//------------------------------// // Chapter 13 // Story: Twilight's Twinlight // by Autum Breeze //------------------------------// Chapter 13 ___________________________________________________________     I groan, rubbing my forehead with a hoof. It’s been a few days since we got back from the human mirror world of Equestria. Over that time, Sunset contacted us via the magic journal, informing us what was going on with the sirens. After we’d left the sirens’ home, Adagio had broken down, everything finally hitting her and making her realize what the other two sirens had a while ago. They needed to look out for each other, as well as just what could have happened to Sonata the previous night. The three are going to move out of Canterlot to somewhere else, somewhere they could get a fresh start to try and make whatever many years they now have as normal humans worth it. When I asked why they won’t just stay in Canterlot, Sunset replied that Aria said how there’s just too many bad memories for them in Canterlot, especially after what happened at Canterlot High, so they’re going to move somewhere no one knows them, for a truly new start. They’d be leaving before the end of the month. I admit, that seems pretty sudden to do, but I would hazard to guess they spent the last couple days looking for somewhere to live online and, since they have been around for so long, have enough finances to handle such a thing. Of course, concern about the sirens and how things will go for them now aren’t the only things that have been occupying my mind over the last couple days. Twilight’s been helping me to handle all the official stuff so that I’ll be well informed later today, when I go to the school board meeting at Ponyville School. Something just isn’t adding up though. I keep looking at several forms about the school’s remaining budget for the year, bills parents will owe, the cost of learning materials for the students, field trip plans, those kinds of things. But every time I look over them, I feel like something’s’ wrong, like there’s a big neon sign amongst everything saying “This Doesn’t Make Sense”, but my lack of real understanding of the school’s financing is making it impossible to tell what it is. “Everything going okay in here, Ken?” I look up as Twilight walks into the castle library, Spike next to her. I sigh, before taking all the forms in my magic and levitating them over to her. “I don’t know. I feel like there’s something wrong with these forms, like there’s something that doesn’t make sense about the school’s budget, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out what,” I finish by flopping my head on the table as Twilight takes the forms in her own magic. “Well, no need to worry, Ken,” she replies in a way too chipper mood, walking over as she starts looking at the forms I gave her. “I’m sure you just need a little help to...” Her trailing off causes me to lift my head slightly to look at her. she’s wearing a frown as she looks over the forms. “That can’t be right,” she murmurs after a few minutes. I lift my head and glance to Spike, cocking an eyebrow, but he just shrugs. “What is it, Twilight?” I ask. If she noticed something off about the forms too, then it’s not just me. She doesn’t respond for several moments, going over the forms, muttering to herself in a way neither Spike nor myself can understand her. About five minutes later, she lowers the papers, an eyebrow raised in confusion. “According to these forms, about three weeks ago a huge sum of bits was taken out of the school’s funds for something to do with a statue.” My concerns ease. Oh. Just a statue? That was all? That’s not too uncommon. School’s pay to have statue’s made all the time. “Who or what’s it of?” I ask, feeling glad this is sorted. Can’t believe I wasted so much time over nothing. “Celestia or Luna? A previous teacher or of school faculty member?” Twilight doesn’t respond, before frowning in my direction. “Normally nopony would notice this, but... Ken, Spike, come with me. We’ve some investigating to do.” I look to Spike, very confused, though he seems to share my reaction to this. We spend the next hour tracking down the pony who made the statue that was ordered, a pony called Hard Pick. We question him about the order. He informs us he’d been commissioned by the school to make a statue of Diamond Tiara, of all ponies. “What?” I ask incredulously after he finishes telling us about it. “Why would the school want a statue of that stuck up brat?” I ignore Twilight’s scowl at me talking so rudely about a child. From my first encounter with her and that I’ve been told by the Cutie Mark Crusaders, calling her a