Vengeance of Dawn

by Scipio Smith

Masks and Potions

Chapter 4

Masks and Potions

"She washed you out?"

"I don't want to talk about it," Dawn sat down heavily at the table in the middle of the cider house, where her friends were watching her anxiously. A scowl disfigured her features, and she carefully avoided meeting any of their eyes for fear of finding pity there.

"But she just washed you out?" Hardy Bloom asked. "Without a reason?"

"Hardy," Razor Wind said. "She said she didn't want to talk about it."

Dawn downed her cider in one gulp, slamming the tankard down on the table, "Another!" She still didn't look at her friends. Their silence was deafening.

The cider house was poorly lit, candles casting an orange glow over the surround, the flames flickering upon the varnish of the tables. It was also set more than a little underground, so that the only windows were very small, set at the very top near the ceiling, and let in very little moonlight.

And to think, Dawn thought. When I arranged to meet everyone here I thought that we'd have a good time tonight.

"So, if you're not Princess Celestia's student any more, does that mean that you're not going to be the Element of Magic?" Hardy asked. "And what about us, are we still chosen?"

Razor Wind scowled as she reached over and whacked Hardy around the head.

"What was that for?"

"Shut up you idiot, this isn't the time," Razor hissed. "She said she didn't want to talk about it and so she doesn't have to talk about it."

Hardy folded her hoofs, "Oh, so it wouldn't bother you to find out that you've been lied to this whole time?"

"Dawn has never lied to us!" Razor's wings fluttered, lifting her up over the table with his forehooves raised as if she was going to start a fight.

"Razor, calm down," Breaking Dawn said in tones of slow melancholy. She looked up, looking her friends in the face. There was nervousness there, anxiety, but bless them there was no pity there. They knew her better than that.

"The truth is I don't know," Dawn went on. "I don't know what I am, I don't know what you are; the Princess said that she had made a mistake, but she won't explain and I don't get it. I'm still me, right? I'm still the person I was. So how can I not be something that I was yesterday. How can all of us not be the things that we were yesterday?"

"Whatever happened must have had something to do with that rainbow in the sky today," Laurel said, pushing her glasses back up her nose as they began to slip off. "And with that burst of magic you and I felt."

"Probably," Dawn said bitterly, draining her tankard again as soon as one of the servingponies refilled it. She was about to call for another, when she felt the hooves of Cherry Blossom wrapped around her.

"Don't worry Dawny, things will work out," Cherry said. "I mean, I know that none of us can imagine what it is that you've lost, but you'll get it back. You're smart and brave and determined, and you'll get all of it back someday, you'll see."

Dawn smiled sadly, "You really think so Cherry."

"With all my heart I really do."

"That's right!" Razor said loudly. "The Princess may be your tutor, but even she doesn't know you the way we do. Princess Celestia only thinks she's made a mistake because she doesn't see the awesome pony that we see. And when she does, she'll realise that she made a mistake about making a mistake and come back begging you to take your rightful place again."

"And then you'll shine all the way across Equestria," Cherry added with an encouraging smile.

Dawn looked at each of them, "You girls really mean that? You really have that much faith in me?"

"Do you really think we'd lie to you about something like this, when you're in such a state," Laurel asked. "What kind of friends would do such a thing." She smiled, "You're the best of us Dawny, the very best. And one day they'll all see that."

Dawn looked to Hardy. The others were welcome, but Hardy Bloom was the one who always gave her truth.

Hardy hesitated, swilling her drink around in her mouth for a moment. Then she said, "You'll do it, if it can be done. If anypony can rise from nothing to the very top its you."

I don't deserve ponies like these. What did I ever do to luck out on friends like these? "You guys," Breaking Dawn wiped a tear from her eye. "I can't say I, I was worried that─"

"That what, you thought we'd abandon you?" Razor Wind demanded. "Come on, give us some credit."

"You brought us together and bound us to you," Laurel declared. "We're yours, Dawn, now and forever."

"Now and forever!" Candy shouted. "A toast to Breaking Dawn, who's still the Chosen One to us!"

"Breaking Dawn, our chosen one," the others chorused, raising their tankards and slamming them together.

Laurel slipped gracefully off the bench at their shared table, "Who wants some music? Dawny, you feel like singing?"

Dawn didn't reply, taking a moment to look at each of them in turn, "You're my very best friends you know that? The best friends anypony could wish for."

"Well duh, that's why we're your friends," Razor grinned.

Breaking Dawn laughed, "Yeah, let's have a song. Play, I don't know, You Are My Sunshine."

"Of course," Laurel nodded, and made her way over to the unoccupied piano in the corner of the bar. And Dawn's troubles were, if not forgotten, then at the least mitigated by the pleasant company of her friends all around her.

She had been knocked down, but she would get up again. And she would be terrible on the rebound.

