Mistress Do Well: Fractured Elements
by milesprower06

Exasperation

Dear Rainbow Dash,

I believe I would be able to help you with your request. Luna and I are available for an audience early Thursday afternoon. Come to Canterlot Castle, and this letter will get you through the checkpoints to the throne room. I'm looking forward to seeing you.

Sincerely,
Princess Celestia

Rainbow Dash stepped off the train onto the platform of the Canterlot train station. She took a glance at the clock on top of the ticket booth, and saw that she had some time to kill, as it was only 12:00 PM.

As they no longer had a direct line to the Princess, it had taken a week and a half for her letter to make its way through the pipelines, and for the Princess to have enough time to send a formal reply. As Thursday was the only day they were available, according to the reply, she convinced Thunderlane to cover her shift that day, and she boarded the morning train up to Canterlot.

She had only had a light breakfast before leaving, and she had the time, so she decided to grab a bite to eat. She had only been here a handful of times, and the last time was Twilight's coronation more than a year ago, so she really didn't have a preference, and decided to pick something that looked good on her way to the castle.

After ten minutes of walking, she spotted a sandwich shop that looked pretty good. Standing in line and ordering a lily and daisy croissant with cheese and hay fries, she sat down at one of the outside tables.

"Well, look who it is," she heard somepony greet her before she even took a bite of her meal. She looked up, and saw Spitfire walking up to her table.

"Hey," Rainbow greeted nonchalantly, having a pretty good idea of what the Wonderbolts captain wanted.

"I was kind of surprised that we never heard from you when you skipped town a year ago."

"Like you would have believed me when I told you the reason I'm late was because my friends kidnapped me and raped me?"

"The Princess' investigation would have brought truth to that excuse. I had hoped when I announced that we were extending your recruitment deadline, that it would convince you to come back."

"I wasn't able to fly. They clipped my wings down there. I was grounded for seven months."

"We would've waited for you. We still are, to be honest with you."

"Yeah, well, I was just trying to find myself. Seemed more important."

"Well... Have you found yourself then? We'd still love to have you on the team."

"I knew I could become a Wonderbolt whenever I wanted, Spitfire, but that's the problem. I don't want to anymore."

Spitfire gawked.

"But- becoming a Wonderbolt... That's your dream! I've never seen anypony as passionate as you, why wouldn't you want to do something you've spent your whole life yearning for?"

"Why? Spitfire, they broke me down there. They broke me, and then their plan fell apart. I ran away a frightened, angry, broken mare; alone, and with no one to help me put the pieces back together. The mare you sent that acceptance letter to... That cocky, arrogant stunt flier... She died in Rarity's basement. I'm sorry, but, that's just the way it is."

"Well," Spitfire began, giving Rainbow a look of disappointment, but understanding, "if she ever comes back, that invitation is still open. I'll let you enjoy your lunch."

Spitfire proceeded to go inside and get in line, order her food, and left with a to-go bag without another word to Rainbow. She took another ten minutes to enjoy her food, then, looking at the time, decided it was time to head to the castle. She got up, put her tray and glass above the waste bin near the entrance, and was on her way.

The city blocks closer to the castle were less retail businesses and more government buildings. One of the largest of these was the Canterlot Courthouse. Walking past the long staircase up to the main lobby, Rainbow was nearly at the castle, about to make the final walk to the main entrance, when she heard another pony call her out.

"Fancy seeing you here, Rainbow Dash."

Knowing who the voice belonged to immediately made her regret not flying directly to the castle. She turned her head to glance at the Canterlot prosecutor, Swiften Just.

"Why aren't you down in Ponyville, bonding with your kidnappers?"

From what Rainbow heard, Swiften had been relentless in his pursuit against Twilight, Fluttershy, Pinkie Pie, and Applejack, even before she had returned to town. He had fought tooth and nail to keep the restraining orders in place for as long as possible. He convinced Princess Celestia to keep them under constant surveillance when they scattered, organized the nationwide search effort for her, and had tried to get her to cooperate on convicting them on the last day that they were legally able to do so.

If she was honest with herself, she almost did. Twilight was the one who had gotten her out. She hadn't yet known that the others were just as regretful over their involvement.

Judging on the way he greeted her, she knew that the past month had done little to douse his anger over his case collapsing when she had chosen to forego formal charges. She thought it would be best to ignore him, so she continued her slow trot towards the castle gates, but the lawyer kept pace with her.

"What's the matter? Can't you explain why you let four rapists walk free? Why you couldn't go and find some friends that actually care about you?"

