Had Enough

by xStellar_Bubbles

We Can't Take It Anymore!

Author's Note:

Story written in honor of Anti Bullying Month October 2014.

"Ugh, great, it's this time of year again," Scootaloo said and sighed.

"I know, right! That means we have to see them again," Sweetie Belle said.

It was an early fall morning. The crusaders were on their way to the Ponyville Schoolhouse, for it was the first day of their new school year.

"Hmm, doesn't look like anythin' has really changed, and it looks like we are early!" Applebloom said. As soon as they went in their empty classroom, they sat in their usual seats, the desks in the middle of the front row. Applebloom gestured with her hoof for Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo to come closer.

"Girls, I don't think they will come back. At the end of last year, I heard that they were moving to Fillydelphia. I think we may just have a year of peace!"

"What do you mean by peace? For us, every year is a peaceful year, and sometimes joyous!" The crusaders looked at the door to see who was speaking and saw two fillies, a gray filly with teal glasses and a pink filly with a tiara. The gray filly lowered her glasses and examined the nearly empty class, finding the Cutie Mark Crusaders with concerned looks.

"Well well well, look who we have here!" said the gray filly.

"Looks like the rumors are proven to be untrue," Scootaloo very quietly whispered to her friends as the two fillies sat in the desks that were behind the crusaders.

"Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon..." Applebloom mumbled in an annoyed way as she covered her forehead with a hoof.

"Yep. The best of the best! I can tell that you guys miss us over the summer, right?" Silver Spoon sarcastically said as Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were giving her glares. Not really... Sweetie Belle thought. The crusaders' only reply was silence. Diamond Tiara dramatically gasped.

"Silver Spoon, it look like they do care!" she said as Diamond was trying to give the crusaders a hug. Their response was attempting to push her hooves off of their shoulders, "Guess what guys? We missed you all as well! After all, we can't forget about our favorite blank flanks!" Diamond said as she giggled along with Silver Spoon.

"That reminds me, D.T., what have you guys been doing over the summer? I see that you guys have made such little progress with finding your talents. I think the 'Cutie Mark Crusaders' should just stop crusading and accept who they really are," Silver Spoon said as her friend nodded.

"Certainly. Besides, you guys had a whole summer to work on that!" At this point, the crusaders were trying their best to ignore the mean fillies. But their behavior is getting straight into their heads, especially Applebloom's.

"'Scuse me, we tried our best, and that's all that matters!" Applebloom said. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon lightly chuckled.

"Sure..." they mumbled. When the fillies have finished their conversation, the school bell rang. A lot more colts and fillies started to enter the room. For the Cutie Mark Crusaders and the school bullies, there were some old and new faces. When everypony settled down, a unicorn mare with a light brown coat, a red mane and tail, and a cup made out of china as a cutie mark walked through the door and stood behind her desk.

"Greetings, everypony. My name is Hot Cocoa," the new teacher said in her slightly annoying and monotone voice. A few children giggled in the classroom, "Do some of you children already want to stay in my class for recess for laughing at my name?" Cocoa asked the class. The chuckling came to a sudden stop.

"Thank you. Now, all of you will remain silent while I take attendance. Excuse me if I mispronounce any names," Hot Cocoa said. A blue colt with a brown mane and tail raised his hoof.

"What does 'mispronounce' mean again?" he asked.

"It means to say something wrong," Hot Cocoa calmly answered

While the students were staring aimlessly everywhere and raising their hooves when their name has been called, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon exchanged glances and decided to annoy the crusaders some more. Diamond grabbed a small note out of her saddlebags and began to whisper at Applebloom.

Psst, psst!

Not this again.. Applebloom thought. She tried to ignore Diamond Tiara, but the whispering got louder every second.

Psst, psst, psst!

"Would you be quiet for a few minutes?" Applebloom whispered to Diamond Tiara. Hot Cocoa overheard her whispering and stopped taking attendance.

"Now, who is talking over me at this moment?" Cocoa exclaimed to the class. She examined the whole room and found Applebloom's head turned to Diamond Tiara.

"Ms. Applebloom, I expect more from you. Do you want to ruin it for the whole class and make them stay inside here instead if playing outside?" Hot Cocoa sternly said to Applebloom. The whole class gave her an annoyed look and fake irritated looks from Diamond a Tiara and Silver Spoon. Meanwhile, Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were giving concerned faces.

"Um... uh... sorry, no, Ms Cocoa," Applebloom stuttered to her teacher.

"Very well, then," Hot Cocoa replied as she walked back to her desk to take attendance while Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were lightly chortling.

After they have been lectured about class expectations and foal growth once more, it was recess time for the whole class. As soon as they heard the bronze bell ring, everypony galloped out the back door of the schoolhouse. Meanwhile, the Cutie Mark Crusaders were the last ones out. When they reached the fields, Sweetie Belle spoke up.