***

Twilight Sparkle replaced a book on the shelves of the palace library, her horn glowing with a lavender aura as she picked up the notes she had made on Travels Down the River Thutmose, by Stanhoof and beginning to walk in search of other material. Travels had not been greatly concerned with zebra nations, most of the journey having taken place through Ne'Ari, but Stanhoof had entered the Grevyian Empire in the latter stages of his journey, before he had been forced to give up his quest for the source of the Thutmose, and he had some fascinating things to say about the Imperial Zebras he had encountered. That was important, because there was so little documented about them as to make the writings on Quaggai seem an abundance of scholarly riches by comparison.

The hard part would be reconciling some of what she'd found out.

From beyond the next shelf stack came the unmistakeable sound of Rainbow Dash laughing.

Frowning, Twilight wandered around into that shelf space to see Rainbow leaning back on her chair, chuckling to herself as she read what looked suspiciously like a paperback novel.

"Rainbow Dash, when you said that you were going to help me do research for the Princess, I assumed that you were actually going to help me do research," Twilight's stern tone added to the severity of her glower.

"I am doing research," Rainbow replied defensively. "This book has tons of stuff about zebras in it."

Twilight used her magic to snatch the book out of Rainbow's hoofs, holding it up so she could see the title, "Solomane Kane Anthology by Hoofward; yes, I can see that this is a scholarly masterpiece."

"It's got lots of zebras in it," Rainbow Dash repeated. "It's about this pony called Solomane Kane, and she like worships Princess Celestia, and goes to Quaggai to tell everypony there about her. Or every zebra I guess. And there's this shaman who tells Solomane how special she is, and she has to save all these villages from freaky demons and stuff, it's totally awesome! And it has zebras!"

"Rainbow Dash, these people coming here are honoured guests of Princess Celestia," Twilight said. "We can't just treat them out of characters from two-bit books by authors who never went anywhere near Quaggai or Grevyia. We have to learn as much hard fact as we can in the little time we have. Now, you don't have to help me, but-"

"But if I do, help properly, yeah I get it," Rainbow Dash scratched the back of her head. "Sorry Twilight, I'll try and do some proper research to help you out. But can I take the book back to the palace with me? Solomane's destiny is about to be revealed."

Twilight smiled, "Of course."

They began to walk together, Rainbow Dash tucking the book into her saddlebag, moving through the fiction shelves and back into the reference section. Every book that had ever been published in Equestria was held in the library somewhere so if there had been anything written about zebras since the defeat of Discord, Twilight would find it.

The two little ponies had just arrived in a section marked Post-Migration History when a springy bouncing sound heralded the arrival of Pinkie Pie, who bounced into view carrying in her mouth a brown paper bag from out of which a sweet, warm smell was rising.

"Yoohoo everypony, lunch is here!" Pinkie yelled as soon as she had set the bag down on the nearest table. "I felt so hungry I thought that everypony else must be getting hungry too. Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy poked her head out from a shelf about six rows down. Her whisper barely carried the distance, "Um, yes, what is it Pinkie?"

"Your lunch is here, come and get it," Pinkie shouted. She bounced up and down, "I went back to the palace and made toasties with cress and grass and fresh cut lettuce, muffins with chocolate chips and chocolate butter-cream inside and I made some fresh cream apple danishes with some of the apples that Applejack sent us."

"Pinkie," Twilight interrupted her. "We can't eat in the library."

Pinkie tilted her head like a bird, "Why not?"

"Because it's a library," Twilight spoke in tones of hushed awe. "A repository of knowledge, a temple to education, a shrine to the power and sanctity of the written word. The resting place of manuscripts as old as Canterlot itself. It is not a place for you to be leaving crumbs and left over chocolate chips all over the place where ponies have to work and─" she paused, seeing that Rainbow Dash and Pinkie Pie had already started on the chocolate muffins.

"PAY ATTENTION TO ME WHEN I'M TRYING TO LECTURE YOU!"

"Aha, sorry Twilight," Rainbow smiled as she scratched the back of her head. "We thought we'd just let you get on with your egghead rhapsody."

Twilight snorted. Then her stomach rumbled loudly, "Well what do you know, I guess I am kind of starving myself. What's say we eat outside?"

Fluttershy joined them as they gathered everything up, and then Twilight levitated the lunch bag and began to lead her friends out; only to find Princess Celestia blocking their path.

"Princess Celestia," Twilight let go of her magic in surprise, and only a diving save by Pinkie prevented their lunch from going all over the floor. "I, I wasn't expecting you."

"I just wanted to check in on how you were getting along with your research," Celestia smiled. "And to just to see how you were doing."

"I'm doing fine, Princess," Twilight replied. "But I'm afraid that even with the limited information I've been able to find there is just so much that's confusing me. So many contradictions! For example, I read then in Grevyia all highborn zebras wear masks upon their faces at all times in public, and even in private taking off your mask in the presence of anypony else is a sign of great trust in that person, trust that you won't use the fact that you know their face against them. But I also read that in Quaggai it's the exact opposite: hiding your face, behind a mask or even a hood, is regarded with great suspicion as a sign of a duplicitous nature.
"At first I thought we could have a masked ball to welcome the ambassadors and put them at ease, but that would just frighten and offend the Quaggai delegation. But if we all go around with our faces uncovered we might spook or offend the Grevyians. What do you think we ought to do Princess Celestia?"

