//------------------------------// // The Alicorn Threat // Story: DisQord Continuum: Equestria Rising // by ZoidbergIsBestPony //------------------------------// The Alicorn Threat “Tia, Luna, dinner’s ready,” their mother called up the stairs. “Coming mother,” Celestia replied back poking her head out of her and her sister’s room. She quickly finished typing a message to her friend and sent it. Luna was lying in their bed trying to take a late afternoon nap. Celestia gave her sister a good kick to the side. “Luna, come on! Wake up already!” “Mmm…five more minutes Tia,” she sleepily said, snuggling deeper under the blanket so only her horn showed. Celestia grabbed the blanket with her teeth and yanked it away from her little sister. Luna continued to try to squirm into a little ball for warmth, refusing to open her eyes. There was only one bed in the small room they shared. On the walls were posters of action movies. Celestia was a huge action movie fan. From “Thunderhoof” to “The Unicorn Impaler” she would spend hours a day watching movies on her little screenpad. She would even practice some of the martial arts moves sometimes, which explained the large dent in one of the walls that was being covered by a crude drawing made by Luna at school. Only a single poster had a little cute filly with her animal friends, Luna’s favorite show: “Daisy Sunshine and friends.” She would constantly fight with her sister for the screenpad when her show was on. “Girls, your dinner’s getting cold!” their mother called again up the stairs. “Coming!” Celestia answered, prodding her sister again and again with her hoof. Luna continued to feign being asleep making little snoring noises. Sighing, Celestia decided to lay on top of her sister squishing her into the mattress. “Ow, Tia! Get off!” she yelled. “Oh you’re awake?” Celestia said, acting surprised. “Then I guess you can come to dinner right?” “Ughh…fine,” Luna caved, poking her face out from under her sister’s tail. Crawling out from under her, she got off the mattress and headed down the stairs, Celestia following behind. “There you are girls!” their mother said putting their plates on the table. “Come, eat your grains.” “Awwww, steamed buckwheat again?” Luna complained. “Can’t we have Dandelion soup?” she asked hopefully looking at her mother. “Luna, I’m sorry dear, but we just can’t afford Dandelions right now,” her mother explained sullenly. “It’s all we have right now.” They took their seats at the table and started eating. Both Celestia and Luna did not have their cutie marks. Luna was still too young, but Celestia just hadn’t found her special talent yet; something her classmates were quick to point out. They ate in a small kitchen just big enough for a table and the bare essentials. It was a tiny apartment, with just two bedrooms, a bathroom, and a kitchen. The wallpaper in the kitchen was old and peeling. The faucet dripped into the sink every few seconds. On the table was their mother’s screenpad. Displayed on the screen was the headline of today’s news. “What’s a teerroh-rest?” Luna asked looking at the pad. The mother jumped in shock. She forgot to close the screen before everypony sat down to eat. She quickly grabbed the pad and turned it off, hastily replying, “It’s nothing dear; just some boring old news stuff. “Yuck!” was Luna’s reaction. She hated reading the news. She didn’t inquire further about the article through dinner. They finished eating and went back upstairs to start their homework. Their mother started collecting the dishes and washing up. While she was cleaning, a knock came at their door. Grabbing a towel, she dried her hooves and went to the door to see who it was. “Star Swirl? I wasn’t expecting to see you tonight. Is everything all right?” she asked making room for him to enter their apartment. “No it’s not all right! Have you seen today’s news!?” he asked taking off his jacket. “Have you ever seen such pony dung spewed across every media outlet? “Star Swirl! The girls are upstairs! Watch your language and keep your voice down!” she said hanging his coat on a hook in the wall. “Sorry Ruby, I just can’t believe the lies that are being spewed from the newscasters. It’s bad enough we haven’t seen the sun for two weeks with this horrific debris cloud, but to pin it on the Alicorns and to call Galifrea a terrorist! I know Galifrea personally, and she is the most intelligent warmest non-violent pony there ever was!” Ruby rolled her eyes saying, “Oh please, you do not know Galifrea, Star Swirl.” “Well, I’ve seen her speak enough times to know she’s a good pony. Besides, there’s no way Galifrea, or any Alicorn for that matter, could have caused the explosion over Maretropolis. But where is she? She hasn’t been seen since the blast. If I know that blasted Pegasus commander, he’s probably already locked her up and thrown away the key with no fair trial!” “Star Swirl, please. You need to calm down. I’m sure Galifrea is just busy sorting out this misunderstanding.” “Misunderstanding fah!” Star Swirl waved his hooves dismissively. He sat down in a chair exhausted after his rant. He continued to stare at the headlines on his screenpad when Ruby’s Husband walked in. “Star Swirl, hey, what brings you to our neck of the woods…and WHAT are you wearing?” he asked looking at his outfit. “Hey Bake, come and join the party! And what do you think I’m wearing? A pony’s gotta earn a living you know!” Star Swirl replied. His uniform was a long navy blue robe with stars and moons. He also had a hat, which was currently on the table next to him. It was also navy blue with stars and moons and pointy with bells on the top and brim. He worked as a salespony for a small HoverCar company, “StarCars”. He was a young gangly pony who looked like he would lose in just about any fight easily. His mane