"Girls, I don't even know if we are going to even survive the first month of school after we have seen how the teacher and Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon have treated Applebloom," Sweetie said with a pout as her other friends nodded along with her. Suddenly, a Tetherball hit Sweetie Belle at the back of the head, making her fall on the ground. Looking up, she saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon who was laughing at the sight of her pain.

"What in the hay was that for?!" Sweetie Belle shrieked.

"Oops, sorry Squeaky Belle! We didn't see you there," Silver Spoon lied.

"Besides, why don't you just get some glasses and watch where you are going next time?" Diamond Tiara hissed. Applebloom and Scootaloo saw how Sweetie Belle was getting demolished and angrily ran straight to the two bullies.

"Hey! What gives you the right to talk to our friend like that?!" Scootaloo exclaimed.

"Says the the flightless pony who pathetically attempts to fight back because of how much of a chicken she is," Silver Spoon rudely said as she mocked Scootaloo by flapping her arms while Scootaloo herself sat on the grass and gazed in shock and pain.

"Guys, why don't you just leave us be and carry on with what you are doin'?" Applebloom said as she tried to reason with the two fillies.

"Oh, what's wrong Applebawl? Are you going to cry your eyes out like the little crybaby you're friends are?" Diamond Tiara indelicately said as she pointed her hoof at Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. Now, that is the last straw out of the hay bale, she thought as her muzzle sharply scrunched up.

"That. Is. ENOUGH!" Applebloom loudly exclaimed as she furiously trotted over to the two schoolfillies. Her yell caught the attention of her whole class. Thus, making them silent.

"Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, I and certainly my friends, just had it with how you have been treating us," Applebloom said. Scootaloo stood up, took a glance at her, and made a stern face. The school bullies exchanged surprised glances.

"Applebloom is right. We just can not take it anymore with how much disrespect you have been throwing at us for a year. A. Single. Year. Don't you both know how much time that is when it comes to you guys bullying us? The answer is: an eternity. Just countless hours and days of being called names and tortured," Scootaloo said. Regaining her strength from her extremely minor head injury, Sweetie Belle stood up as well.

"Yeah and first of all, how would you guys feel if we did the same things that you did to us? What if you still don't have your cutie marks while we did and called both of you 'Blank Flanks'? So please, why don't you both stop tormenting us and maybe other ponies? How about you think about what we said?" Sweetie Belle assertively stated as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon remained standing on the grass with shocked expressions. The school bell then rang and all the children hurriedly rushed into the classroom as Hot Cocoa was holding the door for all of them, while the two mean fillies had their heads facing the ground in shame. As they were approaching the building, the Cutie Mark Crusaders had confident faces and gave warm smiles toward each other.

"By the way, thank you for sticking up for me Scootaloo," Sweetie Belle said with gratitude.

"No problem, and thanks Applebloom for standing up for me as well," Scootaloo said.

"Aw shucks, you're welcome, Scoots. However, I think what's important is that not only we stood up for ourselves, we stood up for each other and together. That's what true friends do. I'm very lucky to have you guys by my side!"

"So are we!" both Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle exclaimed as they had a group hug. The teacher noticed that the crusader were hugging, and they saw Hot Cocoa standing by the door.

"Uh, guys, I think we should head inside before we get in trouble," Applebloom said.

"You don't have to worry, I'll give you all a minute," Hot Cocoa said with a smile.

"This is going to be the best school year ever!" the Cutie Mark Crusaders said as they finished their hug and walked to the Ponyville Schoolhouse once again in triumph.

Comments

[Telaros]

The end of bullying ends with the schools and the parents. One can't wave a magic pixie stick and gain courage to stand up to bullies, especially those who have no voice of their own.

It's a bit of a complex issue than just talking really passionately back to your bullies. I think the story itself is fine, though DT was more hoofs on than she's portrayed on the show. But the being honest of how miserable they make them feel, and sternly standing up for themselves was what many should do, without resorting to violence, which is always great. But that can lead to being further taunted and made into a bigger target at times.

I think you got a good start here. Rather then end it on this ONE step, I'd encourage you to try and expand on this topic. It IS a new school year and although the two Sugar Lumps there got morally defeated, that doesn't mean you can't introduce new players to show off other aspects of bullyings and how to potentially handle those.

Many tend to keep things bottled up. Either embarrassed to talk to their parents or teachers, or too prideful to acknowledge they need help. Worst off is feeling they'd be outcast by the other students for being a snitch.

Bullying is a big issue. Standing up for yourselves is just one step, one many can't often get to depending on the ones being bullied and the type of bullies they're dealing with. Which leads to the big whooper, proving you're being bullied. Often times the victim of bullying is treated as the problem for 'making themselves a target' or simply because it's just plain easier to punish/remove the victim and make them someone else's problem as seen with many past recent events.