brat is being gentle. The stallion just shrugs, “Mrs Rich said it was to commemorate her daughter winning some school election.” I blink, cocking an eyebrow. “You mean the Student Pony President?” He nods. “Yeah. That sounds about right.” I shake my head. “But, Diamond Tiara didn’t win that election. A foal named Pipsqueak did.” Having had to speak with Miss Cheerilee to get the forms to know just what I was doing, I’d been told this by her when she came over late yesterday. He frowns in confusion. “Huh. Bit of an oversight on the school’s part, there. Wonder why they were willing to pay for a statue of a filly for wining something if she hadn’t already won it. Odd.” Twilight frowns. “Wait. They? As in, the school itself paid for that statue?” Hard Pick nods, now frowning in confusion. “Yeah. Seems weird, that I think about it.” “I think I’ll be speaking about this at the board meeting today,” I say firmly, before smiling and nodding to the stallion. “Thank for very much for your help, Hard Pick.” He scratches behind his head, smiling back. “My pleasure, Your Highnesses. Happy to help.” We leave, myself going over in my mind everything I’d just learned. Spoiled Rich, for whatever reason, had used school funds to pay for a statue of her daughter to commemorate Diamond Tiara winning something that she wasn’t guaranteed to win and in the end didn’t. Something really fishy is going on here and I don’t like it.     ___________________________________________________________     I walk into the school to find several ponies gathered there. Spoiled Rich, of course, being head of the school board, but three other ponies. One is a tanned Earth Pony mare with a greying mane and tail, the former tied back in a bun and a Cutie Mark of a pencil and quill. The next is a not too elderly stallion with a completely grey mane cut short like a military hair cut and a Cutie Mark of a bell and hammer. The last is a rather tall mare with a lined, slightly squared face wearing lined glasses, a faded cyan coat that doesn’t look like those you tend to see around Ponyville, a main and tail with a colour scheme that kind of remind me of Twilight’s and my own, but a darker shade, both done back in a bun and a Cutie Mark of a clipboard in front of a trophy. “Uh, Princess Ken,” she says, noticing me and walking over, giving me a slight bow. “An honour to meet you, Your Highness.” I wave a hoof. “No need for that, Miss...” She lifts her head back up, smiling. “Cinch, Your Highness. Abacus Cinch. Along with being a member of the school board, I’m also the principal of a school in the Crystal Empire.” I blink, before wanting to smack myself in the head. That’s why her coat doesn’t match anything you’d see in Ponyville. She’s a Crystal Pony and none of them live here. “Well, it is very nice to meet you, Principal Cinch,” I smile, offering a hoof, which she shakes. I’m quickly introduced to the other two members of the school board, their names Swift Quill and Iron Bell respectively, before we all sit down. Moments later, a very small colt with a white coat with patches of brown in places on his fur and a brown mane sits next to me that I recognize as Pipsqueak. “Greetings, Your Highness,” he says, saluting me in what is honestly quite an adorable fashion. I smile and nod at him and the meeting gets started. It begins rather dull, at first, Cinch and the other two mentioning things about their own schools and referencing connections the schools will all go through over the next year or so. Then it comes time for Pip to speak up as Student Pony President. Strangely, I can swear as he stands up on his chair (namely because he’s so small) to address us all, I notice a dark scowl pass over Spoiled Rich’s face for a moment. It wasn’t an “Annoyed that Child is Being Rude” kind of scowl either. It was a really dark one, the kind you’d give to someone you really don’t like. Pip requests that we use some of the school’s funds to repair the playground equipment, which I had noticed wasn’t in the best of condition, even when I first came to the school and played with the foals. No sooner has Pip finished speaking, however, Spoiled Rich scoffs. “So sorry to inform you, Pipesquake,” she says, and I, for some reason, get the oddest feeling she intentionally got his name wrong there, “but that is not possible.” “What?!” Pip cries in shock. I blink, looking to Mrs Rich with a cocked eyebrow. “Forgive me for speaking out of line here, Mrs Rich, but just why can’t the school do that? I think repairing the playground equipment sounds like a very good idea. We wouldn’t want foals getting hurt playing on damaged equipment, after all.” “I’m afraid Spoiled is