As hard as it was, Dash kept walking, the gates only fifty feet away. She could get in, go to where he wouldn't be allowed to follow, and-

"You coward."

This made Rainbow stop in her tracks. Her wings flaring up in anger, she turned to face Swiften, bringing her face within inches of his.

This stallion deserved to get knocked to the ground with a good buck or two, and it took all of her restraint to not do so at this very moment, knowing that he was not worth the trouble it would get from the guards.

"I don't need to explain a fucking thing to you. You determine the success of your career not by how many criminals you rehabilitate, but just by how many you throw behind bars."

She was finally able to fold her wings back in, and take a step back, giving him a smirk.

"But thank you. You've made me feel even better about my decision. I'd rather their fates be in the hooves of an unstable torture victim like me, instead of in the hooves of a merciless, cold-hearted suit like you. You like punishing bad ponies? Locking them up hoping it'll make them learn to behave? Well who knows? If your judicial career goes under you could always convert your office into a sex dungeon, since you certainly seem to have the right mindset."

Swiften seethed in anger, but didn't want to give Rainbow the satisfaction of an audible response.

"Have a nice day," the pegasus finished.

With that, she left the prosecutor speechless at the gates, as she showed the guards her letter, and was allowed inside.

The castle was rather dull when there weren't any formal events going on. The most common site was patrolling guards, with the occasional dignitary going about their daily business. It wasn't terribly far to the throne room. Another pair of guards were on duty, and Rainbow showed the letter to the one on the left. He read it, verified it, and returned it to her.

"Princess Celestia is running a little behind schedule, Miss Dash. She should be here shortly. Princess Luna is already waiting inside if you wish to meet with her."

Dash thought for a moment, and nodded. The guard lit his horn, and the throne room doors opened enough to let Rainbow through, closing shortly after. She slowly made her way down the red carpet, glancing at the various stained glass windows decorating both walls, as she walked to the throne, where she saw Luna sitting off to the side, reading a parchment. If she had noticed the Pegasus' arrival, she hadn't shown it. Rainbow came to the bottom of the stairs and stopped, waiting for some acknowledgement.

"That was quite a request my sister received from you," the Princess of the Night greeted.

Rainbow decided that since she was here, alone, with Luna, that there would not be a better time to get a weight off of her shoulders.

"A request I wouldn't have had to make if you had stayed out of my fucking head, instead of making me a murderer."

This caused Luna to look up from her parchment, and finally direct her gaze at Rainbow.

"You think it was murder? If anything, it was a crime of passion, and a justified one, at that."

"Call it whatever the fuck you want. You made me kill her."

"I did no such thing. I placed you there, but your actions were your own."

"Screw that! As the Princess of the Night, you know that when somepony knows they're dreaming, sometimes their mind convinces them to do things they wouldn't normally do. I knew I was dreaming. What I didn't know is that it would have real world consequences."

Rainbow took a breath before continuing.

“I didn't say anything in the mayor's office...but don't you ever manipulate my dreams again. Do you understand me, Princess?”

“I manipulated nothing. The choices were yours and yours alone.”

“The fuck you didn't! You put my subconscious into hers! So you honestly expected me to just stand there and do nothing until my mind decided to wake up? You chained her to that slab with all those tools available, and you expected me to keep my anger in check??”

“The setting was in her mind. I did not alter it, I merely placed you in it. Did I have a good idea of what you were going to do? Yes. It was the best form of justice I could think of. Her actions had shattered your circle of friendship, broken your alignments with the Elements, and deeply scarred your mind. Her fate was best left in your hooves.”

“No. That's why we have a subconscious, because we all have thoughts and wishes that we shouldn't bring through to reality, and now, thanks to you, I've murdered somepony."

Luna took a few moments before replying.

"She masterminded the entire thing, convinced the others to take part, and not to mention, she lied to them. She never had any intention of letting you go, and you're saying you were going to include her in this effort of yours? You were going to try to forgive her, is that what you're saying?"

"I'm saying... That you took away so many possibilities. Of her waking up. Of us finding out what happened to her. Of her facing ACTUAL justice. Of her rotting in jail, so she could see me undo the damage she did to all of us. So she could watch as I help Fluttershy think for herself again. So she could see us heal the friendships she decimated, and prove to her that the dominating power she got high on was all for nothing. Those were all choices you decided to take away, and I'm saying that was not your decision to MAKE!!!"

The echo of Rainbow's final screaming word echoed off of the windows, and finally died down. A few moments of silence passed, and the throne room door opened. A royal guard took a few steps inside.

"Pardon the interruption, Your Majesty. Miss Dash, Princess Celestia is ready for you whenever you are."

