ith no new signs of hostility from River, I was growing nervous. “I still can't believe she didn't do anything to me at breakfast,” I said to Whisper as we trotted across the courtyard to exercise class.
“I know.” Whisper shook her head. “She took my whole tray for herthelf.” She glanced over at me with a warm smile. “Thanks for tharing, by the way.”
I laughed. “You already thanked me, like, a hundred times! It was no big deal.” We were almost to the door now. “And maybe that's all it takes. Maybe if you just stand up to River a little, she backs off.”
Whisper's smile faded. “I with it was that easy. No... I'm thorry Thcootaloo, I'm really thorry... but I just know she mutht have thomthing really ugly planned.”
With that, we walked in through the big arched doorway, and the echoing sounds of rambunctious young unicorns drowned out any hope of further conversation.
Once all the students settled into their seats, Miss Honeydown spoke up from the center of the ring in her soft, clear voice. “Okay, my little ponies. Today we'll be learning the second basic spell any unicorn should know – the light spell.” She closed her eyes and kept talking, obviously in part of a well-rehearsed speech. “The light spell isn't a proper spell at all, actually, and thus is quite easy to execute. You need only focus your magical energy into your horn and not give it any release or any target.” As she spoke, her horn began to glow, slowly at first, but brighter and brighter. “The key to making your light steady and clear is to provide it with a very constant, smooth flow of energy. When you're done, you can turn off your light spell by drawing the remaining magical energy back into yourself.” By now, the deep yellow glow of her horn was the dominant light source in the room. As she completed her short lecture, the light dimmed and went out. “Now, just like yesterday, I'll be going around the circle answering questions–” she looked directly at me “–and helping anypony who needs a little extra assistance.”
I ducked my head low, and my cheeks burned. I didn't even need to look. I could feel the derisive stares of my classmates from all around.
Miss Honeydown discreetly slipped on a pair of sunglasses. “Okay, class, your turn. Give it a try.”
I wondered what the glasses were about, but not for long. A dazzling array of multicolored light shot out from all around the room, more colors and more brightness building up every moment. Many of them flickered, wavered, or sparked, but some of them burned painfully bright. This was Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, after all.
Squinting through the light, I belatedly realized that I should be trying it, too. I concentrated on the feeling of magical energy; it began to feel a little familiar. I directed it out to my wings, but nowhere else. Looking back at my wings, I sighed in dejection. They were glowing, but it was hardly even visible in the glare from all the unicorns around me. Well, what about flapping the wings? That always seemed to make my magic work better in the past... As soon as I moved my wings, the glow around them flared up impressively, but it flickered horribly.
A few of the students around me cried out as the strobing light from my wings blinded them. “Aah! Make it stop!”
I cringed and pulled my magic back into myself, and the flashing light from my wings died away. With a pained sigh, I raised my hoof. I hated playing into the teacher's assumption that I would need help, but honestly, I did.
“Yes, dear?”
I had thought of Miss Honeydown as benign and friendly, but by now I could see what she truly thought. She didn't hate me like some others did, but her assumptions about me and her lower standards for me were even more hurtful when it came down to it... especially because they were justified. “I'm having trouble keeping it steady.”
She smiled all too knowingly. “I saw, dear. Have you been keeping the magic flow nice and steady?”
I looked away. The other students were practicing again, most of them holding nice, steady lights... nothing like mine. “I have, but to make it bright, I have to flap my wings.” I ignored River's derisive giggle coming in from my left.
“Well, I don't know much about wings...” She squinted her eyes and brought a hoof up to her chin. “Could you maybe alternate the two, flapping one up while the other goes down?”
I shook my head and stared at the floor some more. “No.”
Her head tilted to the side a little, and confusion crept onto her face. “Why not?”
Wow, she was telling me the truth when she said she didn't know much about wings. Was that ignorance the reason for her attitude toward me? “They... they just don't work that way. They just kind of stay together all on their own.”
“Hm...” A raised eyebrow showed she wasn't quite convinced, but how could she argue after admitting she didn't know what she was talking about? “Well, maybe you could try flapping them slower?”
I shrugged. Well, it might be worth a try. Again, I focused my magic into my wings, and again I began to flap them, but slower this time. The only effect it seemed to have, though, was that the flashes of light were slower, in time with my wing beats. With an exasperated sigh, I stopped again and stared up at Miss Honeydown.
She smiled at me sweetly. “Aw, don't worry, dear. Soon these classes will be over, and then you can be back in the clouds where your kind belongs. Then everything will be okay.”
I plopped back down into my seat, feeling a little sick. The condescension in her voice infuriated and disgusted me all the more because she genuinely thought it would make me feel better. In reality, it made me feel like I'd just been kicked in the gut.
“Okay. You just keep practicing there.” With a twinge, she looked up at a few of the other students. “I need to get to some of the others who need help, but I'll be back for you.”
That wasn't comforting. With a heavy sigh, I channeled the energy again. It wasn't easy, given the thoughts running through my head. Dumb Twilight. What was she thinking, sending me to Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns? I was anything but gifted, and definitely not a unicorn. Wouldn't she know how horrible it would be here as the least talented pony in class? Of course not. What would the princess of magic know about lacking magical talent?
I stepped through the lunchroom crowd carefully, carrying my tray of dirty, empty dishes in my mouth. This day had already been exhausting, even though it was only halfway done, so I had made short work of the hay pasta and garlic bread from today's lunch.
Thankfully, lunch had also been bully-free for me. It was a nice change of pace, to be sure.