"We could have two parties," Pinkie Pie shouted, jumping up and down. "One with masks and one without and double the fun!"

"But if we did that we'd have to have two of absolutely everything while they were here Pinkie Pie," Fluttershy said, sounding a little aghast at the thought.

"Even better!"

"Pinkie, I don't really think that's practical," Twilight raised one eyebrow in Pinkie's direction.

"First of all I want to thank you for bringing this to my attention Twilight," Celestia smiled fondly. "As for our course, you must remember that as much as will try to make our zebra guests comfortable, they are guests in our country and must adapt somewhat to our customs as we must adapt ourselves to avoid offending them. We will not insult them, but nor will I force the whole of Canterlot to put on masks for the duration of their visit. The Grevyians may wear their masks, and anypony who wishes to may do so to put them at their ease, but Luna and I will show our faces; and I would like you and your friends to do so as well Twilight, if only as a sign of great trust in our guests."

"Of course, Princess," Twilight bowed.

"And now," Celestia bent her kneck down to whisper in Twilight's ear, a mischievous look crossing her face. "I suggest you take your lunch outside before the archivists show us both that princesses are not above rebuke."

Twilight laughed nervously, "Yes, that's exactly what we were going to do."

As they once more started moving towards the door, Celestia asked, "Where is Rarity today? Did she go home along with Applejack?"

"No, she's back at the palace," Twilight replied. "I gave her one of the parlours to work out of, and she said she had to fit some clients today. I wonder how she's doing."

***

In one of the Twilight Palace's spacious parlours, Rarity laid out her fabrics and adjusted the placement of her ponikins. She tested her sewing machine to make sure it hadn't died, and doubled checked that all her threads and needles were present and placed where she could find them. The servants had learned better than to come in and disturb the rooms given over to her work in, but it simply would not do for her to be fumbling around for the tools of her trade in the presence of a client. A lady's tailor must be half a lady herself, and that meant poise, dignity and ironclad courtesy in all situations.

While she waited for the client to arrive, Rarity reviewed what she had been able to learn about this Miss Hardy Bloom who had requested her services. A lawyer, young but rather brilliant, a controversial figure but one who had already begun to be recognised in high society. Rarity was not altogether sure that she would, in an ideal world, choose to associate with somepony whose reputation was that they could talk Nightmare Moon herself off all charges, but she was no stranger to the dangers of mistaking gossip for truth. Besides which she would be making the mare dresses, not becoming her bosom pal. It wasn't as if she had been a particular fan of Sapphire Shores' music either.

The room Twilight had given her was wide and spacious, with walls papered in lavender with a purple swirling leaf pattern and a dome ceiling painted white. The mirror was an elaborate gilt edged triptych which she would have dearly loved to have taken home with her, and the cushions of the thinking couch were stuffed with griffon feathers.

That Twilight could turn her back upon such luxury and return to Ponyville to live in a drab library was quite extraordinary. Rarity was ashamed to admit, even to herself, that she was not sure she could have made the same choice so easily.

There was a knock upon the gold-varnished oak door, and one of the servants loaned to Twilight by Princess Celestia entered, "A Miss Hardy Bloom and party to see you ma'am."

And party? Rarity kept her face clear of all surprise, but smiled a pleasant smile, "Show them in."

Rarity assumed a greeting the customers position: legs straight, hooves together, head high, smile benign, the spectacles she wore for her farsightedness at a low angle so that her eyes were visible over them. As the door was flung open and six ponies - two earth ponies, two unicorns and two pegasi - filed in, she nodded slightly, "Good morning Miss Hardy. I wasn't expecting you to bring your friends."

She was a little disconcerted by the way they arrayed themselves: while Miss Hardy Bloom stood off to one side, both pegasi, one unicorn and the remaining earth pony formed a line in front of her, screening the last unicorn from view.

Hardy Bloom, a tan earth pony mare in a red bow tie, chuckled, "I must confess Miss Rarity, I have come to you under something of a deception."

Rarity blinked, "Oh?"

"I have of course, come looking for attire for myself," Hardy went on. "But more importantly for my guest: may I present the Lady Mercedes Zaccone, Countess of Isla Dantes."

Hardy stamped upon the floor twice, the line of ponies parted, and a unicorn who could only be the countess strutted forwards. It was only with great difficulty that Rarity was able to prevent her breath from catching in her throat. The golden unicorn strode forward as if she owned the room, the whole palace even and Rarity found it an effort to remember that she did not. The countess glowed with presence, radiated authority, she wore the attention of all present in the room as if it were a faithful gown she wore each day and was well used to putting on.

