we all reappeared in the living room. I was in my father’s chair, much to my dismay, with Starlight laying across my lap. Discord was sprawled out along the entire couch. 

“Seriously?” I asked, facepalming.

“Okay, how about this?” Discord snapped his fingers again, and the two of us switched places. I was now laying on the couch, and he was in my father’s chair with Starlight in his lap. She tried to hop off, but he had his tail tied around her.

“Discord!” I groaned. 

“Well, she’s going in one of our laps,” he said, snapping his fingers again. I was still on the couch, but Starlight was now on my lap again.

She looked up at me with a pleading expression. “Just tell him, so he’ll go away.”

“Alright,” I said. 





Over the span of half an hour, I had told everything I was told about Starlight’s past. I had gotten so deep in the story, I had actually started to pet Starlight’s mane. 

“Mhm, I see, then why are you petting her?” Discord asked.

I looked down and saw I had my hand resting on Starlight’s head and that she was asleep. I stood up, knocking Starlight off my lap, giving a little *squeak* as she hit the ground.

“For the last time; she’s not my pet!” I shouted.

“Fine. I’ll be out of your hair then. Ta-ta,” Discord said, teleporting away with his finish.

I sunk back down to the couch and sighed. Starlight hopped up next to me and put her hoof on my shoulder. “Are you okay?” she asked, actually sounding concerned.

“Yeah, but I don’t think getting on his bad side was a very good idea. I guess even this place has a select few that are more appealing than most. Still better than my old world though,” I said.

There was a small pause. 

“What was it like...your old world?” Starlight asked.

I tilted my head. “It was...different. Sometimes, it could be great. Other times, not so much. But compared to Equestria, it absolutely sucked.”

“Your world sounds very interesting,” Starlight said.

“Maybe I could tell you about it sometime,” I offered.

“I’d like that,” she responded.

There was another bit of content silence. Neither one of us looked at each other or said a word, but it wasn’t really awkward like it was before.

“I really am sorry you’re in this whole mess,” I told Starlight.

“It’s fine. Like I said, I deserve it,” Starlight countered. “It would be nice to have an actual friend after so long though.”

I put my arm around her. “Well, you can definitely consider me a friend.”

“Really?!” she said, seeming a little excited.

“For sure. In fact, I’m sure that once you show her you’ve changed, Twilight will be your friend too,” I added.

She simply smiled...until a tear rolled down her cheek.

“T-Thank you,” she stuttered. 

I decided to fully face her and pull her into a hug. She hugged me back, and we stayed there like that for a while.

“You know, I don’t know why I didn’t do this last night, but there’s another bedroom upstairs if you want it,” I offered.

“Really? I get my own room?” she almost cheered.

“Sure. You could even move some stuff around and decorate the way you want,” I answered.

She wrapped her hooves around me again, and we hugged again.

“But first thing’s first. I gotta cover that engraving on that charm,” I said, holding the charm in my hand.

“About that: do I really have to wear his thing?” she asked, poking at it with her hoof.

I sighed. She wasn’t gonna like my answer. “For now, yes.”

“Oh, okay,” she said, her ears drooping to the sides o her head.

“But...I’ll make you a deal. Twilight said she was gonna come over again tomorrow, so if you can behave yourself well enough, I’ll try to convince her to let me take it off,” I added.

“Thank you. This thing is really uncomfortable,” said Starlight.

“For now, I’ll go get some tape to cover those words. Be right back,” I said. I walked into the hallway and got some black duct tape to tape around the charm, thinking about what Starlight said.

’Maybe this can work after all.’
> Enemies become friends
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

I skipped down the stairs...and immediately landed on the couch. 

’Why did I do that? Twilight’s probably not coming over for a while.’

I sigh and look over to the kitchen, remembering what I got for breakfast.

’Let’s see; I got eggs, cereal, bread, butter, syrup...’ My thoughts are interrupted by the sudden sound of a door closing. I look over to see Starlight entered the room from the bathroom.

“Thanks for letting me have my own room. That bed was really comfortable,” she said.

I, however, was staring at the huge difference in Starlight this morning, and I’m not just talking about her attitude. Her mane was completely different than it was before. Instead of a ponytail on the back and one, wide bang that flowed down her forehead, her mane was now done in one long bang that curled over from one end of her head to the other, and ended in a small curl. Her entire forehead was now exposed, and I took notice of its perfect...roundness. It was a slight improvement over her old manestyle. 

“Sam? Y-You okay there?” she asked, snapping me out of my daze.

“Y-Yeah, it’s just that...you changed your mane. How come?” I asked.

“Oh, well, I guess since I’m getting a fresh start, I should have a fresh look to go with it, you know?”

“I guess, but you really didn’t have to,” I countered.

“Do you not like it?” she asked.

“Well...yeah, of course. I guess it is slightly better than your old mane-“ I started.

“And besides, I looked like a nerd with old style,” she cut off.

I raised an eyebrow. “You kinda looked like Twilight.”

There was a very brief moment of silence between us.

“Oh yeah,” I chuckled.