I wondered if my upbeat feelings had been premature as I saw Lilly Pearl heading for me with a malicious grin on her face, though. She trotted toward me in a rush, her eyes glued to my tray, and my grip on it began to feel very precarious.
Just before the white filly sent my tray flying, a violet hoof slipped out in front of her chest and stopped her in her tracks. My tray was saved from disaster.
“Not yet, Lilly.” River dropped her hoof back down to the floor. “She'll get what's coming to her very soon... just be patient.”
Lilly just shrugged. “If you say so.”
“Soon,” River whispered to me as she backed away, smiling. “Soon.”
I tried to shake the foreboding thoughts out of my head as I resumed carrying my tray to the dishwashers' counter. She was probably just playing head games with me, right? She couldn't do anything too horrible to me and get away with it... I had to be sure of that, at least.
As I dropped my tray down on top of the shiny steel counter where the dishes were cleaned, I saw a few unicorns already heading out into the courtyard for recess. I hurried after them, eager to get some play time in before any of the usual bullies caught up to me.
Only a few ponies were in the yard, and the bin holding the toys was still locked. Still, that didn't mean I couldn't have any fun. I spotted one little group of fillies who seemed to be playing tag, and I trotted up with a smile on my face. “Hey, can I join in?”
They all stopped, and they looked at each other with doubt-filled faces. “Um, well,” one stammered, “We'd really rather you didn't.” They trotted away. “No offense.”
“Oh, yeah, okay... of course.” Well, that was a bust. I looked around again and spotted a pink colt running around. I sprinted up alongside him and flashed him my best challenging grin. “Hey, wanna race?”
He slowed to a stop and backed away. “Well, ah, I don't really feel like racing right now...”
I stood and watched him back away in disbelief. What was wrong with these unicorn ponies? As I turned around, I spotted Whisper coming outside, so I trotted over to her.
Her mane had tomato stains all over it, and she wouldn't look me in the eye.
“Hey, what happened?”
She shook her head and tried to wipe a little more sauce out of her mane. “What do you think happened? River and her freindth dumped my tray on my head.”
I winced. Whisper got the same treatment I had just narrowly avoided... and there was nothing I could do to make it better.
Before I could say anything, the school's bell rang, signaling the official start of recess. Among the rush of young ponies coming out through the door, I spotted River, with her friend Pearl by her side. She headed straight for me, with a predatory gleam in her eyes.
They trotted up to us, and it looked like the other ponies in the courtyard could sense the oncoming storm as well as I could. As River and Pearl stalked in a circle around us, we found ourselves in the middle of a wide open spot where no other pony dared to go.
“Oh give it a rest, River.” I rolled my eyes. “I already told you I'm not scared.”
Whisper, on the other hoof, cowered behind me, trembling. She must have been terrified.
River's horn lit up, and a shiny little red ball floated up to her, surrounded in her magic's violet glow. “Recognize this?” she asked, as she dropped it to the ground next to her.
“Yeah, that's the ball I was playing with yesterday.” I raised an eyebrow and looked at her out of the corner of my eye. This didn't make much sense. “What're you gonna do, steal it from me? You already have it.”
A savage grin spread across her face. “I'm going to do this.” With a back hoof, she gave the ball a solid kick, sending it flying off towards one of the school buildings. The sound of breaking glass came back in answer.
I looked over to where the ball went, still unsure what was going on. Just as I spotted the broken window, the Headmaster's face popped out through it.
The Headmaster stared out at me with a deepening frown on his face and a rage-filled glint in his eyes. Too late, I noticed River and Pearl pointing their hooves at Whisper and me. Several other ponies around us joined them.
My eyes widened in sudden realization of what River just did to me.
The Headmaster disappeared from his broken window and reappeared – shockingly quick – through the front door of the building, levitating a little whistle with his magic. As soon as he stepped out, he blew a piercing shriek on the whistle.
All the ponies who had been playing froze, and a still silence overtook the whole courtyard, broken only by the sound of a ball bouncing to a halt.
“You two.” The Headmaster's voice wasn't loud. It was cold and stark in the sudden hush. “The blue filly and the pegasus.” I could already feel the cold sweat breaking out as his frosty glare bored into me. “In my office. Now.”
I walked toward the building as he disappeared inside, keenly aware of how every eye in the courtyard stared at Whisper and me. Silence smothered the whole courtyard as everypony watched the two of us gingerly trodding our way to the door as if we were two condemned prisoners on our way to the gallows. That's what it felt like, anyway. Now I knew the full extent of River's plan, and I was trapped in it. No way out.
I nudged Whisper with a hoof and smiled weakly at her as we stepped in through the door. When she looked back at me though, I could only see fear and anxiety in her face, nothing reassuring.
Down the empty, echoing hall, the Headmaster's door already stood open. Whisper shot me another worried glance and with a gulp, walked up to it. “Headmathter, thir?”
A moment of silence passed as Whisper sweated in front of that foreboding door. “Ah, Night Whisper? I'll speak with each of you privately. Please tell the pegasus to wait outside.”
Whisper glanced over at me, looking to see if I got the message.
I nodded and let out the breath I had been holding. Reluctantly, I made my way to the wooden bench waiting for me in the hallway. I settled into the harsh, uncomfortable seat as well as I could, and watched Whisper disappear inside.