Rainbow Dash glanced back at the guard, and then to Luna one last time.

"I'm already through."

With that, she turned around, and left the throne room, where Princess Celestia was waiting with an elegant pair of saddlebags, seemingly unaware of the exchange that had just taken place inside the throne room.

"Hello, Rainbow. Good to see you again. How have you been?" Princess Celestia asked.

"Well enough."

"Shall we go back inside?" she asked.

"No, I'm already done with Luna, I'm ready to talk to you now."

The Princess of the Sun nodded, and motioned down the hall.

"This way, let's go to my private study."

The walk took less than two minutes. Celestia parted a set of double doors with her magic, and they stepped inside a small room with a couple tables and couches, with several bookshelves lining the walls. Celestia lit a chandelier hanging from the ceiling, coating the room in a warm glow, sat at the table, and cleared her throat.

"Alright, Rainbow, Where should we begin?"

"First things first. Do you have what I asked for?"

"I do."

"So what are we doing here? Where do you keep-"

Celestia's horn lit up, and the left flap of the saddlebags she was wearing opened, and out came a small, shimmering golden urn.

It was taller than it was wide, looking more like a scroll canister than anything else, and was highly decorative, with three diamonds encrusted on it, each one placed evenly a third of the way around the circumference.

"You had her cremated?" Rainbow asked softly, studying the elegant container as Celestia gently set it on the table.

"Her immediate family wouldn't accept the body. I thought this was the most appropriate thing to do."

Rainbow continued to study the urn as she picked it up in her hooves carefully.

"Seems awfully decorative for what she did," she remarked. Aside from the diamonds, the top and bottom of the urn was encrusted with rubies and sapphires. After several seconds of looking at it from top to bottom, Rainbow noticed that there wasn't any noticeable lid, and figured that it had been magically sealed.

"I decided to honor what she was before this mess started; the Element of Generosity. A heroine of Equestria."

Princess Celestia removed another item, a sealed portrait envelope, and likewise gave it to Rainbow.

"That's everything you requested in your letter," she said, as Rainbow carefully put both items in her own saddlebag. "Now I believe you wanted to discuss something with me?"

Rainbow nodded.

"Princess... What happened to the Elements of Harmony?" Rainbow asked, closing her bags.

After several moments of silence, Celestia rose from her position at the table.

"I think, perhaps, that it would be less complicated to show you, rather than tell you. Care for a short trip?" she asked.

Rainbow nodded, and Celestia's horn lit up bright. Soon, Rainbow had to shield her eyes with a foreleg to avoid being blinded. After a flash, the light died down, and Rainbow lowered her leg, and realized they were no longer in the castle, but outside.

"Where are we?" she inquired, looking around. They were in a chasm of some kind, that was for certain.

"Below my old castle, where you first found the Elements." Celestia replied, leading Rainbow through the natural corridor. Rainbow peered up, and saw the bridge high above, that she had tied off for the rest of her friends, proving her worthiness for the Element of Loyalty.

Around a bend was a small cavern, out of which light was currently escaping, even in the afternoon light. Celestia walked in, followed quickly by Dash, and she stood in awe of what she saw.

"The Tree of Harmony." Celestia announced.

It was certainly a sight to behold, not only because of the light it gave off, but due to the fact that it had somehow grown underground. Shimmering white spheres hung in clusters off of nine separate branches, the ends of five of them containing a jewel from the necklaces which they previously rested in. Rainbow guessed that the Element of Magic was in the star-shaped enclosure in the center, above the sun and moon symbols.

"This is where Luna and I first found the Elements, while Discord's chaos still ran rampant throughout the land. We took them from their resting place, and used them to restore peace to Equestria. Without anyone to wield them, we saw it appropriate to return them here."

"What if you need them again?"

"From here, the Tree of Harmony keeps the Everfree Forest tranquil. In an emergency, Luna and I could return here and take them again, but we hope such an emergency doesn't arise. The Tree has a very powerful magic, which has slowly drained over the past one thousand years. With the Elements returned to it, the magic can now be restored and strengthened to what it once was. It's just unfortunate that they had to be returned under these circumstances."

Rainbow stared at the tree for several moments, considering Celestia's words.

"Princess... Is this right, what I'm doing?"

Celestia took her gaze off of the tree, and returned it to the Pegasus standing behind her closer to the cavern entrance.

“Rainbow, the choice was yours and yours alone. They did this to you and you alone. So only you determine what is right and wrong. Now if you're asking me what I think about your decision...”

Rainbow nodded, and Celestia took a moment to consider her words.

