Mistress Do Well: Fractured Elements
by milesprower06

Retribution

Rainbow Dash soaked in the sunlight as she walked throughout Ponyville. It was surreal...being back here after wandering for so long. It felt as if she never left. Ponies went about their business, waving to her, asking where she'd been. She simply went on her way, walking through the streets she thought she would never return to. She wasn't consciously heading in any particular direction, so it was either subconscious or coincidence that led her to Rarity's house.

She was surprised to still see the window broken, and caution tape around it. All this time and they had not repaired it? Done any investigating? Her curiosity growing, she jumped through the window when she saw nopony looking, and decided to do a little looking around herself. Upon landing in the living room, she heard whimpering and rattling chains coming from the basement. Her mind was torn between immediately turning tail and getting out, and seeing what it was. She made her way down the hallway, and saw the TV monitor filled with static on the table next to the basement door, with the Mare Do Well costumes hanging on coat hooks. The sounds of whimpering and chains became more pronounced. Rainbow tapped the partially open door with her hoof, and gazed down into the cellar, and immediately, her blood began to ignite into a fiery rage.

Rarity was restrained on the concrete slab in the center of the room. She was blindfolded, chained by the neck and all four hooves, and the restraints were so tight that she could barely wiggle against the chains.

"Well well. Look at what we have here..." Rainbow began, bringing a frightened halt to the unicorn's struggles. Rainbow started descending the stairs, her hoofsteps echoing throughout the basement.

"...a filthy, naughty whore who needs to be punished."

Dash's hooves hit the concrete floor, and she slowly stepped towards the slab.

"Dash? Please...please help me. I've been down here for what seems like forever!"

Rainbow finished approaching the helpless unicorn, who had a rubber sap cap fastened to the very tip of her horn.

"You see, I've never liked you, Rarity. You care more about jewels and dresses than your friends. And when it comes to your friends, you'd rather break them and make them yours rather than love them for who they are. The Element of Generosity indeed."

Rainbow completed one lap around the slab, taking in the trembling unicorn from all angles, as her rage began to concentrate like a laser beam.

"So let's correct your ways. But punishment is meaningless unless you accept it, and help it change you. So I want to hear you say it. Say you're a naughty whore who deserves to be punished, and needs her magic taken away."

"I was only trying to help you, Dash! Fluttershy wanted to be mine!"

Rainbow began eyeing the gardening tools and other items lining the walls of the basement. She walked over to one of the tables.

"Now, all I'm hearing is more excuses. So I think I need to give you a few piercings to help you know your place, and help you realize that you've been hurting your friends."

Dash returned to the slab, and loaded a clip into the nail gun she was currently holding.

"Let's start with the ears, shall we?"

She took aim, and fired. There was a mechanical crack as the nail was ejected from the gun, and sliced through Rarity's right ear, and she shrieked in blinding pain.

"Now hold still, or I might miss." Rainbow said, louder but calmly over the unicorn's screams of pain, walking over to the opposite side, and fired again at Rarity's left ear. Blood dripped down the tips of the nails, as she tried in vain to break free of her chains.

"I'm sorry they aren't as nice as the earrings you all got for me. But they'll have to do. Have you learned your lesson yet? Ready to accept your punishment?"

Rarity's screams slowly lessened into bawling.

"Please...please no more. Please let me go."

Rainbow sighed.

"Guess I'll have to pierce something else. Hmm...oh, how about this little area?"

Rarity cried in horror and dread as Rainbow slid the barrel into the folds of her labia.

"This does belong to your mistress after all, so until you're ready to say how awful you've been, I'm just gonna have to keep decorating you."

Rainbow pulled the trigger. Once. Twice. Three times.

Rarity spat up blood, running down the pearl white coat of her face, howling in agony.

"Alright! Okay, alright! I'm a filthy naughty whore! Please take my magic away, Mistress! Please punish me just please no more!!!" she managed to yell through her cries.

Rainbow dropped the nail gun and went back over to another table, as blood trickled out of Rarity's mouth and pussy. She returned with a set of long-handled gardening loppers. She opened the blades, and placed it a centimeter below the tip of Rarity's horn, just below the sap cap.

"Are you sure you're ready for your punishment?" Rainbow asked.

