The agonizing pain in Flurry Heart's head was finally replaced by waves of relief as the schoolbell rang out once more on this day. The third lesson was over and a dreadful hour of mathematical tasks laid behind her.
Shaking her head free from all the dull calculations and equations, Flurry Heart put down her quill and let out a strong breath. Another one followed as the black sphere, that had surrounded her for all of the lesson, dissipated. Relieved, Flurry Heart stretched out her limbs. Her wings twitched slightly. What she needed now was fresh air and some flying and luckily, she knew that she would be getting exactly that now.
With this Friday morning's math lesson over, it was now time for Alchemy Class. A class only crystal ponies attended and at her side, Sunny Spirit was getting ready for it. Obviously, this meant that the rest of the students in Flurry Heart's class had to spend the hour elsewhere. And it meant they were free to do what they wanted, something Flurry Heart would soon use to her advantage. Already caught up in imaginations of her flying over the school building, Flurry Heart felt tapped on her shoulder. Sunny Spirit looked at her with a concerned expression.
“Will you be alright, Flurry? I can ask the teacher if you can stay here during my class.”
But Flurry Heart shook her head. “Thanks, Sunny, but I want to fly for a bit. I really need fresh air after all those numbers.....”
It was an answer that came as no surprise for Sunny and she nodded. After a quick, but intense, hug had been exchanged by the two fillies, Flurry Heart and Sharp Pitch left the classroom.
Only a few steps past the treshold, Magnolia joined them again. She gently put a hoof around Flurry Heart while they trotted. “Are you going to fly?” she asked the alicorn at her side.
“Mhm.” Flurry Heart replied with a smile and a nod. “It's the only thing that can let me forget such a boring lesson. Do you want to join me?” Immediately, Magnolia's face lit up like a thousand lightbulbs at once. She did not produce one word, but Flurry Heart understood. “Ok. I want to fly up on the roof of the school, it's the most quiet place here.” Magnolia simply nodded at the suggestion, her face still bright.
As the two fillies stepped out of the school and on the yard, Sharp Pitch always close behind them, a whistle sounded into their ears. They followed the sound with their eyes. To their left, Starry Skies and Fiery Breeze, who had left the classroom earlier than them, waved them over.
Following the invitation, they took seat at their table, opposite of them. Looking around, they noticed they weren't the only ones out here, a few of the other tables were occupied by their classmates.
As Flurry Heart looked over the tables, a filly with a yellow coat caught her attention. Apparently, she had only now checked what spell scroll she had gotten, as she was holding the unrolled scroll in front of her. A frightened expression adorned her face. Just a second later, she crumpled the piece of parchment and tossed it into a nearby bin. “I'm not using this!” she accompanied her gesture with spoken protest, causing raised eyebrows and sceptical glances by her friends. Her statement was loud enough so that Flurry Heart could hear it, though, Flurry was not sure if that wasn't just a coincidence. The yellow filly did not look at her.
After a few seconds, Flurry Heart gave it up and turned her attention to Starry Skies and Fiery Breeze, as she suddenly felt a squeeze. She turned to the left, where she found Magnolia draping a hoof over her wings. Even here, where all their classmates could see them, Magnolia just couldn't let go of her wings. To Flurry Heart, it seemed like she was squeezing them even tighter now.
On the other side of the table, Starry and Fiery snickered and a broad grin appeared on Fiery Breeze's face. “Hey, can we borrow Magnolia for a moment, Flurry? Only if it's not too much for her having to let go your gorgeous wings for a few minutes, of course.” Another snicker was exchanged between Fiery and her friend.
Understanding the implication, both Flurry Heart and Magnolia blushed. Unlike Magnolia, who now retracted her hoof from Flurry and looked away, Flurry Heart took the remark more with humor. “You can,” she answered dryly. “I was going for a flight now anyway. Unless Magnolia would disturb your own togetherness,” Flurry Heart replied with a snark, then she took off into the sky. She did not see the dumbfounded expressions of the unicorn and the pegasus filly anymore.
While Magnolia started to talk with the other two fillies, Flurry Heart began to zip around in the skies over the schoolyard. Flying some circles, soaring through a bunch of clouds, the wind playing in her mane, and soon, Flurry Heart's mind had recovered from the one lesson she hated so much. Feeling revitalized, she flew back to the school and, as she had told Magnolia, landed on the roof. It was open and wide, its crystalline surface stretching out to the left and right. The light of the sun blinded her a little as it entered her eyes, reflected by the shiny surface.