And, yeah, this has been done a bit. But they never really go far with it. Since many just want to throw a piece of 'awareness' out with little to no care as to how it's presented.

That being said, this could become a nice story if you expanded on it. Out with the old bullies, in with the bigger and badder ones. Just a thought. In any case, have a like. And here's hoping those two think long and hard about that little revelation. Certain 'games' aren't as fun anymore when you can feel what the others you've 'played with' feel.

(might want to fix that typo in "sham" to "shame". That missing "e" changes the whole meaning there at the end)

[SpookyPrincesssa]

NEIGH

[Mix-Tape Mare]

To be honest, I might not even know if this is considered a good story for me.

Well... the idea is good, yes, but the execution of it does fall somewhat flat, I'm afraid. There's no real substance to the confrontation between the CMC and the "terrible two" -- and rarely, if ever, is a bully going to be stopped in their tracks just by having one of their victims ask "how would you feel if I did it to you?" Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon "hanging their heads in shame" after a single exchange of dialogue just isn't realistic.

Also... the substitution of a new teacher was mostly unnecessary; it really didn't add anything of substance to the story, and the character wasn't developed enough to matter. (It also doesn't make sense in the show's context, since the Ponyville schoolhouse is clearly not large enough for there to be multiple classrooms and teachers.) Honestly, if you'd left her as Miss Cheerilee, it wouldn't have affected the story's progression or outcome at all.

Also: Your grammar needs a fair bit of work, love. You're constantly jumping between past and present-tense verbs, and that's really not permissible in narrative.

At this point, the crusaders were trying their best to ignore the mean fillies. But their behavior iswas getting straight into their heads, especially Applebloom's.

WhenAs the fillies have finished their conversation, the school bell rang.

While the students were staring aimlessly everywhere and raising their hooves whenas their name has beenwas called, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon exchanged glances and decided to annoy the crusaders some more.

You also seem to have a bad habit of "telling" how your characters feel or what they're thinking, rather than showing it through their actions and dialogue.

Last -- try to stick with the plain "said", "asked", or "replied" for dialogue tags. Tags like "assertively stated" draw attention to themselves, especially when you use them constantly, and are unnecessary more often than not. Save them for when you really need them. (Oh -- and if you do use them, the adverb goes after the verb, not before. "stated assertively", "said sternly", "answered calmly", "whispered quietly".)

That's not to say the story's bad, it just needs more substance to it to make the characters' actions, particularly DT and SS, believable.

[xStellar_Bubbles]

5082980 I understand and thank you for the criticism! About the unnecessary substitute, I thought that since they are in a new school year, you don't get the same teacher you had last year, right?

[Mix-Tape Mare]

5127768

I thought that since they are in a new school year, you don't get the same teacher you had last year, right?

I suppose that depends on how big Ponyville's school actually is. If it's large enough to have separate classrooms for separate grades, then yes, you wouldn't have the same teacher from one year to the next -- but as seen in the show, Ponyville's school doesn't seem nearly large enough for that; it looks to be the "one-room schoolhouse" that was fairly common in rural farming communities up to the 1940s or so. In that system, one teacher would teach several grades all mixed together in one class, so students would have the same teacher for several years in a row; they wouldn't have different teachers until they cross over from primary to secondary school. ("Elementary" to "High" school, for you Yanks. )

[ServingSpoon]

REAL bullies don't back down to a verbal challenge. DT and SS are watered down wannabes from a kids show. Real bullies will get physical.

a tetherball to the back of the head is literally childs play. how bout a kick to the groin or a punch in the face?

how bout destruction of property or theft. I hated school and sometimes I still have nightmares about being back there.

It sickens me this big movement against bullying, because there was no such help for me when I was growing up. And if you ask me it's as pointless as all the councilors who told me to ignore them.

they don't go away. They keep up till you crack.. or your mother (in my case) homes schools you after your freshmen year.

sometimes I don't wana love these two but i do. I'll up vote but I really wish I NEVER read this and I don't know why I did.

I hate tics that depict SS/DT as the same mean little brats they are in the show F() them all!

[Thunderbolt Sentinel]

while the two mean fillies had their heads facing the ground in sham

facing the ground in sham

sham

i00.i.aliimg.com/wsphoto/v0/681955162/New-font-b-Shamwow-b-font-Super-Absorbant-Towels-Cleaning-font-b-Cloths-b-font-1pack.jpg Sorry. I couldn't resist!

[xStellar_Bubbles]

5480712 I have to go fix that!

[Thunderbolt Sentinel]

5480714 Just here to help and give a laugh at the same time

[The Gamer Master Archive]

Insta-fave!

[xStellar_Bubbles]

5690146 Alrighty then, thank you for that.

[HapHazred]

Finished reviewing the story for the goodfic bin. I think the execution in this is botched a fair bit, and for that reason, I'm rejecting it from submissions.

Decision is here.

[MyLittleGeneration]