was blue with purple fur. And for some reason his mane kept appearing and growing on his chin like a beard. “Still can’t get rid of that beard eh Star? You’re starting to look like a purple goat!” Sugar Baker laughed as he joined Star Swirl at the table. “Ha. Ha. Very funny. But you know what’s not funny? This nonsense in the news!” Star continued his earlier rant. Sugar Baker was a simple Alicorn dessert baker at a small shop down the street. It was meager earnings but enough for him and his family to get by on. His fur was black with matching mane. He was at least twice as tall as the Unicorn Star Swirl, but never made his friends ever feel small. He had a chef’s hat for a cutie mark. His wife, Ruby Hearts, used to be a jeweler. She loved her work and was very upset the day she was laid off. Afterwards, she could no longer find work and had to settle for life as a stay-at-home mom with her girls. She had light pink fur with a silky white mane. When she went out, she could still turn quite a few eyes, even non-Alicorns. Her cutie mark matched her name, three rubies shaped like little hearts tied together into a gold necklace. As they continued to talk about the clouds blocking the sun, and the Alicorns being blamed for the Maretropolis disaster, their voices traveled beyond the kitchen and up the stairs where a very scared but attentive Celestia stood, listening to every word. A few days had passed since Star Swirl came to visit. News of the disaster being blamed on Alicorn Terrorists had circled to every community across the planet. Government plans were being put into motion to prevent any Alicorn from ever committing such a heinous act again. Many cheered the counsel’s push to bring justice to those lives lost in the disaster. Ads started appearing more and more on everypony’s personal screenpads targeting Earth, Unicorn, and Pegasus ponies. They encouraged them to move to the beautiful colonies of Unicornia, Pegasopolis, and The Soil Lands. (The Soil Lands was named by the Chancellor, but called “Earth” by most Earth ponies. Some even called it ‘Dirtville’ making fun of the Chancellor’s lack of originality in its naming.) While only Earth ponies could go to Earth, and the same for Unicorns in Unicornia, and Pegasi in Pegasopolis, the ads directly targeted their audience to be as enticing as possible. On the screenpads of Alicorns, however, were ads offering ‘work away from home’ jobs with better pay to send to their families while they worked. “Leave for sixth months to work, get paid for the entire year!” the ads claimed, which for many Alicorns, was a very enticing offer. As a result of the constant news coverage of the “Alicorn Terrorists”, anti-Alicorn sentiment was steadily rising. “Luna, over here,” Celestia called to her little sister, pointing to a table in the school cafeteria. Celestia and Luna would often spend lunchtime together at school. However, as Luna caught up with her and they sat down, at once, every other pony got up from the table and left. They stared at the pair of them as they moved their trays to another table. All of their friends had stopped talking to them recently. Luna did not understand why. She would try to go to her friends and they would pretend like she didn’t exist. Celestia, attempted to console and protect her little sister, having a better understanding as to what was happening. There were only a few Alicorns within the school. None shared the same lunch period as Celestia and Luna. All of their former friends were not Alicorns. About a week ago, they suddenly stopped talking to them, and started avoiding them in the halls. Celestia tried to send them messages, but discovered she had been blocked by them. They sat and ate their lunch together. Celestia often tried to make a few small jokes to get Luna to smile, which sometimes would work. Today was not one of those days, and it would only get worse. “Ow!” Luna cried rubbing her neck. Something had hit her that was slimy. Picking it off her neck she saw that it was a spitball. Already getting watery-eyed, another spitball struck the back of her head. She couldn’t hold it in any longer and started crying. Celestia got up from the table and stared daggers at the culprits who were laughing at their accomplishment. “Leave us alone!” she yelled at them. “Why? Watcha gonna do, FREAK!?” one of them said. “Yeah watcha gonna do?” repeated another. “I’m warning you!” Celestia threatened them, hoping her larger stature and stern voice would be enough to get them to back down. “Say…what’s that above you?” a unicorn asked smiling maliciously. Celestia saw that his horn was glowing. Looking up she saw a tray hovering a few feet above her, which promptly tipped, pouring a bowl of hot soup directly onto her face. “Ahhh!” She screamed from the pain of the soup burning her. Shaking it off she quickly, she responded using her magic to lift the two little ponies into the air and smash them together hard. She dropped them down to the floor and they ran off crying. Returning to her table, she took her napkin and started to wipe herself off. No pony spoke. She could feel the stares of everypony in the room for the entire duration of the lunch period. “I’m sorry, but your daughter’s behavior is completely unacceptable!” The principal sternly said to Celestia’s mother. Celestia was sitting in a chair just outside the principal’s office. She sat with her back upright and her front hooves folded in her lap and her head down. The principal was a stocky Earth pony who always wore a thick suit to make himself seem more important than everypony in the school. He had tan fur with a dark brown mane. Beneath the suit, no pony knew what his cutie mark was. “She was clearly responding to the other ponies who deliberately dropped soup all over her!” Celestia’s mother screamed back