//------------------------------// // Chapter 9: Getting Schooled // Story: The Mortal Sin // by Humanarian //------------------------------// School... Was there really much for me to expect from it? As a child of Bradley family, I was getting the finest education without having to leave the house. That was rather convenient, allowing me to save the time I needed to spend on my true mission. Going to school would have been too much of a... distraction. Therefore, I didn't have an experience of going to an actual school before. That doesn't mean I lacked the information on that matter though. I knew what purpose the schools served and the way the lessons took place there. There shouldn't had been any surprise for me to discover in the Ponyville school. And yet... At this point, I should get used to being surprised. The school I had seen instead was nothing like the school I was expecting to see: it looked more like a playground instead of a strict establishment. Then again... Perhaps, I should had taken the fact that Amestris was a country with a military regime in account. Equestria, on the other hand hoof, seemed to be nothing military-based. The information I had managed to collect so far was pointing on the fact that one of the main policy's of the Equestrian goverment was "spreading the magic of friendship", whatever that could possibly mean. "What are ya'll waiting fer?" the voice of Apple Bloom had reached my ears as I was taking in the view, "The lesson's 'bout tah start. We gotta hurry!" "Sorry, Apple Bloom," I replied, giving her a smile, "I was just taking a moment to appreciate the beauty of your school house." "Well, ya'll can appreciate it on break," she kept pushing her point, "When we're in no danger of getting in some mighty trouble!" I had returned to trotting towards the school entrance, not wanting to make Apple Bloom worry any longer. Miss Cheerilee, the Ponyville school's one and only teacher, seemed to be leaving a good first impression. She had a cheerful smile, seemed to be kind to all of her students... But I should know better than anyone else that judging a book by it's cover is a wrong course of action. Plus, I have been surprised way too many times ever since I had found myself in that strange world of colourful talking ponies. Therefore, I wasn't going to allow myself to come to any conclusions. Especially since I had some more pressing affairs at the time... "Good morning, class!" the teacher said, having the entire room of colts and fillies reply in kind, "Today, we have a new student. I'd like you to meet Dark S..." she paused before commenting, "Wow, that almost sounds like introducing a villain," she reached to scratch the back of her head, giving me a sheepish smile, "Anyway. Here is our new student, Dark Side. Class, let's be kind and greet him!" "Hello, Dark Side!" the entire class has replied in unison. And, I believe, I could hear three voices sounding especially... enthusiastic to greet me. I didn't even need to look at their sources to know exactly who they were. "Very well, Dark Side," Miss Cheerilee had switched her attention to me once more, "You may now introduce yourself however you'd like." Oh... Apparently, having a new student give a speech was a tradition here. But what should I say...? "Hello. As Miss Cheerilee has already said, my name is Dark Side. But you may call me Dark for short. I am glad to be here today and join you in this wonderful school you have. I am excited for my first day here, and I do hope that we can be friends!" When I had finished my speech, the class had clapped stomped their hooves, which seemed to be the applause in that world. "That's a very good speech, young colt! You may now go take your place," the teacher seemed to be encouraging her students in expressing themselves through the speech...? Noted. My place was right next to Apple Bloom. And it was a pleasure to find out. I suppose, I have Apple Family's connections to thank for that. As I had taken my place, the class had finally started, as was promised. The subjects Miss Cheerilee was teaching the class were the child's play for me. But I was still looking forward to the history lesson. I cannot allow myself to miss on a chance to learn more about this world. However, instead of moving on to the next subject, the teacher had announced a break. Needless to say, the whole bunch of young colts and fillies had stormed out of the classroom. My guess was they were going to occupy the playground I had seen outside. And as I walked from the classroom myself, I could instantly see that my guess was correct. Since I was the only one who didn't exactly "storm out" of the room, if you don't count Miss Cheerilee, I had realised that I had to figure out where the Cutiemark Crusaders go in order to join them. "Ya'll can appreciate it on break" the voice of Apple Bloom rang in my mind, causing me to smile. Taking in the view of the playground while it was actually in use could prove to be more informative regarding learning more about the ways of education in Equestria. Apparently, it was a common practice to alternate the lessons and playtime, to keep the kids in a perfect psychological condition for learning more. Clever tatics. I should look deeper into the matter. And so I did, looking around and taking note of anything I could witness. First of all, I had noticed that the different ponies were using different tools on the playground. Contrary to what I