correct there, Your Highness,” Cinch says, though her tone sounds very disappointed. “Quill and myself met on the train to Ponyville and went over the recent figures for Ponyville School and there just isn’t enough money in the budget.” “How much would it cost?” I ask, curious. The number I’m given causes me to narrow my eyes for a moment, before hiding it. The amount of bits it would have cost to replace all the playground equipment was a little less than what the statue that had been commissioned with school funds had cost. “But... but I promised the other students that the playground would be fixed,” Pip says, sounding heartbroken. “Well, there’s a lesson for you, there,” Spoiled says and I can swear for a second a saw a cold smirk pass over her face. “Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” My eyes widen as my ears then pick up her muttering something about “Transplant from Trottingham”. That... that sounded like a racist insult! However, as the other three ponies had been talking amongst themselves, it seems they hadn’t heard it. “Now, run along, little colt,” Spoiled says and I can tell she’s got some kind of joy that makes me uncomfortable dancing in her eyes. “Let the big ponies talk about the things you don’t understand.” I watch with a sad heart as Pip getting down and slowly trots out the room and through the door, closing it behind him. Spoiled huffs, muttering, “Good riddance.” I just stare at the mare. She is such a contrast from the person I saw in the mirror world, it’s shocking. “Now,” Spoiled says a bit louder, catching the other three’s attention, “shall we move on to more important matters?” I grind my teeth. Something is really wrong here. I don’t know why the others haven’t noticed it, but Spoiled’s tones several times have been really cold and I can’t ignore that it all seemed to start after Pipsqueak first started speaking. “There is the matter of the budget,” Spoiled says, wearing a smirk that really is irritating me. “Funny you should mention that, Spoiled Rich,” I say, doing my best to maintain my composure and my voice level, which is really hard, as keeping my cool when I’m irritated or angry is something I’ve always struggled with. “Princess Twilight and myself were going over the finances of the school and we found something... interesting.” I notice something that seems like annoyance flicker in Spoiled’s eyes before she nods, says in a tight voice that I’m surprised she’d use to address royalty, “Yes, Your Highness?” I look to the other three ponies, levitating a sheet of paper up, showing them which one it is, which they also have copies of, so take them out. “Princess Twilight and I went over the recent funds for the school and, as we did so, we noticed something was off about the funds.” Cinch cocks an eyebrow. “Really? Like what?” Lifting a pencil with my magic, a point to several spots on the form. “Notice how, several weeks ago, just a little more money than what would be needed to replace the playground equipment was indeed in the budget, before it seems to have disappeared.” The three ponies frown, before looking back down at their own papers. As they do, I notice that look of annoyance pass over Spoiled’s face again, with a tiny sliver of something else. After several long minutes, Cinch finally speaks up. “Your right, Princess Ken,” she looks to me in confusion. “I never noticed it before, as if somepony tried to hide it among other figures, but, there was indeed a large sum of bits taken out of the school’s funding.” I nod, before lifting several sheets up and passing them around, it not escaping my notice that Spoiled does not even look at the one I pass over to her. “Twilight and I thought it was odd, so we started looking things over and found something very... interesting.” The three look from the papers I gave them to me. I give Spoiled a quick look. “Turns out that one of the town’s sculptors, Hard Pick, was commissioned to do a statue that cost the exact same amount of bits that vanished from the funds.” Spoiled is now glaring at me. Not a normal glare either, it’s the “Shut up, or I’ll make your life miserable” kind of glare. I got them a lot from bullies back on Earth when I was in my late primary school years and several high school years. “That doesn’t sound too odd,” Iron says, looking from the papers to myself. “Just an odd coincidence.” I nod. “True, it sounds like a very odd coincidence. However, mine and Twilight’s curiosity was piqued, so we asked. I believe, since it was royalty asking him, he felt complied to answer any question, even those that he shouldn’t answer.” Spoiled’s glare deepens. I’m struggling not to show my