Rarity whimpered, her body shuddering from the pain. She sniffled, nose bleeding, and swallowed a mouthful of blood before replying.

"Please...please stop. I'm sorry, Rainbow...I'm sorry. Please stop..."

Rainbow took a deep breath.

"Like you stopped for me when I was sorry?"

She brought all her strength to closing the blades of the lopper, and crushed through the bone of Rarity's horn. She began to scream, but began to choke on her blood, and her body began to convulse. Rainbow moved the blades down a centimeter, and took off another bit of her horn. Blood began to seep out of her forehead, and occasionally splash from her mouth, as she tried to scream through the gathering pool in the back of her throat. Down, down, down Rainbow went, until all that was left was a bloody stump on her forehead.

Rarity was in shock, unaware of anything anymore. Rainbow, a bit worn from the strength needed to cut through bone multiple times, felt she had the energy left for one last effort. She turned the tool over, blade around, raised it above her head, and paused for just a moment.

"Go to hell, you witch."

With that, she brought the blades down on her throat with all her might, screaming as she did so.

Rainbow shot up in bed screaming. She looked around, and found herself in Twilight's bed.

"Rainbow? Are you okay?" she heard Twilight ask, the alicorn sitting up next to her.

Dash's chest heaved. Her whole body was sweating.

"I'm fine." she finally said. Twilight was not convinced.

"You don't look fine. What happened?"

"I said I'm fine, Twilight." Rainbow repeated harshly, getting out of bed. She walked towards the balcony, and exited to go sit outside again. Twilight observed her from her bed, noticing her breathing begin to calm, but she didn't budge from her spot. Twilight glanced at her clock. 4:50 am. Figuring she wasn't going to get back to sleep after that, she got up and went to the kitchen. She made Rainbow a fresh sandwich, put it on a plate, then returned upstairs and silently set it by her side out on the balcony.

Afterwards, she returned to her bed, turned on her lamp on her night stand, and attempted to read. That got her next to nowhere because questions still danced through her head. What kind of nightmare did Dash just have? Was this a regular occurrence? Had she had these every night since leaving?

And the question that tortured her the most...why did she come back?

High above the royal city of Canterlot, in the castle's tallest tower, Princess Luna began to slowly ease out of her deep meditation. She breathed deep, then slowly let the air out, as she floated back to the here and now.

"Justice." she whispered to herself.

She got to her hooves, and began making preparations to set the moon to make way for her sister's sun in just over an hour's time.

The longer Rainbow sat out on the balcony alone, the more puzzled Twilight became. If she wanted to be alone, why not just fly up to a cloud? Was being alone the point? Did she just want to be in a familiar place? Did she want Twilight close by?

Short of making a diagram to come up with the most likely possibility, Twilight was content to hover around the library and her room in case Dash needed anything. When the clock hit 10 am, there was a knock at the front door. Twilight glanced at the balcony, making sure Rainbow was alright, before going down to answer the knock. Opening the door, she was greeted by Princess Celestia.

"Princess," Twilight began, bowing to her former teacher, "what can I do for you?"

Princess Celestia glanced at her ear and neck, and Twilight blushed, realizing that the bite marks from last night had bruised noticeably.

"I'm here to see Rainbow." Celestia said matter-of-factly, skipping the pleasantries. Twilight hesitated, and then nodded, walking back upstairs to the balcony, quietly opening the door.

"Rainbow? Princess Celestia is here. She wants to see you." she told her. Rainbow glanced back at her, then returned inside the library, descending the stairs to meet the Princess in the center of the room.

"Hello, Rainbow Dash, how have you been?" Celestia greeted.

Dash didn't bow. She didn't seem to care who her visitor was.

"Is there something you want, Princess?" she asked plainly.

"Yes. I'd appreciate it if you would accompany me to the mayor's office. We have something we'd like to discuss with you."

Rainbow considered it as Celestia turned to exit.

"Do you want me to go with you?" Twilight asked.

"No," was the answer she got before the pegasus left the library, and trotted to catch up to the Princess.

Rainbow noticed some townfolk whispering and murmuring as she followed the Princess through town. The mayor's office wasn't all that elaborate, not as nearly as impressive as Town Hall. They made their way right past the receptionist without a word, and into Mayor Mare's personal office, where the mayor, Princess Luna, and another stallion Rainbow didn't recognize were waiting.

