//------------------------------// // 41 // Story: Seven Lights // by Fresnor //------------------------------// The Cutie Mark Crusaders watched in horror as their clubhouse was taken over from them by Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and Applebloom's cousin. The three had been making the three fillies lives difficult the last few days, but this was a new low for them. While Applebloom and Sweetie Belle started to turn away they they were stopped when they heard a growl from Scootaloo. “That's enough! RAAAGH!” Before they could stop her the pegasus filly charged up the ramp and swung a hoof directly into the face of Diamond Tiara as the other two of the trio watched on shocked. Their shock didn't last long before they threw themselves onto the filly but the other two crusaders had joined in to help their friend as well, turning the situation into a brawl. Both sides got in a few good hits on the other before a horrified voice cut into the commotion they were causing. “Girls!” The six stopped on hearing the shout and turn to stare at the pony that interrupted them. While one of them was new in town the other five knew how much trouble they were in when they saw the figure of their teacher, Cheerilee, standing on the pathway that led up to the clubhouse. Yet, even though she didn't know the mare, Babs knew they were all in deep trouble as she recognized the look on her face as that of a major authority figure. ---------- “-and that is when I decided to come to you. I've known that your sister has had some problems with Diamond Tiara but this is the first time that any of them have gotten violent. I'm hoping that you can do something so that she knows that violence is not the answer.” Aegis Flare looked from Cheerilee to Scootaloo before she shook her head in disappointment. Her sister was rubbing at her eye which was starting to darken from it being hit there. “Scootaloo, I want you to head right to Fluttershy's until I come and get you.” With a nod the filly quickly ran out of the door before her teacher could react. Cheerilee looked up at the other mare in confusion as she watched her sister leave and when she could no longer hear her she turned back to the teacher. “You know, I'm surprised they still teach that lie in schools. All it ever does is help the bullies.” Cheerilee's mouth dropped in shock at hearing this and she looked like a goldfish for a few seconds. When she recovered she leveled a glare the orange mare that sent a shiver down her spine. “What do you mean by it being a lie? When ponies have problems they should always talk it out and violence is never the answer!” The mare was passionate in her words but was surprised when all she got for her words was a snort of indignation. “Too bad the world isn't like that and violence is sometimes the only answer. If talking things out would work then my sister's problems with Diamond Tiara would have been over long ago. There's a reason why I no longer do business with the Rich family and it seems even that wasn't enough to get her to stop with her bullying.” The cerise-coated mare just gave her a disappointed look before shaking her head. “Can you even tell me one situation where that is true? Violence is something that no longer has a place in Equestria.” Aegis Flare just looked at her as if she was speaking in a foreign language before she said three things. “Nightmare Moon, Discord, and Sombra.” The teacher just looked at her blankly for a moment before she remembered just who she was talking to exactly. She had gotten so used to seeing the seven mares that she had forgotten all the things they had done for Equestria in the last few years. “Ugh, you're right but I still don't like it. It just doesn't feel right for my students to do something like this and them not facing any repercussions for it.” The orange mare's eyebrow rose for a moment before she responded. “Oh, don't get me wrong. She's still going to be punished, at the very least for not coming to me when these problems began. She would always come to me about these things back when I was nearly gone all the time, yet now that I'm here more often she hasn't been talking to me as much.” Cheerilee frowned at her as she considered the situation. “I'm not sure how I can help with that, but she has been been staying awake in class since you've started spending more time with her. In fact she's had too much energy at times.” Aegis Flare pauses for a moment before she lets out a small smile. “If she has so much energy then I think I might have the perfect idea for a punishment, especially since her grades are still rather average. Maybe she'll start thinking more deeply into her actions this time.” The two talked for a while longer, but the teacher left after being reassured that things would be handled here and headed towards the next pony she needed to talk to. --------- “So how long am I going to have to run the course this time?” Scootaloo sighed as she looked out over the training yard her sister had set up behind the house. While her sister hadn't said anything she knew that she was going to be punished for getting into a fight the previous day yet she didn't know how long it would go on this time. “Actually it's going to be a little different this time. With how often you've been doing this you should have been able to avoid getting a black eye like that. So this time we're going to be doing