Voices percolated through the closed door, but they were too muffled to understand, which left me alone with my thoughts. It was the first time I had actually been alone since I left Ponyville, though the immense looming quiet of the hallway, the uncompromising wood of the bench beneath me, and of course, the reason I was here in the first place all conspired to make it anything but relaxing. I wished Rainbow Dash could be here with me, or Cheerilee. They would know what to do. Or maybe Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle. They might not have been able to help, but at least they would make me feel better. We had been in trouble worse than this together so many times; this would feel like nothing. As it was, though, I had to face it more alone than I had ever been since I lost my parents, and I was too young to even remember that.
Whisper was my friend, sure, but I couldn't exactly count on her, and who else would look out for me? Nopony. I couldn't even–
With a soft click that would have been impossible to hear anywhere other than this silent, empty hallway, the doorknob turned. It opened, and Whisper slowly walked out. It was normal for her to not be able to look me – or anypony else for that matter – in the eye, but now she wouldn't look at me at all. She hung her head low and looked away as she slank away down the carpeted hallway. She never said a single word.
Before Whisper disappeared down the hall, the Headmaster's voice called out from the open door. “Come in.” It still retained an icy hardness.
With a chill creeping down my spine, I rose up from the bench and made the long trip across the hall and into the Headmaster's office.
Inside, the air stood perfectly still, despite the gaping window. Little sparkling shards of glass littered the plush red carpeting on the floor, and a shiny red ball sat on the dark, glossy desk, right next to the embossed brass nameplate reading: Herald Dust, Headmaster, Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns, Magic Kindergarten division.
I gulped and looked up at the looming face of the Headmaster. His cold glare was even less welcoming than his dark, stuffy office. “Sit,” he said, motioning toward the chair across from his desk.
As inconspicuously as possible, I climbed into the simple wooden chair.
The Headmaster adjusted his glasses and set a hoof on top of the ball sitting on his desk. “Now, would you care to explain this?” His eyes pierced into me over the rims of his glasses.
Explain it? I could hardly breathe. Still, I couldn't let River get away with such a dirty trick without a fight. “That's the ball River Star kicked through your window.”
The Headmaster just sighed and shook his head. “Are you sure that's what happened, young pegasus?”
I couldn't back down now. “She's trying to blame it on me so I'll get in trouble.”
“Young mare, I will not have such talk in this office!” I shrank down into my seat as he finally allowed some heat into his voice. “Your friend Night Whisper already told me everything, so there's no point in lying.”
“She... huh?” I couldn't believe it. Why would she say something like that? “But that's not true. I really didn't do anything!”
He shot up from his chair, bracing his hooves on the desk in front of him, and towered over me. “Are you seriously insinuating that I should believe that two unicorns – my own daughters – as well as several of your classmates are all lying because one troublemaking pegasus says so?”
I glanced side to side, trying to find some way to escape this unicorn's fierce gaze. There was none, of course. “Um, yes?” I winced. That sounded weak even to me.
He sat back down, growling disgustedly. “As soon as you came here, I knew some damage to the school was bound to happen with a rough-and-tumble pegasus around... but I was prepared to accept that. 'At least she isn't an earth pony,' I thought. Turns out, I was wrong. Apparently, nothing is worse than a pegasus! Trying to blame your mistakes on your classmates and my own daughter, the nerve!” He shook his head. “I only warned Whisper to be more careful next time, as a reward for her admirable honesty.” His eyes zeroed in on me. “You though... Your brazen lying brings discredit upon you, your kind, and worse, it brings dishonor to this school. You will be reprimanded.”
I let out a heavy sigh and sank into my chair as he paused, presumably thinking up a suitable punishment. So much for defending myself. I should have known he wouldn't believe me.
He looked up at me again, over the rims of his glasses and smoothed down his mustache. “For the remainder of your time here at the school, rather than joining the other students at recess, you will be helping the kitchen staff clean up after the meal and prepare the next one.”
My resulting groan brought the first smile I'd ever seen on his face.
Standing up and walking around to the side of the desk, he leaned against it with one hoof. “You won't last long in this school with the moral quality you have displayed thus far. Another incident like this, and I will be forced to dismiss you from the school, no matter who sent you here. Do I make myself clear?”
I should have felt outraged, indignant, defiant... instead, I felt only the hollow emptiness of defeat. “Yes, Headmaster.”
“Good.” He raised an eyebrow at me, tilting his head a little. “I understand you're sharing a room with my daughters. You would do well to learn from their fine moral example.” He waved toward the door. “You are dismissed.”
“While zebra magic tends to center around the making of potions ... griffons are not known to possess any magical ... which is what results in the unusually long lifespans of most earth ponies...” The magic theory lessons were especially hard to pay attention to today. My mind kept wandering back to the events from recess, or forward to guess what helping in the kitchen would be like. “ ...And that's how pegasus magic interacts with the weather patterns...”
I shot up, my attention suddenly focused back on the lecture. “Pegasus magic? How does that apply to me?”
Missus Primrose glared at me from her position at the front of the room. The way her mane was tied up in a tight bun stretched and attenuated the thinly veiled loathing in her eyes. “I will thank you, young mare, to not disrupt the class further.” It was the first thing she had said to me – ever. Progress of a sort. “You wouldn't want me to have to send you to the Headmaster's office, would you?”
I shrank down into my seat. No, I definitely didn't want to go back there.
“Very well. Now, the next interaction class I would like to cover is unicorn-dragon interaction. The best known form of this is dragon's breath letter sending. This works by connecting with the dragon's inherent affinity to the element of fire. While most unicorns would send a letter to a dragon by magically igniting it, this is, in fact, not necessary. Because of this elemental connection, it is only necessary to levitate the letter, think of the intended recipient, and consume it with any fire, magical or mundane. Similarly, a unicorn's interaction with sylphs centers through the element of air. When a sylph...”