"Hello, Rainbow. Good to see you again." Mayor Mare said gently, welcoming her visitor. She turned to the professionally dressed stallion to her left, who rose from his seat to introduce himself.

"Rainbow Dash, it was my hope to know you quite some time ago. I'm Swiften Just, I'm the special prosecutor that was brought in for this case."

With that, Rainbow instantly knew what they all wanted, as Celestia motioned for her to sit in the cushioned chair in front of the mayor's desk, then took her place with the other four behind it.

"You didn't waste any time, I see." Rainbow said. All four of them realized how difficult it was to get a read on Rainbow. They wondered if she wanted to be here at all. She seemed bitter and distant.

"It was because you spent the night at the library. None of them do anything without me knowing about it." Celestia said, referring to her former friends.

"So I've got a pretty good guess, but what do all of you want?" Rainbow asked her hosts.

"Ms. Dash, we tried for three months to find you after you disappeared from Ponyville. Without you, there was no way we could move forward with charging your kidnappers. Now that you're back, we're wondering if you'd like to proceed with pressing charges." Swiften announced.

“What kind of charges?”

“Kidnapping and torture, if Twilight's 'notes' are anything to go by. They didn't mention any names or dates, so it's inadmissible. But your testimony would be more solid. We're also hoping that you have the video tape that you took right before you left town.”

Rainbow didn't answer that one way or another.

“Rainbow, the reason we bring this up, is because of the circumstances of your departure. Because you left of your own free will, there is a statutory limit on this case; in simpler terms, a time limit that we have to formally charge them with their crimes; one year, to be precise. According to the missing ponies reports, you were kidnapped one year ago t-”

“Today.” Rainbow finished.

Swiften slowly nodded.

“Yes.”

“So that means I'd have to decide by tonight.”

“Before midnight.”

Rainbow sighed. She sat silently in contemplation, staring at the front polished panel of Mayor Mare's wooden desk.

“Would Rarity get the worst punishment?” She asked.

There was a momentary silence. No one had been informed yet.

“Rarity died in her coma early this morning.” Celestia answered.

Rainbow showed no external reaction whatsoever, but inside, she felt like she was just hit in the gut with a bowling ball.

“When and how?”

“Just before 5 am this morning. Doctors are still trying to figure that out,” Celestia began, “she was stable one minute, then the next, her magic goes out of control, shorting out every instrument in the room, she started shrieking and thrashing around, then about two mintues later, her magic cut out, the monitors came back on, and her heart and brainwaves were gone.”

The moment Celestia told her these words, it was as if a spear went through her head from ear to ear. After several silent moments, her eyes moved to Luna, who simply stared back at her.

Rainbow sighed, sitting back in her chair.

“What...what about Twilight?” Rainbow asked.

There were several more seconds of silence as Celestia, the mayor, and the prosecutor exchanged glances. The prosecutor then turned back to Rainbow.

“Now Rainbow, it would be for the best if charges are brought against all-”

“I asked you a question, you damn suit.”

The prosecutor was only taken a back for a moment at Rainbow's aggressive forwardness. Princess Celestia decided to answer the irate pegasus.

“She's an accomplice to all of this, as guilty as the rest of them, but she was the one who put a stop to it. She brought you out. I wouldn't agree with it, or like it for that matter...but if you wanted, I could grant her immunity from prosecution.”

Rainbow didn't offer a response just yet, so the Princess continued.

“I've kept the others on distant surveillance ever since they left town. I know where they are at all times. Say the word, and I'll have them brought here within a matter of hours.”

“So just...the two of us go on with our lives, while you hang who you've got left, now that the ringleader is dead.”

Swiften leaned foward.

“Rainbow, justice must be served for a crime this heinous-”

“Don't you fucking DARE tell me that you know how to justify what they did to me!” the pegasus screamed, shocking him into silence. The glare from her magenta eyes burned into his for several seconds, before she glanced at the room's other three occupants, then got up and walked to the door without another word.

“Rainbow, if you do not decide by midnight, we cannot charge them with anything.” Luna called after her.

Celestia walked from behind the desk, and went after her, catching up with her by the front doors leading outside.

“Rainbow, wait.”

Rainbow stopped in her tracks and turned to look at the Princess.