Her mane and tail were green, matching the colour of her eyes, which seemed a little cold. She was wearing a shiny black dress, not too shabby but quite obviously off-the-shelf and not bespoke fitted to Rarity's experienced eye. In any case it concealed her cutie mark and matched the black slippers on her feet. A hat - black too - was balanced between her ears with a lacy veil hanging down from it to half cover her face. Said face was heavily made up, with ruby red lipstick heavily laid on, and it would have verged on vulgarity in anypony with less self-confidence. Countess Mercedes however, carried it off with aplomb.

"A pleasure to meet you milady," Rarity said with another nod.

"Most charming," the Countess replied in a vague and unplaceable accent. She stalked past Rarity and strode around the room like a catwalk model, feet directly in front of one another and hips swaying even under her dress, "We are come from our estates to spend the season in Canterlot with our good friend Hardy. We were at finishing school together."

"How delightful," Rarity smiled. "It is so nice to catch up with old friends whom you haven't seen in a while, isn't it? Parting is such sweet sorrow, but the reunion that comes is sweetness unalloyed."

The countess smiled, "Of course. We are fortunate to be here at a time when so much is happening, yes? The arrival of the zebras, the coronation of Princess Twilight Sparkle, so many of such things recently."

Rarity chuckled, "It must seem much more important to those who do not know her than it seems to me. Not to brag, but it hasn't changed the fact that I still count Twilight among my closest friends."

"Of course. Friendship is forever, no? One chooses ones friends with care and attention and then one lives with that choice," the countess was directly behind Rarity now, "for the rest of your days." The countess laughed as Rarity turned to face her, "But enough of this. You are busy and so am I. Dear Hardy tells me that you are the finest dressmaker presently in Canterlot, maybe in all of Equestria, and I have a need to look my very best."

"Of course, of course," Rarity nodded eagerly. "And, um, your other friends?"

"My servants," the countess corrected firmly. "Laurel, my chaperone while I am in the city, my stylist Candy Cane, my mareservant Tornado and Sweet Cherry, my personal chef."

Rarity blinked, wondering who took their personal chef to a dress-fitting. It must be a custom where she comes from. Looking at them, she saw that they were all made up in some way, and all dressed in garments that concealed their cutie marks from sight.

She said, "And how many dresses would you like?"

"For my servants, one each," the countess replied. "For darling Laurel, two. And four each for Hardy and myself."

Thirteen. "Very well," Rarity said. "And may I mention, the payment?"

"Dear Hardy will take care of it," Countess Mercedes said idly.

Rarity looked at Hardy Bloom, who shrugged, "I guess I'm taking care of it."

"Excellent. Now if you will just let me take your measurements," Rarity levitated her tape measure over to her and began to measure, occassionally dropping the tape to note down the sizes of her customers. As she went, she murmured to herself as to her plans. "Hmm, something emerald I think, to match your eyes. And a number in white I think, brilliant white to go with your colouring. But then black seems to suit you very well too. I promise you countess, they will be absolutely spectacular."

"Yes," she purred. "Spectacular is exactly what I had in mind." For a moment, she seemed to smirk.

The only great difficulty was with Miss Laurel. Without being rude, the poor dear was no beauty: her coat was a pasty off-white, chalky and unflattering, and her severe grey mane was dowdy, making her appear to have aged before her time. But her eyes, her eyes were very striking, a brilliant shade of blue when they could be seen without the interference of Laurel's spectacles. Rarity was sure that they would be even brighter if she smiled. Yes, a dress the shade of her eyes to bring them out. Perfect!

And so, her head buzzing with ideas, Rarity bid her clients farewell. She thanked them for their business, closed the door, and began to make sketches.

***

The doors to the Twilight Palace closed after them as the six began to walk away down the neat, clean and at this hour mostly empty streets of uptown Canterlot. The little thief had had her chateau built in the nice part of the city, all the ponies who lived in these houses were bankers, monopolists or just old money nobles rubbing shoulders with the new money who could afford to outspend them on capital real estate these days. Whoever they were, they were not at home in the middle of the day, but rather swanking about in fancy suits around the palace or the commerce district.

When I become princess, I shall make them all come to me and kiss my hooves, Dawn thought. It's the least they could do.

With nopony to see them, and no one watching from the palace either, Razor Wind leapt into the air on the strength of her wings, punching upwards, "And we're a hit! She didn't suspect a thing."

"It's easy enough to fool somepony who doesn't know us," Hard Candy reminded her. "The hard part will come when we might somepony who knows Dawn, like Twilight Sparkle or Princess Celestia."

"Yeah," Breaking Dawn murmured. She wasn't eager to imagine what might happen when she came face to face with Princess Celestia. "Let's worry about that part when we get to it. The point is, we pulled it off." Dawn resumed the slightly slurred accent she had worn as the countess, "Our dress rehearsal, it was great success; no? She didn't doubt that we are who we said we were."

"Did she have any reason to doubt it?" Hardy asked. "Thank you, by the way, for spending my bits with such extravagance."