at the principal. Even sitting, she was at least two heads taller than the principal, who did not like having to look up at her. “Why haven’t their parents been brought in?” “There were no witnesses who saw this supposed act occur. Only those who say your daughter walked up to them eating their lunch and picked them up with her magic and slammed them into each other!” The principal barked sitting up in his chair as much as possible to appear taller. “Then tell me, why is she completely covered in soup!?” She demanded. Her nostrils were flaring with anger. “How should I know if your filly is a slob at the lunch table? Anyway the decision is final. Your daughter is hereby expelled from this school!” He smacked his hoof on the table. “And what will Luna do to avoid these bullies without her big sister?” she asked, her eyes starting to get watery, something which was not lost on the principal. “I suggest you pull them both out of school Mrs. Hearts. They don’t belong here anyway. Educating Alicorns is probably what led your kind to become terrorists in the first place! Now get out of my school!” She was in shock. “How dare you…HOW DARE YOU, YOU RACIST BIGGOT! I’LL HAVE YOU REMOVED FROM THIS AND ANY OTHER SCHOOL, YOU SON OF A DIRTLICKER!!!” She left his office, bucking the door shut with her hind legs so hard that the glass shattered. “You’re paying for that!” the principal screamed. “Come Tia, let’s get Luna and go home.” Celestia, looked at her mother as though she had never seen her before. In her entire life, she had never once seen her mother this angry before, let alone swear like that. She quietly got up from the chair and followed her mother into the hallway without saying a word. Ruby found which classroom Luna was in and made her way over with her daughter. She knocked on the door and waited for the teacher. “May I help you?” the teacher asked opening the door. “Yes Angelica, I’m sorry, but there’s been a family emergency and I’m afraid I’m going to have to take Luna home early today.” Ruby stayed calm and did not let any of her earlier frustrations with the principal show on her face. “Oh no, I hope everything is okay,” she whispered. “Luna, your mother’s here to take you home early. You can pack up your books and go.” Angelica Snowflower was a Pegasus with soft powder blue fur and a white mane like Ruby’s. They were both friends growing up, and Ruby thought the world of her teaching abilities. Ruby quickly leaned in and whispered, “I’m afraid this is goodbye.” “Wha-What? What do you mean?” Angelica asked now scared to hear her response. “It’s not about what’s been happening in the news is it?” “I’m afraid so. Thank you for teaching my daughters,” she said mournfully. “Just a minute!” Angelica spoke up louder all of the sudden. She went over to her desk and took out a small pad. Scribbling some information down with the pen in her mouth, she quickly returned and handed the sheet to Ruby. “This is my home address and phone number,” she spoke again quietly. “If you’re ever in need of help, please call me!” Ruby’s eyes started watering. “Thank you, Angelica.” She turned away from the class so they wouldn’t see. Speaking to the door she said, “Are you ready Luna?” Luna had gotten all her books together and headed for the front of the classroom from the back row. One of the colts had caught sight of the Alicorn mother’s tears before she turned and put two and two together. “Guess what? Luna’s leaving school for good!!” he sang happily. The whole class started cheering and waving goodbye. Luna ran out the door crying. “Children stop that at once! That is not how we treat our friends!” the teacher became very angry. “She’s no friend of ours!” the same colt sang to more cheers. “Billy Applestrudel, Detention!” She screamed. “Any that goes for anypony else who makes another comment like that!” She turned back to Ruby to apologize, but she had already left. As they couldn’t afford a Transport Metro jump, or a HoverCar, the three of them walked the mile and a half back to their apartment. No one said a word during the entire walk. They arrived home that evening to find that their door had graffiti sprayed across it reading, “ALICORNS NOT WELCOME HERE!” There was also a folded piece of paper sitting on the front stoop. It was a government pamphlet that read: “Alicorns: What you need to know to protect your family from them.” Celestia read the graffiti right away and was mortified by it. She gasped when she saw it. Luna knew something was wrong but couldn’t make out the letters before her mother shielded her eyes. “Let’s get inside, quickly now,” said their mother. She quickly took her daughters inside and locked the door. She saw Celestia absorbing the events of the day culminating in the graffiti and wanted to get her to push it from her mind. “I know you had a rough day girls, so I’m going to make you something special for dinner tonight. How would you like some nice tomato soup?” she asked smiling warmly at her children. Luna was fortunate enough to not understand most of the implications of the day and was happy to get tomato soup as a treat. Celestia didn’t say anything. She just hung up her coat and sat down at the table staring into the wall. No pony talked while they ate. As soon as they finished eating, Ruby sent them to their room for the night. The girls climbed up the stairs and went into their room closing the door. When heard the door click, Ruby lost the last of her strength. She wept silently, tears running down her cheeks. About an hour later, her husband had returned home from the bakery to discover the door and the pamphlet. Ruby then told him about the rest of the day as her tears flowed continuously. He held her tight in his hooves, attempting to console her. He didn’t have the heart to tell her he’d just lost his job.