Turning around, Flurry Heart slumped down at the edge of the building. Her legs dangling over the edge, she let her eyes wander over the schoolyard. It reaches were far, but from up here, Flurry Heart could see everything of it; from the benches right behind the schoolhouse, to the last rows of trees at the very end. Under her, Starry Skies and Fiery Breeze were still discussing something with Magnolia. Occasionally, one of them shot her a careful glance, like they wanted to ensure she was still up there. Sharp Pitch did the same, for his own reasons. Flurry Heart wondered about all the secrecy of her friends down below, but with her head still feeling a bit mushy, she ceased pondering about this question quickly.
With a sigh, Flurry Heart laid down, crossing her hooves behind her head, and looked up into the sky. She followed the clouds with her eyes, drawing imaginary outlines around them, and tried to interpret shapes and forms into them. It eased her mind and slowly, she felt like drifting off to sleep. Before she fell into a slumber, though, a feeling of pressure right under her belly told her it was time to follow nature's call. Flurry Heart groaned and, unwillingly, she got up and flew back to the ground, right at Sharp Pitch's side. The conversation between her friends immediately stopped the moment she arrived.
Sharp Pitch turned to her. “Is anything wrong, princess?”
“No, I'm fine, I just need to go to the bathroom,” Flurry Heart explained. She grimaced. Even in this situation, she would have preferred to go there alone, not with the guard assigned to her, yet she did not dare to take the risk.
Sharp Pitch nodded. “Okay, I will guard you on the way. There are not many students outside of the classrooms right now, but I can't allow you getting exposed to even the tiniest risk,” he answered, as if he was reading her own thoughts.
Leaving Magnolia, Starry and Fiery behind, the guard and the princess entered the school again. Both of them observing their surroundings, they went past the cafeteria, then took a turn to the right and into the corridor there. It was not common for Flurry Heart to use the toilets on this side of the building and thinking about what reason she had to go there the last time gave the filly shudders.
As they had arrived in front of the filly's toilet, Flurry Heart hurried inside without hesitation, but found herself stopped by Sharp Pitch. “I will go first, princess.” Gently, he shoved her to the side, then entered the filly's toilet, Flurry Heart following behind. Scrutinizing every corner of the small room, Sharp Pitch's eyes wandered across it. He opened each of the three stalls and took a look inside. As he found all of them empty, he turned around to Flurry Heart again. “I will wait outside, princess, and won't let anypony in until you are finished,” he told her, then left the room through the door.
Glad to be alone now, Flurry Heart flashed a smile. As a strange stench entered her nose, though, she wrinkled it and grimaced. With hasty steps, she proceeded to the window and opened it, letting in fresh air. After having taken a deep sniff, she retreated from the window and finally entered the middle of the stalls. At the edges of her mind, she recalled the last time she was in this stall as she locked the door. But something else was more important and by now, of great urgency even, so she didn't pay heed to this thought and quickly did what she came here for.
As she was finished, she put down the lid and flushed. Feeling better, Flurry Heart turned to the door of the stall and unlocked it, then pulled it open. She proceeded to leave the stall as she suddenly bumped into something. Only now it was that she noticed that there was a pony in front of her, blocking the exit of the stall. Looking up, she saw a face that was familiar to her, yet also one she hadn't really seen for quite a while.
“Swift Hoof?!” she squeaked, startled by the sudden appearance of the colt. “What are you doing here, this is not–” As swift as his name would let one expect it, he shoved a hoof over her mouth and pressed down on it. Then he pushed her rudely back inside. With the other hoof, he reached behind him and locked the door again.
Flurry shuddered as worst fears began to rise in her heart. But she was not intended to reveal them to the rude earth pony colt. “What do you want today, hm? Do you really want me to beat you up again, like I did last time?” she snarked at him as he had removed his hoof from her mouth. The words made her feel brave, but her shuddering was slightly audible in her voice.
“Not this time,” the colt with the brown coat replied. With a vile grin on his face, he suddenly took a scroll from his back that Flurry Heart hadn't noticed before. “You will never beat me again,” he whispered.
A numbing panic beginning to rush through her as the scroll entered her vision, Flurry Heart did not lose any time. She opened her mouth to scream for help, but before she could call her guardian, Swift Hoof had covered her mouth again. Now applying strong force, he pushed her back and forced Flurry Heart to sit down on the lid. Hatred flashed up in his face. “You ridiculed me and now I will pay everything back!” he hissed at her.
Not willing to free her mouth, he clumsily unrolled the scroll with one hoof, then turned it around so that Flurry Heart could read the words. She gulped.