"You'll get it back the next time one of your rich clients gets into trouble," Dawn replied. Hardy Bloom rolled her eyes.

"Candy, how do you stand having this stuff on your face all the time," Razor frowned. "I can barely stand it. I can't wait to get it all off me."

"Don't do it while somepony might see you," Hardy said.

"I know."

"Sorry," Hardy sighed. "Still, since you haven't managed to completely bankrupt me yet, who wants to do lunch?"

"Who votes to spend more of Hardy's money?" Candy raised one hoof in the air. Everypony else soon did likewise.

"I really missed you guys," Hardy shook her head sadly.

***

They adjourned to a nice little cafe on Shaftesberry Avenue called Valerie's, which was the kind of place that most of them couldn't have dreamed of being able to afford to eat at but at which Hardy was apparently so well known they had a regular table for her to sit. It was a little crowded with six of them there, but with the sun shining down and a cool breeze from over the mountains it was still very pleasant to sit outside at one of the round white tables while they examined the menus.

"Five bits for a cup of coffee?" Razor Wind's eyes were nearly boggling out of her skull. "What kind of a place is this?"

"The classy kind, don't shout," Hardy Bloom replied in a calm, smooth tone.

"What's good here?" Cherry asked.

"Everything, but I can order for you if you like," Hardy said.

"Yes, thank you."

Laurel fidgeted nervously, "I keep imagining one of my former employers is going to find me here and chide me for getting above myself."

"You're the chaperone of the Countess Mercedes now, you don't have to answer to any of those stuffed shirt ponies," Breaking Dawn said. "Besides, if you see anypony you know tell them to get back to work."

They all giggled at that, until a waiter came to take their orders. Hardy ordered them sandwiches, coffee and cakes all around, and these were delivered on a silver tray that took up pretty much all available space on the table. Without much further ado they all tucked in.

"These cakes are so moist and full of flavour, I'd love to get my hooves on the recipe," Cherry said.

"Forget that, I'd just like to be able to afford to eat here every day," Razor Wind said in between mouthfuls. "Hey, Hardy, how long do you think it would take for me to train as a lawyer when all this is over."

"In your case, a thousand years."

"Hey!"

"When all this is over," Dawn announced confidently. "We'll all eat like this every day for free."

"Oh yeah," Razor smiled.

"The one thing I don't get," Candy swallowed a mouthful of sandwich. "Is why Cherry, Razor and me had to be servants."

"I don't mind being a servant," Cherry Blossom announced.

"Because you can't all be socialites from out of town, it would look odd," Hardy reminded them. "And Laurel is the only one who could possibly pass for a chaperone."

Laurel herself had been mostly very quiet all through lunch, not joining in the excited chatter of the others and eating little.

Breaking Dawn reached out, placing a hoof upon Laurel's leg, "Hey, Laurel are you okay? You're not still worried about somepony recognising you are you?"

Laurel shook her head, "No Dawn, it isn't that. It's," she took a deep breath, "you need to cut out that stallion-eater stuff if you want to pass in high society. Candy, I don't know what you were thinking of getting her to do that." Laurel had given Dawn some lessons on how to act like the upper class, but it had been Hard Candy who had done the makeup for everypony so that they didn't look quite like themselves, and who had given her - and to a lesser extent the others - acting coaching so that they didn't seem like themselves either.

"I taught her to do what was necessary," Candy said.

"The accent, maybe, but that strut? Dawn you looked more like a catwalk diva than a lady. Act like that at a reception or a ball or Celestia forbid in the palace and you will get noticed, and not in a good way. Ponies will see you that are not what you claim to be and then they'll start to ask questions and that's when this whole thing unravels. If you want to blend in─"

"That's the point Laurel, this isn't about blending in," Candy said vehemently. "Dawn can't afford to just blend in. Standing out is all that's going to save us."

Laurel snorted, "I may not be a lady but I have lived in that world for─"

"You may know society ponies, but I know acting," Candy cut her off before she could finish. "You can go on stage wearing the right costume, with all the slap in the world on your face, you can even have your cutie mark made up to look completely different. But if all you do is recite the lines, hit the marks and follow the stage directions like a little wooden puppet then all the audience will see is you, pretending to be something your not. You need to perform, to bring it so strong and striking that nopony can see what lies beneath it. That's what I taught Dawny how to do.
"If you go to the Royal Haymarket Theatre you'll see Maze Dancer, the greatest actor of her generation, playing the lead in Silver, Princess of Unicorns. It's not what anypony expected, it isn't the way that the play is normally done: it's raw and and real and it's Silver like nopony has ever played her before but it's blowing everypony away and they're talking about it as the defining Silver for future generations. And you know what ponies see when they sit in that theatre: they don't see one of the best known earth pony actors of the day performing a play no, they see the unicorn princess consumed with angst and indecision.
"That's what Dawn needs to do, because if anypony recognises her we're dead and stage makeup can only take you so far so I'll teach her whatever she needs to do to blow them away because if the lead performance isn't worthy of an Olive Award then we aren't going anywhere."