Starlight chuckled as well, and I noticed that her new style kind of went with her eyes and complimented her laugh.

“I don’t know if you noticed, but I got breakfast started for us,” she told me.

“Really? What?”

“Since I don’t have my magic,” she mumbled before speaking up. “I made us toast!”

I suddenly smelt a new scent and heard a new noise coming from the kitchen. A scent of warm bread, and a sound of...low humming? “What bread did you use exactly? And how are you toasting it?”

“I used the wheat bread you bought yesterday. I put it in the microwave,” she replied.

I looked at her to see if she was serious. As far as I could tell, she was. I went around her and into the kitchen, and sure enough, there was in fact bread in the microwave.

I tried to hold it back, but I broke out into a laugh.

“What’s wrong?” Starlight asked, appearing beside me.

I calmed down and sighed. I looked down at her, and I couldn’t resist rubbing her mane. The new style was thicker than the old one, but it felt better to rub.

“What exactly did you eat at your old village?” I asked.

“Well, the only things we had easy access to were bread and muffins,” she answered.

I shook my head playfully and rested my hand on her shoulder. “You don’t make toast with a microwave. See that device there?” I said, pointing to the toaster. Starlight nodded. “What you do is put two slices of bread in there and pull down on the lever, and it makes toast.”

Starlight blushed with embarrassment. “S-Sorry. It’s been a while since I’ve seen a modern kitchen.”

“It’s fine,” I said, putting two slices of bread in the toaster and turning off the microwave. I then got an idea. “You’ve heard music before, right?”

“Yeah, the town I grew up in held music festivals every now and then,” Starlight answered.

I walked into the living room, and she followed me. I opened the cabinet next to my DVD player and started looking through the cases. 

’Slippery When Wet, Frontiers, Use Your Illusion II, Adrenalize...here it is; Joshua Tree.’

I opened the case and popped the CD into the player. I pressed the button labeled Track 2, and let the song play.



As the song played out, Starlight stared at the device with wide eyes.

“You like the song?” I asked.

She slowly nodded. “Y-Yeah. How does this...thing do that? I-Is it magic or something?”

I chuckled. I had a feeling she would enjoy that song. “No. It’s called electricity. I’d explain it to you, but I don’t really know the full mechanics of this.”

“Th-The song was just...amazing,” she said.

“Thanks. I thought it was appropriate for a time like this,” I responded.

She looked at me, the curiosity in her eyes slightly fading. “Why’s that?”

I smiled. “With your ‘fresh start’ as you called it, I thought this song would kind of...help, you know?”

“Well, it was definitely...inspiring,” Starlight admitted, looking back to the player. “Do you have anymore?”

“Of course. In fact, feel free to listen to anything you want. Just try not to break any of the disks; they’re very fragile,” I warned. Just then, there was a *ding* from the kitchen. “Let’s go eat first.”





After we ate, I was laying and reading on the couch, glancing at Starlight every so often. She was sitting on her haunches in front of the player, adorably swaying side to side to the music. I couldn’t help but chuckle. She looked like she was having the time of her life.

Right now, the album titled ‘The Circle’ was in the player, and Starlight had enjoyed every song so far.

’Girl’s got good taste.’

As I watched Starlight, I couldn’t help but wonder; her attitude changed fast. I supposed I didn’t make the best first impression, carrying her from the castle to my house like a pet. And I didn’t really make things better the next morning when I yelled at her like a...pet. There was also the whole deal with the collar, which she really didn’t like.

’I swear to God, she’s not my pet!’

But then, when we had a heart-to-heart conversation, and I, for lack of a better term, offered her my friendship, she became...well, great. We spent most of yesterday just hanging out and sharing interests. It felt nice, talking to her like an equal.

I was drawn out of my thoughts by a knock at the door.

“That’s probably Twilight. Remember, behave and you just might get that collar off,” I said, petting her mane as I walked by.

’I have really gotta stop doing that.’

I opened the door to see not only Twilight, but Spike with her. Out of all my friends, I enjoyed hanging out with Spike the most. I don’t know if it was just that he was a guy, or the fact that we were both just kids at heart, but I always found Spike to be the easiest to talk to, closely followed by Twilight.

“Hey, Twilight. Hey, Spike, I didn’t know you were coming too,” I greeted.

“He really wanted to come too, for some reason,” Twilight replied. “Mind if we come in?”

“Of course. Starlight and I are in here, just listening to music,” I said. 

Twilight and Spike walked into my house, and Starlight just kept swaying to the music.

“I still don’t understand how that thing works,” said Twilight.

“And I still don’t know how to explain it to you,” I said.

Spike just stared, his face seemingly glowing.

“So...I’ll go ahead and get lunch started, and you guys can just chat or something,” I said, walking into the kitchen.

Twilight silently followed me in. “So?”

“So...what?” I asked.

“How’s the whole...friendship thing going with her?” Twilight asked again.

“Oh, right, duh. Good, she admits she’s wrong, and she wants to start over,” I explained.

“Oh, wow, that fast?” Twilight was shocked.