Well, that was interesting... and useful! I never guessed that sending letters to a dragon could be so easy. That could be very useful indeed. Maybe I didn't have to be so alone here after all.
I bent over my homework for the day in the flickering candlelight of my room. Having not paid much attention during the day, it gave me a particularly hard time.
Once again, an incomprehensible question forced me to crack open the textbook and search for the answer. This had to be the least fun place in all of Equestria.
I glanced up at River's bunk. No sign of movement there. Hopefully she was already asleep. As quietly as I could, I took out a fresh sheet of paper and began penning a letter to Twilight Sparkle and Rainbow Dash, via Spike.
Maybe if they knew what I was going through here, they could do something about it and make this whole magic kindergarten thing into what it was supposed to be. I scribbled furiously, pouring all my frustration onto the page.
River's bedsheets rustled. She hopped out and eyed Whisper and me.
I froze. There was no hiding it now. If I tried to hide it, she'd see me and only want to see it more.
“Let's check and see how my servants are doing...” She leaned in over Whisper's shoulder, looking at her notes. “Good, good...” When she reached my side of the desk, though, she frowned. “What is this?”
I winced. She was never supposed to see it.
She pulled the half-finished letter out of my hooves with her magic and began reading it. Soon, she turned to me with a menacing glare. “I will not put up with a lowly pegasus saying things like that about me!” The letter suddenly shredded into tiny pieces under the violet glow of River's magic. “And I will not put up with this from you. You get back to my homework like you're supposed to and quit writing letters. Or else. I don't think you want another taste of punishment, do you?”
I just glared at her.
“That's what I thought.” She slicked her hair back with a hoof. “Now, I'm going over to Pearl's room to hang out with some ponies who aren't as horribly lame as you two.” She trotted to the door, her head held high.
“But you're not allowed to go into other ponieth' roomth.” Whisper turned to look in River's direction.
“Oh, and are you going to do something about it, Worm?” River stared her down. “You know better.”
Whisper lowered her head and went back to work on the notes.
“That's what I thought. Now, finally, I'm out of here.” She stepped out through the door, slamming it behind her.
I shook my head and went back to writing my letter. It was my only hope that anything would get better.
I gritted my teeth, forcing myself to concentrate on both things at once. I had to keep my wings going, holding my letter aloft with my shaky magic, and I had to keep my recipient in mind, the little dragon Spike, far off in the Griffon Kingdoms with Twilight Sparkle. If I faltered in either one, this letter would burn up uselessly... like my last two attempts.
Carefully, I moved the letter over to the flickering candle's flame. I ignored Whisper's concerned look. For this, I needed total concentration.
The little flame flared up and consumed my letter, but the flames turned green as it burned. That was my sign that the message sent successfully. The smoke from the letter shimmered and sparkled and raced through the crack in the door, on its way. Now I only needed to wait.
I glanced to the side at Whisper. She still sat scribbling notes for her adoptive sister, her frizzy blue mane bobbing just a bit as she wrote. If she had taken issue with my letter sending activities, she wasn't saying anything about it. Shaking my head, I turned back to my own work. I couldn't imagine putting up with River's petty tyranny for even the few days of magic kindergarten, but this little filly had been with her for years. How was it even possible to endure somepony like River Star for that long?
As if in response to my thoughts, River burst in through the door, stomped over to her bed, and jumped in. Mere seconds later, a heavy snore gushed from the top bunk. I groaned. Doing this double-duty homework was difficult enough without that distracting noise, not to mention the damage it would do to my sleep schedule.
Drooping my head and sighing out my disgust, I picked up the quill again. These elemental interaction tables weren't going to do themselves – twice. With a smug grin, I drew another line into the diagram, proud that I had remembered what the teacher said about the lightning exception to the general fire and water interaction rules. Before I could copy it to River's sheet, though, a plume of green smoke snaked its way in under the door and swirled over my head. I dropped my quill just in time to lunge up and catch the falling scroll, setting it down on our desk.
This time, Whisper definitely was paying attention. She turned around in her seat to stare at me with wide open eyes. “You did magic? Without permithion?”
“Ugh, Whisper,” I whined, “you didn't tattle on River when she did it.” I looked her in the eye. “You aren't going to rat me out, are you?”
She looked away, unable to meet my gaze. “Well, no.”
“Good.” I gave her a warm smile. “Us two have to stick together.”
She looked back at me then, and while her smile wasn't as big as mine, it was just as warm. Whisper might not have been much help against River, but I was still glad to be able to call her my friend here. She leaned over to stare at the rolled-up scroll. “Who'th that from?”
I grabbed the scroll and opened it, a sly smile on my face and a beaming pride in my heart. “It's from a friend of mine.” I glanced at Whisper through the corner of my eye. I wanted to see her reaction. “Twilight Sparkle.”
Whisper just looked confused for a moment, squinting her eyes and cocking her head to the side, but a second later, her eyes shot open wide. “No! The Twilight Thparkle?” She just stared at me with her mouth gaping open. “You know the Printheths?”
I giggled a little at her reaction. I couldn't help it. “Yep, the Twilight Sparkle.” I spread the scroll out on the table. It was good news. This would change everything. “And it says here that she's going to write a royal decree to the school's headmaster to put a stop to the bullying!”
A true smile blossomed on Whisper's face, and joy augmented the shock in her eyes. “Really?”
“Yep. He should be getting it any minute now.”