“Your loyalty is admirable, as is your deep-rooted desire to fix this. It's clear you realize that you have a long road ahead. I just hope you aren't going to fool yourself into believing it will be like it used to be. I also hope that the four of them realize that if there is forgiveness at the end of this road, it will be from you, and you alone.”

“You can't forgive them?”

“Being the bearers of the Elements of Harmony is a very serious responsibility. By doing what they did, they betrayed that responsibility, each other, and you. Regardless if you are able to repair your broken friendships, to me, there is nothing that convinces me that they won't veer from their morals again.”

“But, what if Rarity's magic-”

“Rainbow, Rarity's magic wasn't the sole reason. In order for a spell like that to work, to blur their moral line, she needed their trust, and their belief that what they were doing was going to work, as well as knowing them so well that she knew how to exploit their weaknesses. She had all three of those things. She had slowly and subtly broken Fluttershy into such a submissive state of mind that she no longer had free will. She took advantage of Applejack's anger over you breaking promises and commitments to others.
Pinkie really hadn't experienced any suffering. Her whole life has been making ponies happy. You were making other ponies suffer. She doesn't know how to fix that. She could cheer the ponies up, but you'd just keep letting them down again. The only way was to fix you. But you were happy with the state things were in. You were happy, so she couldn't make you happy to make the others happy. She had to make you unhappy, then build you back up.
As for Twilight... Rarity made it purely analytic for her. Recording it, framing it as an experiment, taking notes... So that she viewed you as a test subject and not a friend. She made her see it like she sees everything: something to be observed, studied, broken down, and quantified. Every problem has an answer. A lesson to be learned. She wanted to help "fix" you, find the answer to a problem. Your ego was your problem, a formula, and she needed to take notes and figure out the solution. She wasn't thinking about you as a friend, she was too focused on studying and fixing the problem. But as time went on, she couldn't keep focusing, couldn't keep ignoring you. She began to realize that you were more than your ego. She saw you break, she saw you scared out of your mind, no ego to speak of, a vulnerable, suffering pony; all these things that weren't part of the formula she was trying to solve. So she put an end to it. She remembered that you were her friend."

She paused for a moment.

"But that flaw, for even a second, considering her living, breathing friend as an experiment, is why I cannot bring myself to forgive her, regardless if she put a stop to it."

"Just like you couldn't bring yourself to forgive Luna?"

Celestia's eyes widened, clearly not prepared for that kind of response. It was unclear if Rainbow's silence was because she was waiting for a reply, or she was forming her argument in her head. She waited several seconds before continuing.

"She was a bearer of an Element of Harmony too; three in fact. I remember that morning in the old castle. She was in tears, remorseful; just like they are now, even more so. Fluttershy shattered a mirror when I asked her to look at herself. I hugged Pinkie Pie, thanked her for a small birthday party, and she completely broke down into uncontrollable sobs, apologizing over and over again. Applejack is so ashamed that she was barely able to say she was sorry, believing she had to earn my forgiveness. I accidentally made Twilight relapse from six months of being sober."

Dash took another pause. Celestia didn't move.

"I remember what she said to you. 'I'm so sorry, I've missed you so much.' So her actions were forgivable, but theirs aren't? Her eternal night would have destroyed Equestria. It would have made growing crops impossible. Countless ponies would have died. But I know why you forgave her, and it's not because you had 1,000 years to come to terms with it."

Rainbow paused once again, wanting to hammer her ultimate point home.

"It's because that regardless of her crime, regardless of what she did... You still loved her more than anything in the world."

Celestia remained silent as the grave, rendered speechless by Rainbow's rebuttal. The pegasus sat down before continuing.

"I wanted so badly to find another way. I knew that my undying loyalty would be my biggest obstacle when I ran away, so I had my ear re-pierced, so I'd have a visual reminder of what they did every time I looked in the mirror. But no matter where I went, I didn't find an answer. It wasn't until I tried to kill myself that I finally knew why. We are nothing without each other. The only possible reason that I can let this kind of anger and hatred go is because I love them. I love them with all my heart. We all remained shells of who we used to be until I brought us all together again. I know I can heal our wounds. I can eventually forgive them. I can forgive Twilight. But I can't give her a future. I can't give her back everything she worked towards...I can't give her her life back."

Rainbow checked to make sure everything was secure in her saddlebag before getting up.

"Only you can do that."

Not bothering to wait for a response, Rainbow instead opted to let the Princess think about what she said, left the cavern, and took to the sky, heading back towards Ponyville, with what she hoped was the last piece she needed.