“Yeah. All she needed was a little...friendship,” I said. I was gonna say “love”, but that would’ve probably sounded weird. “Speaking of which, I told her that if she behaved well enough for you today, she might be able to get the collar off?”

“Well...not that I don’t trust you, but I’d kind of like to see for myself just to make sure she isn’t saying we wanna hear,” Twilight responded.

“Be my guest,” I offered.





Twilight back in the living, and noticed Spike was simply looking at Starlight with a...rather familiar expression. She walked up next to Starlight, whose eyes were closed and was gently swaying back and forth. 

“H-Hey, Starlight,” Twilight said, trying to sound as friendly as possible.

Starlight stopped swaying, opened her eyes, and looked at Twilight. “Oh, hi.”

“Good song, huh?” Twilight asked, hoping to make conversation.

“Y-Yeah, Sam said this things play all kinds of music,” Starlight responded with a warm smile.

’So far, so good,’ Twilight thought to herself.

“So...Sam tells me you admit what you did was wrong,” said Twilight.

Starlight sighed. “Yeah...sorry about that. It was just something that happened in my fillyhood, and I...”

“It’s fine, you don’t have to tell me if you don’t feel ready,” Twilight interrupted.

Starlight slumped her head a little. “I really am sorry about that, though.”

“I can tell you are,” Twilight said. There was a small pause before she continued. “You know, you weren’t completely wrong. Ponies should be treated equally, but that doesn’t mean they can’t be unique at the same time.”

“I-I guess you’re right,” Starlight admitted.

Twilight smiled. This was going great. Although, she did kind of wanna change the subject. “I see you changed your mane.”

Starlight looked up at her mane. “Yeah, I just thought it was time for a new style.”

“I think it looks nice. Did Sam help you, or did you do it yourself?” Twilight asked.

“I did it myself. Sam spent most of yesterday denying I was his pet, so I thought he wouldn’t want to help brush my mane,” Starlight replied with a small chuckle.

“Who called you his pet?” Twilight asked, chuckling a little herself.

“Let’s see; a few ponies in town, Rainbow Dash, oh, and Discord made a huge deal about it.”

“Oh you and Sam met Dis- Wait, you’re saying that Rainbow Dash called you Sam’s pet?” Twilight asked with an annoyed tone.

“Yeah, but I didn’t think much of it. It’s pretty obvious she’s still harboring some hard feelings for what happened. I should probably apologize to the rest of your friends too,” Starlight said.

Twilight was focused on what Starlight claimed.

“Umm, you okay?” Starlight asked, regaining Twilight’s attention.

“Oh, yeah,” Twilight said. “Hmm, Sam told me he told you that he thought you should get the collar off.”

Starlight’s face lit up. “Yeeeaaaah?”

“Aaand,” Twilight smirked. “I think he was right.”

Starlight turned her entire body toward Twilight with excitement. “Really?”

Twilight could only hold back a laugh and nod. She then lit up her horn and used magic to unclip the collar around Starlight’s neck and take it off. “Sorry you had to wear it in the first place.”

Twilight’s words went completely unnoticed as Starlight watched the collar come off of her with pure joy. When it finally fell to the floor, she couldn’t contain herself. She threw herself at Twilight and wrapped her forelegs around the alicorn. “Thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you.”

Twilight laughed and wrapped her own hooves around Starlight. “You’re welcome. You can definitely call me a friend.” 

Starlight backed away and started pacing back and forth. “I promise you won’t regret this. I’m gonna make up for everything I did back at the village, and-“

“It’s okay, Starlight, I believe you,” Twilight said, still laughing. ’She’s just like a filly when she gets excited.’

A few moments later, Sam came back into the room. “Hey, lunch is ready. And I see you took off the collar off. How about the suppression ring?”

Twilight looked at Sam and rubbed the back of her head. “I would love to...but I kind of need the consent of all my friends to do that.”

“That’s okay. I’m just glad you’re starting to trust me,” said Starlight.

“You know, if you do want to get that ring off, which I just know you do, your best bet in doing so is to make friends with my friends. I suggest starting with Fluttershy,” Twilight suggested.

“O-Of course, I’ll get right on it!” Starlight exclaimed.

“Why don’t we have some lunch first?” Sam said, feeling a bit ignored.

Twilight looked over at him and chuckled. “Right, thanks for having us. Come on, Spike.”

Spike did nothing to react. He was just looking at Starlight with a goofy smile.

“Spike? You alright?” Twilight asked.

Spike still did nothing.

“Spike~” 

Not even a blink from the dragon.

Starlight chuckled as Twilight smiled nervously and moved toward her assistant. 

She cleared her throat. 

“Spike!”

Spike shook his head. 

“W-What was that?” Spike asked.

“Sam was just offering to serve us lunch,” Twilight answered, trying her best to sound polite.

“Oh, okay. Let’s eat!” Spike cheered as he walked into the kitchen.

Twilight blushed with embarrassment as Starlight and Sam shared a laugh.
> Final Update
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

For those of you tracking, please read THIS

EDIT: Just, read my blog “Caught and Punished: Behind the Scenes/Huge Announcement