His face now forming a sadistic expression, he whispered the spell's name. “Musculus Infirmitate Aeternum.” He pulled away again and grinned at her. “You know this spell, I bet your teacher taught you about it right after school started today, just like in my class.”
The fear in her heart getting stronger and still unable to talk, Flurry Heart nodded.
The sadistic expression in Swift Hoof's face deepened. “I explain it anyway,” he announced. “If somepony is hit by this neutralization spell, the muscles of the victim will start to decay, until they are too weak to perform the most simple tasks.”
Flurry Heart gulped again and tears entered her eyes now.
The colt continued. “And if I cast it on you, then you won't be able to beat me in a fight anymore. Then I'm finally the strongest foal on the schoolyard again, Flurry Heart.” His grin became a victorious one now. “Of course, you won't be able to do much else anymore either.” He let the words linger in the air for a moment before he continued, feeling deep satisfaction as Flurry Heart's eyes got filled up more and more with tears. Under his hoof, muffled cries of protest could be heard.
“But that's fine with me. You humiliated me in front of the whole school, ruined my reputation and made me a laughing stock!” His face got distorted with pure hatred now and his voice became snide. “I want revenge, you bitch!”
Under normal circumstances, Flurry Heart would have simply gasped over hearing somepony saying this word, but in the current situation, she began to shook her head violently, trying to free her mouth from the colt's grasp to finally scream for Sharp Pitch's help. Swift Hoof pressed down harder. Feeling pain in her teeth, Flurry Heart whimpered.
“And now I just need to read these words again out loud and I finally have it,” Swift Hoof continued, his voice dripping from glee and anticipation. He turned the scroll around so that the side with the letters pointed to him. “Let's see how you are going to fly after this!”
More muffled noises emerged from under his hoof as Flurry Heart pleaded him to let her go, but Swift Hoof ignored her.
As he set his eyes to the scroll and began to read the spell, everything happened in a flash. Overwhelmed by her fear, Flurry Heart squeezed her eyes shut and at the same time, her horn got ignited. A light blue blast of magic emerged from Flurry's horn and before Swift Hoof could finish casting the spell, he got smashed against the door of the stall with full force. A gurgling scream escaped his throat.
The door only lasted a second under the impact, then it broke in halves and the blast continued to smash Flurry's attacker against the wall just above the lavatories. His head produced a loud thump as it hit the pink wall, then Swift Hoof fell down. His back hooves thudded against one of the lavatories before his body hit the ground. It slid over a few inches, then came to a standstill.
In shock, Flurry Heart crouched down on the lid she still sat on and pulled up her legs, but could not remove her eyes from the colt who had attacked her. Swift Hoof's eyes were closed now and his head pointed in her direction. On his chin, Flurry could see charred spots from where her magic had hit him. She shoved the thought away that the rest of the front of his body probably didn't look better.
As her eyes fell on the blood that was flowing out in thick streams from a wound on the back of his head, then automatically wandered up the wall where they stopped at a big speck of blood, Flurry Heart bit down on her lip until she started to bleed herself, then covered her eyes with her hooves. Every part of her mind was screaming at her now, screaming that she should leave through the window before anypony would enter, but the panic and the shock kept her in place. She was unable to move away from the lid by just one inch and so, she just cried into her hooves, weeping and sobbing.
Finally, in what had seemed like an eternity, but had actually been just a few seconds, the door got opened with a bang and Sharp Pitch entered it, his spear ready. His eyes only fell on the open window first, then he saw the body to his hooves. Looking to the right and seeing Flurry Heart in her distraught condition on the lid, a scroll on the floor right by the toilet seat, he counted one and one together. Sharp Pitch did a step forward, bent down and held a hoof at the colt's carotid artery. Back on his hooves, he looked at Flurry Heart grim-faced.
Hoofsteps approached the filly's toilet fast and, ignoring them, Sharp Pitch carefully trotted around the colt and over the splintered door. Using his magic, he slowly hovered Flurry Heart on his back.
Instinctively, Flurry Heart buried her face into his mane, her hooves hanging down limb from his body now.
The door got opened again and the principal, Austere Knowledge and a few other teachers appeared in the doorframe, most of them covering their mouths in shock, except for Austere, who only gave the scenery a dark, expressionless look.
Without paying attention to the small crowd, Sharp Pitch trotted past them. Still the grim expression on his face, he bit down on his lip. His hooves scraped over the crystal floor as he slowly carried Flurry Heart away from the horror behind them.