something different.” Scootaloo's head jerked around to stare at her sister when she heard this as she couldn't believe what she was hearing. “Wait, you're punishing me just because I got hit, not that I got into a fight?” Looking down the older mare ruffled her sister's mane with a hoof before leading them to the center of the field. “Well that, and the fact that you didn't come to me for advice when you had a problem you couldn't handle without fighting. Actually I've been expecting something like this to happen for a while now since talking to Diamond Tiara's parents hasn't done anything so far. Sure her father started paying more attention after I stopped supplying him, but her mother is still as insufferable as ever.” The filly frowned as she remembered the few times she had met Spoiled Rich, especially when she had stormed over to scream at her older sister when she had stopped selling to Barnyard Bargains. She had been so furious yet it was her sister that had scared her more with how calm and silent she was that day. “So if I'm not going to run the course, what am I going to do then?” Her sister led her to a new pylon that had been set up in the center of the field and activated it causing a dome to form over the area in front of them. It wasn't a perfectly formed one either and it kept shifting around constantly as if it was unstable. “This is one of the most annoying training tools mom and dad had, but also one of the most useful. It's been a while since I've used this myself, so I'm going to show you how it works first.” Stepping up to the pylon powering the shield she moved a few of the toggles around before stepping inside of it. As she reached the center a ball of energy appeared and started bouncing up and down next to her. Each time it bounced it steadily went higher and higher until it reached the top of the barrier where the angle sent it flying off to the side. Through all this Scootaloo watched in confusion as her sister moved her body out of the way of the ball whenever it came at her. “Is that it? This doesn't seem that hard, I mean...” She stopped when she noticed a second ball appearing much like the first did and going through the same process as before. Soon two of them were flying all over the place and a third one appeared even faster than the second. It wasn't long until her sister was dodging a dozen of the balls, making it look like a dance, as they came at her from every direction. It was until the fifteenth one appeared the she started actually being hit by them causing her to shut down the training area. “Hmmph, I need to practice a bit more with this. I used to be able to get up to twenty before they even got close. Also I need to turn the impact setting down a bit, it's still set for adults. So what do you think of your punishment training?” Scootaloo's jaw had nearly unhinged at the spectacle she had watched and wondered what her sister was thinking putting her through this. Her sister noticed her look and just fiddled with the control pylon. “Oh, don't be like that, most of the extras will be turned off so the balls will appear at a steady rate and won't constantly speed up after every bounce. Also the ground won't bee feeling slippery either so you should be fine. I think we'll set the maximum to five for now and see how things go from there.” Scootaloo could only wince as she moved into the center of the chamber and warily watched the bouncing ball that appeared. Soon she was diving around trying to avoid being hit since she quickly found that they stung a bit when she lost track of one and it came up from behind to hit her in the flank. Not even hiding in a corner helped much and in fact made it worse if one of the balls happened to somehow make it between her and the wall. After ten minutes of this her sister ended the training and walked over to her panting form. “Hmm, not bad for a first time, at least after you got out of the corner. Tomorrow we can try for six and maybe by the end of the week you can do ten.” Scootaloo's only response was to whimper and wonder where she went wrong. ---------- “Oh I am so happy that all of you could show up today, darlings. It's not often that we all get together for something like this.” Rarity looked around to the rest of her friends in the private area of the spa as they relaxed with various activities. Fluttershy and Twilight had joined her in the hot tub, with Pinkie imitating a shark between them, while Applejack, Rainbow Dash, and Aegis Flare were getting massage treatments by the spa sisters Aloe, Lotus, and Vera. As the others nod in contentment as they relaxed, the fashionable mare took a moment to look over each of their physiques. While she was mostly satisfied with her own svelte form she had to admit that she was a bit envious of some of the others, especially Fluttershy. The mares leggy and thin form and natural beauty were just so easy for her to maintain while she herself had to work to keep her own form in the state it was. Twilight was almost the opposite with her plumpness due to her inactivity in the library, but there was still a bit of muscle underneath it all with how she would carry around saddlebags full of books most places she went. She also knew how much the constant use of magic could eat into a body's resources and she was just as guilty as the librarian at skipping meals they shouldn't have. With Pinkie Pie she didn't even