Hard Candy coughed, took a drink and then grinned, "Well that was exhausting. How do you rant like that every week Hardy?"

"Practice."

They dispersed not long after that, lunch finished and in tattered remains upon the tray. Most of them had not actually quit their day jobs yet, and had to get back after their morning off. That left Breaking Dawn and Laurel, sitting there at the suddenly large and forlorn luncheon table.

"She's wrong," Laurel said quietly. "Candy. She means well but, if doesn't matter how good your performance is, if you draw too much attention to yourself in the wrong way, if you seem too gauche, too vulgar, too unusual in any way you will fail."

"I know where you're coming from, but you and Candy are both right and both wrong," Dawn replied, sipping the now mostly cold coffee. "It's a tightrope, but I'll walk it somehow, with your help."

"Society shuts out those who don't fit its ideals in every detail Dawny, you know that," Laurel warned. "And at the same time it valorises those who do conform. You know that too."

"I know it well enough," Dawn murmured.

"Take me and that dressmaker for example," Laurel continued, warming to her theme. "We have the same eyes, or near enough, did you notice that? And we wear the same spectacles? And yet her coat is a purer and more brilliant shade of white than mine is, her mane is a delicate purple instead of a frumpy grey, and thus she is a beauty and I am a governess. More than a servant but less than a friend of the family, neither fish nor fowl and welcome in neither the pond nor in the air."

"Laurel," Dawn began sympathetically.

"By what right should that brainless featherhead dwell in a palace as a royal guest while I toil?" Laurel snapped. "Wherefore are my brains inferior to her looks, except because some other pony decided it should be so. She is exalted while I scrabble for a living at the gates of paradise, never to be admitted; and all because I have an unattractive coat and a bad mane?" She sobbed, levitating out a kerchief and wiping one eye with it. "I don't suppose any colt has ever stood her up."

Dawn shifted closer to Laurel, putting one leg around her shoulder and taking over control of the kerchief, wiping away Laurel's tears as the other unicorn kept sobbing. Many of the colts at school had treated her rather badly, picking her brains like nopony's business and then pretending not to know her in more public settings even as they fawned upon the cute mares. Laurel, the scholarship girl, the girl who needed to win academic prizes if she was to have any spending money at all, had never been able to dress well, never been able to repair her natural disadvantages with artifice. She had dreamed of the pony who would look past her looks to the mare within. But that paragon never came.

It had been exactly the same for her, in its own way. Breaking Dawn, poor and wilful and wildly brilliant, had been supplanted by the duller witted Twilight Sparkle, who came from a wealthy old Canterlot family, had been brought up with genteel manners, who was soft spoken and polite and never had to fight to get what she wanted. That was the kind of hero Canterlot wanted Equestria to see, not somepony who had pulled her way up from nothing like she had.

They'll get what they're given and be thankful for it.

Laurel raised her head, "You throw a brick through their window, Dawny. And you throw it hard."

Breaking Dawn grinned, "Hard enough to stun somepony."

***

At home, Breaking Dawn washed the make-up off her face and the dye out of her mane and tail (it would not do for the Countess Mercedes to be seen wher she was going) and, once more looking herself, she headed into low-town Canterlot.

This was the poorer part of the city, with red slate roofs instead of golden spires, dull brick walls instead of gleaming marble. When these streets were empty, it was because the ponies who dwelled here where breaking their backs with labour. Yet even so she saw a few young fillies and colts playing the street, with soot-stained dolls or hopskotch tiles chalked on the paving slabs. Dawn dug a bit out from somewhere to give to a waifish looking matchstick filly, whose little brother was rolling mud-pies beside her.

She had grown up here, on the very Holloway Road into which Dawn had just turned, yet nopony seemed to know her. She had sold ribbons out of a cardboard box when she was a little filly, yet nopony seemed to remember, not the beggars, or the old mare sweeping her doorway, or anypony. Or maybe they just didn't want to speak. You learned to mind your business in low town.

I grew up here, and yet I rose out of this place as so few do, Dawn thought. I escaped on my own power, and rose to the top of the tallest tree in all Equestria. What has Twilight Sparkle done compared to that? What has she suffered compared to the struggle I have endured? What are her victories set against my triumph over life and circumstance?

She had not come home to reminisce upon the bad old days, before she had found a family in Princess Celestia and her friends, before she had known friendship's bliss. She had not come here since she became Celestia's student, with fortune she would never come here again. She had no little gang of hers she wished could see her now. No ties she had not severed. No memories she did not wish to forget. Only necessity drove her here.

Breaking Dawn was gratified to see that the place she remembered was still there: the rundown little apothecary's she had never dared to enter as a child. The faded sign, the low roof, the crumbling plaster on the wall all marked it as a failing place, the abode of a poor pony. And, being poor, Breaking Dawn would bet that here was a place would sell the poisons outlawed in Equestria beneath exile's threat. Desperate poverty would outweigh the dread of law. Dawn had not needed poison when first she had drawn those conclusions, but now she did and was glad of the place.