“I have no intention of assuming anything about what you've been through. But...would you consider a psychiatric evaluation...?” She asked.

Rainbow stared up at her for a half-second, then scoffed condescendingly.

“You think I need a fucking shrink to tell me I'm not right in the head?” she asked incredulously.

“We'll be here until midnight, Rainbow.”

“Leave me alone.”

Rainbow left the mayor's office without another word. She returned to the library in silence, where Twilight was waiting by the coffee table.

"What...what did they want?" she asked.

Rainbow didn't bother stopping, or even glancing at Twilight as she returned upstairs.

"Use your brain, Twilight," was her only response.

Twilight did indeed use her brain. While periodically checking on Rainbow, it didn't take her long to figure out what Celestia and Mayor Mare had wanted. Of course they would want to see if Rainbow wanted to proceed with pressing charges against them. So the question was...was she going to? Twilight spent most of the afternoon researching the library's few legal books, concluding what they were trying to do. Because Rainbow left on her own, the statutory limit rule was in play, meaning they had until tonight to formally press charges against the five of them. Technically they could press charges at any time before then, but without Rainbow's testimony and evidence, it would get them absolutely nowhere. Swallowing hard, she put the book away, and went upstairs, where Rainbow was sitting outside sipping at a glass of apple juice, watching the sunset.

"Rainbow...I..." Twilight began.

"Rarity's dead." Rainbow said plainly.

"What...?"

"Last night."

"How?"

"...I think me, thanks to Luna."

Out of all the answers Twilight expected to hear, that was not it.

"You mean, your nightmare last night..."

"I never said it was a nightmare."

That was true. Rainbow had never told her what it was. Whatever it was though, it was a bit of a shock, that much was clear. Would Luna have done that? Put Rainbow's subconscious into Rarity's comatose state, to deliver poetic justice? Twilight was shocked when she realized what she had done to Rarity a year ago, but she never said she regretted it, nor would she, because she honestly didn't. She would have killed Rarity if given the opportunity.

"Rainbow, do they want you to go after the rest of us?"

Rainbow didn't offer a reply, shifting in her sitting position, while continuing to sip at her drink. Twilight glanced back at the saddlebags on the floor by the guest bed, that Rainbow had come in with last night.

"I want you to do it. Press charges. I don't want to walk away from this without any consequences."

Rainbow turned to her, the disappearing sun giving her form a warm glow.

"What makes a consequence? What, being behind bars will make your guilt magically disappear? Being expelled wasn't enough of a consequence? Secluding yourself with constant drinking? Our former friends scattering to the winds? What makes you, or Celestia, or the mayor, or the prosecutor think they can make this decision for me? Stop throwing the law at me, stop throwing your guilt at me, and let me make this decision. It's my choice."

"I'm sorry." Twilight softly replied with a nod. "Let me know if you need anything."

With that, she went back into her bedroom. Looking at the clock, she noticed that Rainbow had been here for almost 24 hours now, and Twilight still hadn't come any closer to knowing why she had come back.

She was still trying to hold back tears, when all she wanted to do was cry. She wanted to be there for Rainbow, to help her, actively, and she wasn't letting her. She had to keep reminding herself that she was being here for her. Rainbow had spent nearly all her time so far either in bed or out on the balcony. Her distant, bitter demeanor told Twilight she was still dealing with things internally, and that there was really no way to actively help her until Rainbow was ready.

She laid in bed with a book as long as she could, but due to the shorter amount of sleep and early morning she had, it was only a matter of time before she fell asleep, watching Rainbow sitting outside.

"What do you think she will decide?" Princess Luna asked her sister, standing outside of the mayor's office. She glanced up at the clock above the door.

11:49 pm

"I don't know, sister. These six friends had the strongest bond I had ever seen. That bond was shattered, but perhaps she is trying to hold onto some semblance of what they once had."

"In a situation such as this, would judicial punishment do any good? For friendships this strong to have been destroyed, is that not punishment enough?" Luna asked.

"That is for her to decide."

Even with how quiet the Ponyville night was, the two royal sisters almost did not notice the approaching airborne Pegasus, as she glided down, and landed in front of them with a flutter of her wings. The two alicorns looked down at her expectantly, awaiting her answer.

"Gather them up. I want them in the library by morning."