want to think of how she stayed as thin as she did with her eating habits. Somehow she managed to keep a plush form when looking on it from the outside yet you could feel all the muscles hidden under the layer of fat. The three getting a massage were also a wonder to her as they each represented the peak of physical beauty for each of their respective races. Applejack for example was larger than the other two but her toned muscles shown through her legs in a way that was beautiful as well as healthy. Rainbow Dash was the shorter of the three but just as impressive as the largest in how tight her form was allowing for an aerodynamic form while still appearing strong. As for Aegis Flare she was about in the middle, size-wise, but easily as muscular in her own way. However with her the muscles had a layer of fat to soften the lines of her muscles due to her unicorn heritage. Looking between them all again before looking at her own leg she had to admit that they were all relatively fit. In fact few of her costumers could actually boast having a physique like her little group of friends now that she was thinking about it. She shook her head as she realized that Applejack was asking her something which she missed. “I'm sorry dear, but could you repeat that? My head was in the clouds a tad there.” Applejack just frowned before she winced as Vera hit another sore spot in her back. “Ah said how has your sister been doing since that incident a couple weeks ago. Applebloom's finally done with her punishment and was excited ta play with her friends again.” Rarity frowned as she remembered the small whirlwind of orange and yellow that came through her boutique to abduct her sister as her punishment ended. “Hopefully she isn't getting into any trouble so soon. It was dreadful what happened and it took days to get the blood out of her coat. What about your sisters?” Applejack just shrugged as she lay there while glancing at the quiet unicorn relaxing under Lotus' expert touch. “Well Applebloom ran off before I could talk ta her today, but she did talk about how Scootaloo was acting real twitchy recently during school, especially when they were playing dodge ball. Applebloom said she actually broke down whimpering.” All eyes were on Aegis Flare as she opened an eye to look around at the others before sighing. “I may have gone a bit overboard with her latest punishment, but she should have talked to me before it got to this point. I can't believe that the threat of being a snitch is still as strong as ever.” Pinkie Pie was the only one to not react to that as the others had various experiences from either end of the issue. The orange unicorn looked over to Applejack before nodding to her. “I'm sure you remember some of the threats you gave out during our younger years when I first arrived in town. Sure you had good reasons since it stopped them from trying to pick on me, but none of them ever said anything even after what you did to some of them.” Rarity winced as she remembered some of those moments when she had to comfort her friend, especially in the days when her voice was still at its worst. “Those were some awful times that I would rather not remember. I never even thought about my own sister being on the other end of that kind of situation.” Applejack nodded as well as she frowned. “Ah'm sorry ta say that mah cousin Babs was the one ta start all of this. Ah still can't believe that she would do all this, especially after her being bullied back in Manehatten. It took all day after Ms. Cheerilee came ta me but she eventually told me everything. She had me take her ta the school to apologize ta all three of them before she went back home. It was the one day that I let them off of punishment ta talk and it turned out somewhat well. Ah'm not sure if ah liked how much she was talking with Scootaloo about how good she was at fighting, but they did seem ta start getting along.” Aegis Flare let out a moan as Lotus hit and especially tight spot in her leg. “I just hope that things calm down with them for a while. From what it sounds like Diamond Tiara has been avoiding them lately, though her mother has tried giving me an earful about her 'precious' daughter being hurt. As if her complaining and threats were enough the last time something happened. It may have taken up much of my own time to find buyers, but me cutting off my dealings with them cost them a good chunk of their profits. The things I pulled from the Everfree was almost five percent of their sales to Canterlot alone, especially the exotics that came from other countries.” Applejack looked thoughtful as she considered something. “Filthy Rich's family always worked with the Apple family for generations, but Diamond Tiara and Spoiled Rich have been getting a touch... out of control lately. Ah don't think that we are ready ta do what ya did, but if things don't change then we might have ta. We'll have ta see what comes of all this with Diamond Tiara in the future.” Aegis Flare and Rarity nod along with her at all this while the others watch on. Twilight frowns as she considers the implications of all that happened and how it related to friendship. In a way she had neglected something with her studies in how enemies relate to friends and how it can affect everything in relation to the two. She had to wonder the reasons why ponies became friends or enemies and if there was a link between it all.