She pushed open the door and, in absence of a bell, shouted, "Hey! Apothecary!"

"Who shouts so loud?" the gaunt and aged stallion, white moustache drooping over his lip, shuffled out of the back room. "What business draws you here?"

"Concern yourself with your own business, leave me mine," Breaking Dawn replied. She ran one hoof over the herbs displayed in the dirty window. "Rosemary, that's for remembrace, yes? And pansies are for thoughts?"

"They have their purposes," the apothecary admitted nervously. "Do you wish a potion to sharpen your thoughts upon the vital point?"

"No, I have something else in mind," Breaking Dawn's horn glowed golden as she levitated a string of opals onto the counter. "I shall take these, and a certain potion I believe you have in the back, requiring rosemary and pansy and other things perverting their intended effect. A potion of thievery one might say: The Tears of Nightmare Moon."

The apothecary blanched, shifting from one hoof to the other, "Such perilous drugs I have, but Canterlot's law forbids the sale of them."

Breaking Dawn smiled, laying out a fat purse of bits upon the table, "Here's fifty bits for Canterlot's law. Will obeying it make you so rich? I know you need this money.

The apothecary hesitated, his eyes alighting with greed, and he laid his hoof upon the gold.

Comments

[TheMyth]

I like where this is going... Celestia is the biggest douche in the universe, and Twilight will soon learn that even a princess makes a huge mistake or mistakes

[Reeve]

damn i'm so torn, Dawn's friends are all really nice individuals (not Dawn herself, she's a total cow) but they ruin themselves by being so judgmental of the mane six I guess it just makes the story that much better

[Scipio Smith]

2552447

Yes, Laurel traduces Rarity something appalling here, in a lot of ways you could argue for Rarity as the smartest of the six after Twilight herself.

.It's always cool when people point out what they think about the characters because its sometimes, oftentimes, different from what I think. Is it just Dawn's goals that offend you or is it something about her personality?

[Spacecowboy]

2552331
I wouldn't really call her a douche. Simply lost in the focus of returning her sister to her and inadvertently damaging a young mare, yes. Douche-y, not quite.

[Reeve]

2552470 its her arrogant, full of her own self importance, personality, i'm not suggesting for a second you change that, highlighting characters flaws make them much more believable, and she does occasionally surprise me by saying the odd heart felt thing to one of her friends

[terrycloth]

2552470 Dawn is a scenery-chewing villain who spends her time meditating on how evil she can be and how much more evil she'll be able to be in the future once she takes power. I'm not sure how anyone is supposed to like her?

[Scipio Smith]

2552683

I don't 'like' her but I do consider her a tragic figure, someone who is on a bad road but whose pride will not let them turn aside from it.

[Valsion]

While a little misinformed, I like the part that showed why Laurel was so ready to help her friend with high treason. Also, Celestia should have at least checked on Dawn after throwing her out like that, she should have known that she might have done some serious damage to her psyche. Personally, I hope both of the mane sixes manage to talk it out and have Celestia give Dawn and her friends reperations.

[Harwick]

Celestia probably made the correct decision... I had thought that she could have simply taken Twilight on as a second student and kept personally instructing Dawn, but I can't see Dawn doing anything other than trying her best to impede Twilight's progress. Better to sacrifice the bad apple than risk it spoiling the bunch.

I note that Dawn seems to have let her friends believe she was expelled altogether, and not just told to move into the dorms with the other students. Did she throw away her education rather than swallow her pride and work hard as a regular student of Celestia's school? One has to enjoy the irony of her patting herself on the back for rising from humble beginnings when the main flaw in her comes from being overly spoiled, and her dismissive belief that Twilight was handed everything by coming from a higher station in life when Twilight's flaws may involve working too hard entirely.

In truth, that complete inability to understand her would-be adversary's weaknesses likely doom her from the get go.

Some nice insight on Laurel's bitterness. These ponies sure do like to project their dissatisfactions in life onto innocent targets, don't they? Not a lot of soul-searching and personal accountability among that group.

[funkyferret]

I want to see Dawn and her friends wield the Elements correctly, but fail to get rid of Twilight. That way everypony learns something... especially Celestia.

[Blade Squall]

So, we now see them introduce themselves to Rarity (well, mostly disguised). I have to say that I feel kind of bad for Laurel. Sure, none of them seem to know anything truly personal about Twilight's friends (and barely enough about Twilight to make Dawn feel that attempting to "take back what's rightfully hers" is worth treason), but I suppose they're deadset on this idea.

You know, I think a lot of this story could have been avoided has Celestia found a way to let Dawn down easier... and at the same time made sure to keep an eye on Dawn. Either that or if Dawn and her friends could have done research.

I too find it ironic that Dawn, who came up from nothing to get the personal protege and Chosen One roles only to later squander them by going about skipping classes and picking fights, becomes the unknown rival of Twilight, a young mare who while being privilaged, yes, kept struggling to stay the hero that we see in the show and truly did earn her wings. Let's just hope that potion Dawn bought isn't dangerous...