Whisper jittered in her seat. She looked too excited to stay put, and her mane somehow seemed fluffier than ever, but she turned back to the desk and resumed working on the notes, despite rocking back and forth in the chair. For a moment, I wondered what this little blue filly would have been like if she hadn't been repressed by River Star. Perhaps I was getting a glimpse of it now.
Still, I supposed, she had the right idea. There was plenty of homework left to be done. Reluctantly, I turned back to the interaction tables. Now, earth and water in cooperative interaction, what class was that? Before I could come up with the answer, my eyes were drawn to River's extra copy. I probably should make her copy, I supposed, at least until after the Headmaster fixed things. I grinned wickedly as a devious idea came to me. River wouldn't know the difference between right and wrong answers.
I settled into my soft middle bunk with a grin on my face despite the snores still echoing from above. This was the first time in days that I had gone to bed looking forward to the next day. Between the letter and River about to discover her failing grade on the homework, this was shaping up to be the best day yet.
Well, at least things are looking up. The amount of bullying and coldness from the staff was starting to get soul-crushing, and not really in a good way, I'm afraid.
Looking forward to the next chapter!
3616414
Oh come on, what are you afraid of?
It'll be fine. I promise.
3616638
That particular response?
Well, yes, you're the only one.
There have been other suggestions involving shotguns, but none involving knees.
3616871
What have I done?
3616956
A voice of reason!
3617040
Oh, you're pretty spot-on there.
Though I don't delve into her lineage.
3617232
River has stronger magic, and has used it in the past on Scoots.
3617379
bum holes?
She has more than one?
3617382
Indeed... part of what I did in this fic is explore the different flavors bullying and racism come in.
3617431
Good. I was hoping this chapter would be enough to shine a light in the darkness for people.
...
Except that now the headmaster has proof that you used magic while not under supervision.
Sigh.
I was expecting Scootaloo to straight up look at the teacher and say, "Because I have unicorn magic, I CAN'T fly and won't be able to be up in the clouds."
Also, Twilight Sparkle's decree will do the opposite and will lead to Scootaloo getting punished for using magic, as they're going to ask how she sent the letter. Either that or she'll earn respect because she learned the spell so damn quickly. Most likely the former with how big of assholes everyone is.
because everything that comes out of her mouth is a bunch of horseapples
3617431
Yeah its not going to be this easy. I would be very surprised if Mister Unicorn Supremacist stopped just because a princess wrote a letter to him telling him to stop.
That said, Scootaloo now has the ability to send letters to spike anytime she has access to both a candle and pen and parchment, so thats a handy skill to have.
3617437
Maybe, maybe not. Depending on what Twilight wrote in her letter, Scootaloo could bluff it out as Twilight having put a surveillance spell on her before sending her off to the school, having foreseen exactly this kind of situation. Irregardless, conducting further discrimination against someone who you KNOW somehow has a direct hotline to one of the princesses is extremely ill advised, though I expect to see it continue to happen until Celestia rolls up and fires half the staff and expels several students.
3617499
No, that's too loose a explanation. If the author did bring that up, it would only be to have the headmaster call Scootaloo a liar.
How many teachers do you know would accept such an excuse?
Okay, things had better improve in the next chapter, otherwise I'm gonna lump this into 'bad Scootabuse stories' and unlike it. I'm getting tired of Scoots catching shit from everyone.
3617462
3617437
Oh, don't worry too much. Stupidity is a blessing as well as a curse.
3617466
Oh, the evil tendencies I'm uncovering in people...
I didn't expect that when I wrote it! ^.^
3617473
3617462
One sincerely hopes the headmaster and staff aren't going to be quite that stupid. Scootaloo has just proven that she does, indeed, have the personal attention of a member of the Equestrian... well, technically, I suppose it's a "triarchy", now, and said Princess is taking an equally personal interest in the situation at the school. Unless the headmaster is a complete idiot, he should now realize that he is treading on very, very thin ice where Scootaloo is concerned, and that continuing to antagonize Scootaloo or let her be bullied runs a very real risk of bringing all three Princesses' wrath down around his ears when Twilight informs Celestia and Luna of what's going on.
I can't wait for the headmaster to get what's coming for him
3617499
Pretty astute.
3617505
I sure don't know any.
3617511
Oh, don't worry, Scootabuse isn't the point of the story. Things will get better... eventually.
3617505
Depends entirely on what Twilight wrote in her letter. IF it's something along the lines of "I have learned through certain sources that my student is being discriminated against by the staff and student body of your institution" instead of the far, far more likely "Scootaloo wrote a letter and tattled on you", then he really has no proof that scootaloo did any thing wrong at all, and further actions on his part would bring dangerous amounts of royal scrutiny onto him. Of course, if he bothers asking his daughter the whole plan falls apart anyways, but thats a given. Then again either way Scootaloo may end up wining here.
Either the Headmaster tells River to dial back on the abuse a bit for fear that an immortal alicorn is watching every action via a scrying spell, or he gets pissed and expels Scootaloo and she gets to go back to Ponyville. At which point she she tells Dash and Twilight exactly what happened, and about twenty minutes later Celestia walks into his office and tells him to pack up his personal belongings, because she no longer has need of his services.
"Also please pick up your daughter River on your way out, as clearly this school is not the correct fit for her, I have decided to use my executive privileges and expel her from the student body. I suggest perhaps taking her to St. Brutus's Secure Center for Incurably Criminal Fillies."
3617523
Heh... we'll see.
In my experience, though, the older someone gets, the harder it is to get him to change his ways.