inner expression, though those are waring between anger and smugness, as I’ve figured things out. “He was informed the school made the commission.” Cinch cocks her head. “The school asked for a statue for that much? Was it of an important figure or moment in history?” “That would depend on whom you ask,” I say, looking pointedly at Spoiled now and, while the other two don’t seem to notice it, Cinch does. “As the statue is of the filly Diamond Tiara, to celebrate her winning the election for Student Pony President.” “But that Pipsqueak fellow is the Student Pony President, is he not?” Iron asks, looking very confused. “Why would a statue be made with the school’s funds to celebrate Spoiled Rich’s daughter winning?” “Why indeed,” Cinch asks, her eyes narrowed. “I think we’d best adjourn for a few minutes,” Spoiled says angrily, standing up and walking towards the door. I get up, my expression firm now. I was trying to get her to open up and explain herself without direct confrontation, but that tells me there she’s trying to avoid the subject. Likely, when she returns, she’d change the subject altogether. As Cinch starts to speak with the other two, I follow behind Spoiled, who has suddenly stopped in the doorway. I open my mouth to speak, when she says very louder and sternly, “Diamond Tiara!” I flinch, taken aback, before frowning. “I just happen to be here for the school board meeting and this is what I see when we adjourn?” she says, before stepping out and I noticed all the students are gathered outside, along with Cheerilee.  Spoiled starts walking out towards Diamond Tiara, who is standing in front of the CMC and is starting to look scared and sad. “My daughter interacting with confused, insignificant low lives?” My jaw drops. She... did Spoiled Rich just outright verbally assault three foals?! What the hell?! Not only is that verbal child abuse, but two of those fillies are sisters of heroes of Equestria. I... What the hell?! “Socializing with their kind is not how you move up in Equestria,” Spoiled continues, walking past the CMC, all three of whom are looking shocked by her words, as are all the students and Cheerilee. “Come, Diamond Tiara.” Before I can say anything, however, another voice speaks out against Spoiled. A voice I was not expecting to. Diamond Tiara. “No, Mother!” Spoiled at once turns around, a look of indignation on her face. “Excuse me?” she asks in a tone that says, “You’d better be joking, or you’re in so much trouble”. “You’ve spent your whole life acting like a high horse and raised me to follow in your hoofprints.” My shock wears off and I snarl. I... I don’t believe this. It’s the opposite of what the human Diamond Tiara had to deal with. Instead of an abusive father and loving mother, she has a loving father and abusive mother. I should’ve noticed it sooner. It’s so obvious now. Spoiled was being cold to Pipsqueak during the meeting, talked down to see and outright insulted him, but in a way only those watching her closely would notice. “At first I thought this was fine,” Diamond continues, sounding the tiniest bit unsure, before her voice becomes firm again, “but then I realized I wanted something you don’t have: friends!” The students and Cheerilee gasp, likely because Diamond is standing up to her mother so boldly and I’m defiantly impressed. My opinion of this filly is changing quite rapidly. Spoiled looks around at all those gathered, though apparently hasn’t noticed me yet, before she glares at her daughter. “That’s enough, Diamond Tiara. Step away from those Blank Flanks!” My eyes narrow again. Spike explained what a Blank Flank is. it’s the turn used to quickly explain a pony yet to find their Cutie Mark. But the way Spoiled just said it was like an insult. How much deeper does she want to dig this hole?! Diamond looks away from her mother to the CMC, smiling softly. “These are the Cutie Mark Crusaders and they are my friends.” Wait, what? When did that happen? Man, I’m just being thrown for a loop every which way today, aren’t I? “You need to stop calling them such mean and hurtful names,” Diamond continues, looking back at her mother briefly, before returning to look at the other three fillies. “They are working harder to get their Cutie Marks than anypony I’ve ever seen.” She looks back to her mother. “And they will get them exactly when they discover their true talent, which I can guarantee will be amazing!” She steps forward, before handing over a slip of paper towards Spoiled. “Now, will you please deliver this to Father?” Spoiled looks at her daughter for a moment, before finally noticing I’m standing in the doorway. “Uh... yes, of course, dear,” she says uncertainly, taking the note in her mouth and starting to walk off. I don’t see what else happens, as I quickly go back inside and inform the other ponies I’ll be back after I handle some very important business, hurrying out and flying off towards the castle.   ___________________________________________________________     Spoiled Rich walks into the room, freezing in place when she sees me, with three Royal Guards standing behind me. I’m in the person office of Filthy Rich in his home. After leaving the school, I’d gone back to the castle to find Spike. I’d told him to send a letter to Celestia at once, requesting several Royal Guards be teleported to the Rich home and await me there. After the message was sent, I took Spike with me and we met with Filthy, who’d been very concerned when six Royal Guards just suddenly appeared in front of his house informing him they were there on royal orders. When Filthy demanded to know what was going on, I showed him a visible projection of what I’d witnessed, using my magic. What Spoiled hadn’t known is that, as I’d already been suspicious, I’d used a spell I learned back during my time in Canterlot that allowed one to project their memories as if viewing a video. I’d originally intended to just get evidence of Spoiled having illegally used school funds for a person purchase, but what I got instead was far more incriminating. Filthy was horrified when he saw his own wife verbally abusing the CMC, more so Apple Bloom, since their families had been partners for years. “Why’re these guards in my house?” Spoiled says defensively. Filthy snarls. “Your house? Your house? You have the nerve to call this your house after you verbally assaulted Apple Bloom, not to mention what you’ve been putting our daughter through all this time?!” She blinks, glancing at me, before looking to her husband. “I have no idea what you mean. I have only tried to guide our daughter onto the right path. As for that farmer pony, I was just talking to her as she is.” I can see a vain twitching on Filthy’s forehead. “Out,” he says, very quietly. Spoiled gives him a bored and slightly confused look. “Excuse me?” “Out!” he yells, snarling at her. “Get out of my house, Spoilef! I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I will not let Diamond be harmed by it anymore! Don’t even think of coming back until you’ve gotten whatever help it is you need!” Spoiled’s mouth hangs open in shock, before closing it and glaring at him. “What? How dare you! On what grounds? I’m your wife for Celestia’s sake!” “You’re not my wife!” Filthy spits, shaking his head. “I don’t know who you are! I thought I married a smart, lovely, kind mare! But the mare I see before me is a heartless, money grubbing, foal abusing wench!” “Spoiled Rich,” I say coldly, glaring at her, “as a Princess of Equestria, I hereby place you under arrest for charges embezzling school funds for personal endeavors without clearance and child abuse on several counts.” She starts backing away as the three guards walk past me, only to bump into the other three, who’d been keeping hidden to make sure we could box her in and prevent her escaping. Spoiled starts screaming profanities at both the guards and myself, as well as pleading with Filthy, claiming she was only doing what was right for Diamond, but he ignores her as the guards take her away. Once Spoiled’s voice can no longer be heard, I look to him with a sad expression. “I’m sorry this had to happen, Mr. Rich.” He looks down dejectedly, before shaking his head. “No, Your Highness. It’s my own fault. I should have seen this sooner... protected my Diamond...” I put a hoof on his shoulder, causing his head to jerk up. I give him a small smile. “Rich, don’t blame yourself. You might not have been there enough before, but you can easily make up for that now.” He gives a small smile himself, before wiping his eyes. “She’ll get the help she needs, right?” I nod. “She’ll still face charges for what she did with the school, but I promise, she will get help.” We don’t get any further, however, before one of Filthy’s staff, Randolph, interrupts us. He said Diamond quickly stopped by, thankfully not encountering her mother as said mare was being dragged off, telling us to get to Sugar Cube Corner as fast as possible. Apparently after I’d left to speak with Rich and be ready to arrest his wife upon her returning home, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo all got their Cutie Marks, at the exact same time. Thankful for a much happier thing to keep on our minds, we all head down to the bakery, where Pinkie is throwing a huge party to celebrate the CMC finally getting their marks.