suspected, there was no problem of sharing. Different ponies were playing different games. I watched some ponies joining in, creating larger groups to play some specific games. One of the most occupied tools was the sandbox, where colts and fillies were building something together. From where I stood, it looked like a sand castle, the one resembling a certain building in Ponyville. I had also noticed a foal running around with a camera, taking pictures of nearly everything. There were the other things to notice, but nothing significant to... "Hey!" the familiar scratchy voice had reached my ears. No doubt, it belonged to Scootaloo, "Stop picking on me and my friends!" "Or what?" demanded the other voice. It sounded cocky and arrogant, "What will YOU do, chicken?" As I approached, I was greeted by quite a scene. Sweetie Belle was in tears, Apple Bloom was trying to comfort her with an embrace. Scootaloo was standing in front of them in a defensive pose. There were the other two fillies, that appeared to be on the offensive side: one of them was a light shade of pink and had a tiara for a cutiemark, the other - gray and with some sort of a decorative spoon on her flank. Scotaloo was beginning to waver. Looks like being called "chicken" is her weakness... Is that because she has troubles learning to fly? "B-back off!" she still stood her ground. Despite anything, she refused to give up. "Face it, chicken," the pink filly was pushing forth, it appeared that humiliating the pegasus was her goal, "You're useless! Nopony wants to be with you. And your friends? They just pity you because you're a pathetic blank flank, just like them." "Why yes!" the gray pony seemed to be her friend and was there to play along with her, "I think, they will abandon you on the very first day they get their cutiemarks!" Scootaloo's eyes were beginning to water. I couldn't explain why, but I could feel my thoughts starting to get preoccupied with some especially gruesome scenes of tearing those two fillies apart. "That is, IF they ever get ones!" I could hear Apple Bloom was shouting something out, but I didn't really listen. It was like the field of all of my senses were focusing entirely on those two. "Haha! Good one, Silver Spoon! After all, why would any cutiemark even bother to appear on such garb-" "Excuse me," before I knew it, I stepped in. Needless to say, the eyes of the Cutiemark Crusaders and their attackers were on me in an instant, "I couldn't help but overhear your conversation." "Oh, no-no," the pink filly was the first one to recover from the surprise, "That's not a problem at all. We were just showing those blank flanks their place in a true pony society." "And we're glad to see," as expected, her friend - apparently, her name was Silver Spoon - was there to join in, "You're not one of them. I mean, really. Those three think that they can have the place in the life without a cutiemark." "Yeah, can you imagine that?" the pink pony continued, "Daring to think they're equal to us! The nerve!" I had been listening to their pointless ramble, giving them a smile. That time, it was completely fake. And when they were finally finished, it was the time for my onslaught. Luckily for them, it was a verbal one... "Oh, I understand where you're coming from. But I'm sure, there are things you have left out of consideration," I had begun my speech, immediately catching the attention of everypony who was listening, "Surely, cutiemarks are important. They define a pony through symbolising and setting in stone their special talent. However, that talent is nothing more than a tool, and the use it might bring depends entirely on the pony who uses it. I have overheard that you have called this one," I had pointed at Scootaloo, "useless. And, once again, I can see where you're coming from. First of all, she has no cutiemark... At second, she has trouble learning to fly. Now, I'd like to ask you a question: is that all that you see in her? If so... Then you're entirely blind." A collective gasp could be heard, but I payed it no mind. I was too busy giving a real speech today. "A useless pony would never jump in front of her friends to protect them at the cost of getting hurt. A useless pony would never bother to actually be there when needed. A useless pony would have given up trying to become a better self a long time ago. A useless pony...." it was the time for a punchline, "That term actually sounds a lot like you two." A even harder gasp was heard. "T-the nerve! I..." the pink useless pony had managed to recover. But not for long. "To sum it up," I wasn't going to give her a chance to talk. She have already said too much today. "The use of the pony depends on the pony themselves more than it does on their special talent," I continued, starting to make circles around the two fillies that were in the middle of getting humiliated, "Besides, it's better to have no talent at all than having a beautiful shell that has a delightful cutiemark and gives an impression of an extreme importance, but..." I had taken a step closer and knocked on the pink pony's head, earning a "h-hey!" from her, "...rings hollow." I had finished my speech, admiring the result: two bullies being on the verge of crying, entirely humiliated. It wasn't long before they had run away. It was only then that I had noticed one important detail: nopony was occupying the playground anymore. They all were gathered around me and the Cutiemark