3617526
In good time. ^.^
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And why that it's suppose to stop us for a justified vengeance?
Filly or not, she is a witch b****
Death will be little for her.
Go, Scootalo!!!!
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Perhaps, but I can't imagine that the author would make the story and Scootaloo's plight look so miserable until now, and then suddenly turn it on its head and say everything is better.
I'm getting the ominous feeling that her woes have only just begun.
...
But maybe I'm just crazy.
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St. Brutus?
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Exactly. Any sane self serving tribist noble would realize EXACTLY what this means and, if not completely stop their discrimination against Scootaloo and blatant favoritism towards the other unicorn students, at least add a layer or two of subtlety over it.
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Its from Harry Potter, specifically the (probably made up) school that Uncle Vernon claims Harry is attending instead of Hogwarts to anyone who asks where his nephew goes for 10 months of the year.
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I have a better idea. Considering special talent, he could send her and her father TO THE MOOOOOON! as part of her final exam.
This isn't going to help. Royal decree or no, Herald Dust is a bigoted, traditionalist unicorn who cares nothing for the whims of somepony he views as unfit to rule. He made that much clear in chapter 2.
No, I think the only way he'll listen to reason is if A) River is caught in the act of bullying by a non-prejudiced staff member, or B) Princess Celestia or Luna catches wind and rakes him over the coals. Granted, that second scenario might not be far behind, since a royal decree is about to come out.
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bronyville.org/emotes/worried_scoots.jpg
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...
I rest my case.
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^.^
That would be fun.
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A non-prejudiced staff member?
What's that?
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Not so fun.... No blood and no gore make the dark SHL goes crazy....
But is a vengeance, after all
I have that strange feeling that Scoots is riding herself into deep trouble by doing whatever she did at the end of the chapter...
However, I really dig the story and it has some great potential to become a "one in a million" fanfic Keep up the awesome work, I'm always exited to read a new chapter every day. Thanks, I salute to you, ocalhoun!
One word: Finally
I see two issues with this story.
First is that magic kindergarten is scarcely more than a week. I don't care how gifted the average student there is, that's not enough time for learning. If I were to construct an analogy in human terms, it would be trying to teach a programming language to a computer/IT student prodigy within a week; failure would be the most frequent result.
Second, Twilight sending Scootaloo there in the first place, when she should know that unique cases need unique teaching methods and individual attention. And that she was sending a student with next to zero experience in magic to a school where the general expectation would be for students to have been practising in a less formal setting for most of their lives.
Both problems could have been solved to some degree by swapping out magical kindergarten for an education focused unicorn summer camp or similar. It would still allow for the bullying and racism stories you want to tell, while not being as improbable.
More realistically, but ruining the story you want to tell, would have been for Twilight to either get Scootaloo to wait for Twi's return and then personally tutor Scoots, or to find a capable teacher within Ponyville to teach Scootaloo the basics. After all, the school for gifted unicorns is a prestigious institution that only a limited number of unicorns attend, so it is obvious that there are other schools and/or teachers, and any possible teacher other than the princesses themselves would have equal experience in teaching unicorn magic to a non-unicorn (none). I would guess that Cheerilee is responsible for teaching magic to unicorn foals in Ponyville, even if she'd have to rely on book learning rather than personal experience.
The excuse given near the start, of a young untrained magic user being a dangerous thing in some way, doesn't hold up to scrutiny. Scootaloo had gone through her whole life up to that point without incident, but if she were such a danger then her magic should have manifested at some point previously in her life; a magic surge as a baby perhaps. Sweetie Belle wasn't a danger in the show (set an unspecified amount of time prior to this fic), despite being clearly inexperienced in magic.
So far- Scootaloo has the ability to make Strobe Style Lights, Teleport, minor levitation, able to send Letters TO Spike..something that has been seen only the Princess could do-
Scootaloo isn't just a Pegasus with Unicorn Magic.
She's a Pegasus with the ability to replicate Advanced Unicorn Magic.
Teleportation and Fire Sending- The level of magic required for these alone would be difficult, very difficult. While River may be 'Powerful' enough to subdue Scootaloo.. she doesn't have the Tact to keep her mouth shut when it will really count- The Final Exam will put River in her place: Being able to do Teleportation as a Filly means that Scootaloo having a Magic Surge will not only be dangerous- But that this could cause a lot of trouble that the staff SHOULD have handled when Scootaloo was there. I can see this coming to nip them in the buds because they decided that it wasn't worth it.
As far as River- She just needs an actual Teacher to reprimand her. If Primrose and Honeydew aren't capable.. perhaps miss Inkwell from the older staff? "Finally Found that Ugly Frog.."
Heck, maybe even Gingersnap?
However, I look forward to the next chapter. Take care!
I'm getting a bit fed up with this. Every pony in this school is a bratty racist. It's one thing to have Scootaloo face adversity, but it's quite another for her to be in Hell.
Really enjoying this story. My only note is that I would have liked it if it was actually shown what was in the letters, or at least Twilight's letter. But that's just me, I feel it adds more to a story. You're doing good work man, keep it up
In my mind all I was thinking was " you can play the race card.you cam play the race card. you can play the race card."
You seem to be getting a little flak for the inherent racism in this fic, so I'd like to say my two cents, or however many cents this may take.
If we follow the show, we can safely assume that this is, in fact, what would happen. Now, Twilight is incredibly smart, I won't lie, but she isn't terribly intelligent. How do I mean? Well, simply put, she'll try something simply because she can, she doesn't really think before she acts, she obsesses over strange things, and sending a potentially magical pegasus filly to a highly prestigious school after she performed one of the most advanced forms of magical transportation without training would probably sound pretty logical to her rushing mind which, by the way, I should remind the audience was in fact trying to pack in a hurry for the train to Griffon Territory.