[silvadel]

Oh my the Count of Monte Cristo reference. I love that movie.

The sad thing here is all they would need to do is go to Twilight and she would make their lives better, maybe even have words with Celestia over throwing them away. They are definitely sympathetic anti-heroes.

[TheTwelfthDoctor]

Moremoremore.

Though I really do hate Dawn, and I hate her little gang for being so gullible. It may also be because I'm a sucker for AliTwi.

[Lyall]

What has Twilight Sparkle done compared to that? What has she suffered compared to the struggle I have endured? What are her victories set against my triumph over life and circumstance

...So I take it she hasn't heard of the whole Nightmare Moon thing, or Discord, or the Changeling attack, or the Crystal Empire event, or even the things that happen around Ponyville that causes insurance rates to skyrocket? Meh sounds like a good majority of the Canterlot ponies anyways...

[xTSGx]

Going the poison route I see. Understandable. It'll be interesting to see which alicorn fanon you use. The immortal goddess who'll no sell the poison, or the slightly more powerful pony who's just as susceptible to poison as anypony else. Although I'm not seeing how Mercedes Benz Dawn plans on killing/depowering Twilight and then ascending without the whole of the Royal Guard, Celestia, Luna, the Elements, and Cadance (if she ever shows up) immediately descending on her and kicking her flank. Pride cometh before the fall and all that, I guess.

[Arzoo]

Their plan feels iffy; Twilight is unlikely to recognize her as Dawn (has she ever even met her?), but if Twilight is a noble then they're betting on the obsessive researcher not recognizing a made up noble as a fraud (if Rarity asks a just a few questions about her surprise customer they are sunk, too). Wonder what the poison does; drain magic or talent, or maybe just dulls the mind?

Laurel's monologue was great; if it felt like she was just going along with treason too easily, now her motive is clear and believable. I'm a little bugged at how hard the "from poverty" angle was pushed with Dawn, but I guess it explains her a bit; she dragged herself out of the streets, so she feels like she's earned something and had it taken away.

I guess its a sign of good writing that I was frustrated by how biased her opinion of Twilight compared to herself was.

[Scipio Smith]

2555824

I'm glad you like them. I was going to call her Eclipse initially, but then I remembered there was another book in the saga with a title that worked even better as an antonym.

[AnalyticalAnarchy]

Lol only I got the R&J reference

[CV12Hornet]

This chapter went a long way towards making Dawn more sympathetic to me. Yes, she's still a prideful, entitled jackass, but if she rose from poverty, and was told she was the Chosen One, I can see how she became like this.

[heynow]

That Romeo and Juliet section, while cool was verging on plagiarism but I'm too impressed to report you for it. Also was that a count of Monte Cristo reference?

[Jordan179]

I like the Ponified version of Robert E. Howard's "Solomon Kane" stories.

"May I present the Lady Mercedes Zaccone, Countess of Isla Dantes."

Oh, now I think I know just what story of revenge is your inspiration here!

I had already suspected a little with "16 Dumas Street," but I wasn't sure then why you were alluding to the author.

"By what right should that brainless featherhead dwell in a palace as a royal guest while I toil?" Laurel snapped. "Wherefore are my brains inferior to her looks, except because some other pony decided it should be so. She is exalted while I scrabble for a living at the gates of paradise, never to be admitted; and all because I have an unattractive coat and a bad mane?" She sobbed, levitating out a kerchief and wiping one eye with it. "I don't suppose any colt has ever stood her up."

She deeply underestimates Rarity here, particularly Rarity's intelligence, without which she never would have succeeded, whether as fashion designer or heroine. Though this springs rather obviously from Laurel's own resentment at having been scorned for her lack of beauty. The contrast with Rarity, whose reaction to seeing Laurel's plainness was to try to figure out how to make her look lovely, is stark and instructive. And Laurel had better not underestimate Rarity's intellect, if she means to fool her!

It had been exactly the same for her, in its own way. Breaking Dawn, poor and wilful and wildly brilliant, had been supplanted by the duller witted Twilight Sparkle, who came from a wealthy old Canterlot family, had been brought up with genteel manners, who was soft spoken and polite and never had to fight to get what she wanted. That was the kind of hero Canterlot wanted Equestria to see, not somepony who had pulled her way up from nothing like she had.

What Breaking Dawn misses are two things here. Twilight Sparkle is a supergenius -- it's doubtful that she's "duller witted" than Breaking Dawn. And Twilight is honorable: had their positions been reversed and Breaking Dawn outcompeted Twilight Sparkle, Twilight would have been disappointed but would neither have let it ruin her life, nor embark upon an elaborate revenge scheme.

[Carnation83]

It's extremely refreshing to see a Shakespeare reference without being INYOFACE about it like some stories/movies I've come across. For that alone, I give you kudos.