Crusaders. "That. Was. AWESOME!!!" the excited pegasus filly had nearly tackled me when we were far enough from the school. The lessons were over, and I'd like to mention that certain two fillies were excused for the rest of the day for some reason. What could that possibly be? "I still can't believe you've buried them into the dirt with your speech!" "Yeah!" Sweetie Belle had joined in, "I can't help but admire how you have managed to beat those two without resorting to any violence." "Though they do deserve violence sometimes," Scootaloo commented. "I'm afraid, I have to disagree with you, Sweetie Belle," I said, earning a raised eyebrow from the unicorn filly and a "huh?" from the pegasus. Apple Bloom stayed silent, "I've heard that the words might cut deeper than a knife. And I surely did not hold back while using them. I was pretty violent back there." "Good point," Scootaloo was quick to agree with me, as she had reached to scratch the back of her head, "I'm just happy they were the ones humiliated for a change." "That brings me to a question I've been meaning to ask you," I said, stopping and turning to face them, "Why did they pick on you in the first place?" "Oh, that..." Sweetie Belle stepped in once more, "That's just because we don't have the cutiemarks." "And...?" my reaction had caused the three fillies to exchange glances. "Well, that's it." Oh... I was surprised. I really was. Those two were acting as if they had been true enemies, as if there was a history behind their feud. But... just the cutiemarks? Are they that important? "I haven't seen any other ponies picking on you along with those two," I had pointed out. "Well, they're just the bullies. They pick on everypony, not just us," Sweetie Belle had given a much clearer explanation that time. "I see... Just as I suspected," I said, drawing their attention to me once more, "It wasn't about you. It was about them." I have no regrets about what I've done today. We spent the afternoon in the clubhouse. Eventually, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo had taken their leave, but Apple Bloom just didn't want to go yet. Besides, she was awfully silent today. "What is on your mind, Apple Bloom?" I asked, caussing the filly to glance my way. But she didn't reply. "You were awfully silent ever since that incident at school today," I tried again, but to no avail. I could see that in her eyes that she wanted to say something. That she wanted to do something. And yet, for some reason, she was giving it her all to hold that urge back. I had placed my hoof on her shoulder, "Apple Bloom... Are you feeling alright?" And then... it happened. In less than a second I had been tackled and brought to the floor, finding myself in her embrace all of sudden. And it wouldn't be that much of a problem if her lips were not pressing hard against mine. Is she... kissing me? That was pretty hard to believe. She was just a young filly, why did she even know how to kiss? But, apparently, she did... And, boy, is she good at it... When she had finally pulled away, her entire face was red. But on top of that... she was crying. And then, at long last, she had opened her mouth to speak. "Nopony... Nopony ever stood up fer me and mah friends like that. Nopony ever protected us from Diamond Tiara 'n' her sidekick. What you did... Ah... Ah can't even..." her ability to speak didn't last for long, however, as the tears were beginning to overwhelm her. At least, it had finally been made clear why she remained silent for so long. "Hush..." I replied, pulling her back into the tight embrace as we were laying on the clubhouse's floor, "It's okay, Apple Bloom. Of course, I shall always stand up for you and your friends. After all, you're the only friends I have. Or, at least, can remember." She did kiss me though. Does it make us... something more? "Or, perhaps... Being just friends is no longer enough for you" I had added a sly teasing note to my words, hoping to at least distract her from her tears. Surely enough, she had blushed once more, so I pressed on a little harder, "I'm sure I can remember that kissing is not in the list of what friends do." She looked away. Was it too much? "But Ah..." she had finally replied, "Ah can't say that Ah didn't... like... it..." In response, I had prefered to just keep her in my embrace for a bit longer. It was one of those awkward yet cozy moments that I had grown to enjoy sharing with her. And so I did... ...until, once again, we had been rudely interrupted. With an audible "pop", the Princess of Friendship has appeared in the clubhouse, interrupting the two foals from... whatever it was they were doing. She looked even worse than before. "Apple Bloom! Dark Side!" the lavender alicorn had nearly pressed her muzzle against the two. Her left eye was twitching, and it looked like she was about to lose her mind from the sheer stress. "Whoa! Calm down, Twahlight!" the little filly spoke up to the Princess in a casual manner, earning a surprised glance from the dark-maned colt, "What happened?" "You two are the last ones who must have seen Spike today! I heard he was seeing you out!" "Wait a moment, please..." Dark Side had finally joined in the conversation, "Princess, are you meaning to tell us that-?" "YES!" the lavender alicorn didn't let him finish the question, "Spike has gone missing!" The foals had exchanged a glance, that was both surprised and worried. Apparently, the day was far from being over.