Now, to the Unicorns and their inherent racism.
Hoity Toity, Blueblood. Ring any bells?
If we follow the very ideal behind the show, most of the ponies in Canterlot are stuck up pigs with their heads rammed so far up their own asses that they're wearing the damn things as sweaters. Hoity Toity and Blueblood are my best examples. Now, given that Canterlot is the magical City of the kingdom, it would fit that the majority of its population would be of the horned variety. Now, if we go back into the history books, the Unicorns used to be considered as the 'nobility', the better ponies because they had the ability to pull the sun into the sky in the daylight hours, and the moon up in the nighttime hours. Given this idea, it's entirely possible that even after a good thousand years or more in this case of breeding, such enmity would live on in the older families, or ones that deem themselves superior because of their ability to bend their magic to directly influence the physical realm. Given that, a little pegasus filly suddenly turning up at the most prestigious school in Canterlot would cause a spot of bother. Obviously the headmaster is quite biased against Scootaloo, racist and bigoted. He doesn't want Scootaloo there, and it shows.
Now then.
Given that Miss Uptight Bitch is, in fact, his daughter, River is pretty much given free reign. The other ponies do as she says, or they get in serious dirt, because she says so. So the Queen bitch of the schoolyard basically rules the school via her father's authority, She's as racist, arrogant and bigoted as her father is, and because of her power, the rest of the foals do as she says, when she says,
But I do agree that Ruby is a spineless bastard. Grow a backbone.
Ahem.
I think it all makes quite good sense. Plus, I think the staff would look upon her as they do. As either an interloper or as an inconvenience/ fish out of water.
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At the same time, though, people don't generally rise to positions of authority and responsibility that come with a lot of political strings attached – such as, say, headmaster of an exclusive boarding school which regularly takes in students from elite familes among the nobles of the Royal Court – without developing at least some ability to tell which side their bread is buttered on, either.
Up 'til now, it's understandable that he'd feel relatively safe in giving Scootaloo the brush-off; he's disdainful of Twilight (though this, too, is a bit of a narrative problem, as he seems to lack any apparent motivation for that attitude*), and regards Scoot as a nuisance imposed upon him by Twilight's whims... and she'll be gone in a week anyway, and then things will go back to normal around here, so who cares what the stupid pegasus filly thinks, anyway?
Except that now he has concrete evidence that somepony does care what Scootaloo thinks of her treatment so far – and again, unless he's so completely oblivious to the goings-on and political realities outside the school that it's impossible to see how he ever achieved the position he holds to begin with, he's surely aware that Twilight Sparkle is:
(a) a Princess in her own right, with all the authority that comes with that position;
(b) a national hero several times over;
(c) somepony who has been personally connected to and mentored by no less than Sol Invicta herself for most of her life;
and (d) somepony whom Princess Luna not only considers a friend as well, but owes a significant debt of gratitude to.
He doesn't have to like Twilight, or even respect her personally, but he'd be fifteen kinds of fool not to at least take into account the fact that she has more than enough authority and connections to make his life extremely unpleasant if he continues to openly allow a filly whom she's taken a personal interest in to be treated like dirt.
Which is not to say, of course, that Twilight's letter should immediately fix everything; that wouldn't be realistic either. Just that from this point forward, any racism or mistreatment towards Scootaloo needs to get a lot more subtle if you don't want the headmaster to come off as though he's carrying a giant Idiot Ball.
(* this, I would have to say, is an overall weakness in the story so far; a lot of the characters lack any clear motivation for behaving the way they do. Basically, the unicorns at the school are mean, condescending, abusive jerks for no apparent reason beyond the fact that the plot requires them to be mean, condescending, abusive jerks; Ruby is a spineless backstabbing coward who won't stand up for Scoot because the plot requires him to be a spineless backstabbing coward; and so on.)
Crime and punishment. Best title to this chapter possible, as it fits two of the events very well. Another excellent chapter, but I have a fear that the Headmaster either won't take the letter to or River will ignore the admonishing. Or who knows, things might go well.
Unicorns, being the pony equivalent of racists, even in canon. Rarity refers to mules in a negative connotation, calls Iron Will a monster for his species, and says that gryphons are "rare" like Gilda is an animla
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I always figured that was more just an attitude of Canterlot citizenry in general. "Canterlot is a Very Important Place, which makes me a Very Important Pony because I live in this Very Important Place, unlike you unimportant little ponies who live in places that aren't nearly as important."
Kind of like people from New York City.
I can't wait for Twilight's intervention to fix things, or at least not make Scootaloo's life hell when she should be learning. And Scootaloo needs to train to get her magic working without moving her wings. Moving Wings is something I can see as a subconscious bad habit of trying to fly (and flairing large wasteful amounts of magic when doing spell casting is something I can see happening), but I can't wait for somepony to help her with her magic now rather than treating her like she's less of a pony. And the Headmaster and his daughter River need a kick in the groin.
Bottom bet says that River is gonna examine both her and Scootaloo' paper see that both are different, and probably change names. Unless Scootaloo played the old reverse psychology and make hers wrong so river would swap out with hers... that's presuming that River is dumb enough to know which ones are right and which are wrong
At the risk of another Hogwarts comparison (considering the author hasn't read HP)... when Harry was concerned when did anything Dumbledore said ever stop Snape's sniping? If anything, Dumbledore pressed Harry to refer to him as Professor Snape out of respect.
In other words, I have my doubts that Princess Twilight Sparkle, somepony for whom the headmaster bears little respect as it is, will change things with a simple letter. Additional punishment is more likely. I don't mind being proven wrong, though.
It sounds like Scoots should pay more attention when they talk about elemental magic. Also, her "punishment" of helping the kitchen staff should be considered a blessing. Other than Whisper, nopony at the school really wanted anything to do with her anyway.
I always thought that Scootaloo would have one of her parents as an earth pony. But having her with unicorn magic!? This will be very interesting....
The equivalent of this is Twilicorn learning how to fly.
Well, I'm guessing the headmaster is going to disregard the letter, put Scootaloo in more trouble, and then either Scootaloo will send another letter to Twilight or a letter to Celestia herself, and Celestia will fire the headmaster.
Well, that explains why the little Diamond Tiara wannabe manages to get away with it - she's got a ringer at the very top! It should be interesting to see what might happen now Scoot's appealed to higher authority.
The fact that she's managed to do a fire-mail spell is interesting in itself and kills any possibility that she can't do magic. I doubt that would affect the immediate abuse Scootaloo is likely to get for 'embarrassing' the school (remember the headmaster resents Twilight too). However, it will change a lot of ponies' view of her.
I admit, there's one thing that doesn't make sense to me. Why on earth is Scootaloo so worried about getting kicked out? If she gets kicked out, she goes home, waits a bit, and Twilight Sparkle shows up to teach her and kicks some principal plot. I mean, I would understand if she was worried about looking like a failure or something like that, but I can't see any reasons from her at the moment. She doesn't want to get kicked out, but I have no idea why she feels that way. It's not like a huge plothole or anything, and I'm sure it'll come up later, but at the moment all I can think is that Scootaloo should seriously leave.
But, then again, it seems to hold pretty consistent with the MLP universe that no adult ever helps a child. Ever. Bullying will never be curbed by adults, even if they're standing two feet away and related to the filly being bullies. Applejack.
I really like the principal in terms of motivation. Showing favor to your own kids really isn't that uncommon, and when its two against one there's no way Scootaloo would win. Though Scootaloo is already a far better person than I. If my friend had lied and gotten me in trouble, I definitely wouldn't be talking to them for a while.
I also really love the different aspects of racism that come into play. You have the principal, an outright bigot, and that's what most people think of. Then you have the teacher who refuses to acknowledge Scootaloo, which is also pretty common. That's kind of the segregationist point of view: "they're fine and all, I just don't think they should be hanging out with my kind."
Oh, and Miss Honeydown. She's perfect. It reminds me of when women first entered the workplace, and a lot of the men would tell them, "Oh, you've done a wonderful job for a woman", or "Don't worry, soon you'll find a man to take care of you so you won't have to work!" These things aren't meant to be insulting or hurtful, it's just that they genuinely believed that a woman didn't have the same ability to do the job, and that they would be far more happy being at home with a bunch of kids. Miss Honeydown isn't trying to be mean to Scootaloo. She feels sorry for her. From what she knows about pegasi, they love sports and flying. From her point of view, Scootaloo has had the bad luck of getting her magic all mixed up, and the poor dear was forced into magic kindergarten. She's just trying to help Scootaloo get through these troubling times so she can get back where she
belongsis happiest.A few older members of my family still follow that kind of sexism, so it's really great to see it here. I grew up being told that eventually I'd learn my place and I'd give up all this silly nonsense about not wearing make up and not being pretty and wanting a job and not wanting children, all said with that sickly sweet condescension. You've portrayed it perfectly, you really have.
I hope scootaloo get a little happiness soon, this story is depressing me
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Harry Potter fan here. Harry rarely went to any other professor about what Snape was doing, and Dumbledore cut Harry off from any kind of complaint about Snape. Snape was crucial to certain plans, so the fact that he was a horrible person and teacher was ignored because he was needed.
Regardless, this is something that a lot of fans hated. Snape is not just a bad teacher - he's a bully. He constantly abuses the children in his classroom and there's no excuse for it. Dumbledore should have demanded that Snape behave professionally. He doesn't have to be kind, he just has to not use his position of authority in a negative way. Telling children they are ugly and stupid is absolutely not acceptable from a teacher. Children should never find it acceptable, and should know that they need to report it to adults and that adults will straighten things out.
Unfortunately, it's pretty common in fiction because it's an easy way to get a protagonist. It's why Diamond Tiara never has any consequences for her bullying, despite Rarity and Applejack and Cherilee all seeing it. If they did what they were supposed to, the CMC would no longer have their main protagonist. The bullying has to continue for the purposes of the show. This means that all bullying episodes become irrelevant - it doesn't matter what the CMC do. They will never stop the bullying. They can't talk to an adult, because the adults won't do anything. They can't just ignore it, because Diamond Tiara will mock them harder until she gets a response. They can't retaliate, because any retaliation gets them in trouble.
Well this should be interesting.
Super excited for the story! I really hate the suspense with where you are going to go with the next chapter. One always hope for happy event, alas there are too many problems to resolve in simple fashion. I will look forward to how you deal with it, maybe even solve Racism in the world (ahem... no presssure there, but someone has to bring an idea to the open...) Little Scoots are rooting for you:
Other than few glitches in interaction with other ponies, you portray characters individually well. Builds the imagination quite accurate, congrats. Have fun writing!
>w< With each new chapter, I just want to favorite and like it again!