Extra: Restored Content
Music is a big deal to me, and I wanted to include a musical number somewhere in the story. I decided that I would parody Twilight's "I Have To Find a Way" song from the S3 finale, but with Rainbow Dash instead. I went as far as writing the song out, setting it in the middle of Chapter 4. However, I felt that would be too ambitious, so I did a full edit of the scene and removed the song. The text in between Rainbow's singing is exactly the same as in the chapter, so if you want to jump through all of Rainbow's lines, I've provided an instrumental version of the song.
I Have to Find a Way
Twilight, Starlight, and Spike found themselves following Rainbow Dash as she made her way around the outside of the hotel. She glanced into one window, and what she saw made her stop and hover in place. After a pause, she drew closer, bringing into focus Rarity, sobbing into her bed. A small white hoof and a cool blue dragon’s claw had been placed by their respective owners on each of Rarity’s front hooves, but her sisters did little to assuage her sorrows. Shard began speaking, but her speech was silenced by the closed window in front of Rainbow Dash. Rarity raised her head and stared into the dragon’s face, her eyes bloodshot and the corners of her mouth turned downward. Her lips moved silently as she embraced Shard and Sweetie Belle, only to begin crying anew and wailing something unintelligible.
Rainbow sighed and placed her hoof on the windowsill and sighed, then began singing.
“I have to find a way
To make this all ok.
I didn’t think this small mistake
Could have caused so much heartache.
Oh, why? Oh why-y-y?”
Rainbow moved on to a second window and peered in at Cheerilee, who was lying on her bed with a box of tissues on one side of her, and a photo album on the other. Likely, it was one of the few things she had been able to recover from her home.
“Losing friendships.
I don’t know what to do
Seeking answers.
I fear I won’t be there for you.”
Cheerilee turned a page in her photo album, gasped, closed her eyes, and fumbled for another tissue. Rainbow continued along the side of the hotel to the next window where she saw Pinkie Pie with her hair completely straight. Though she sat at a table in front of a plate of food, she looked completely disinterested. Her parents and sisters had apparently long since left the table, save Marble, who remained silently at her side with a look of concern on her face.
“There is no way that this is right.
This isn’t how it’s meant to be.
And now I see it in my flight
That all your pain is caused by me.”
Marble finally spoke up, which made Pinkie turn her head slightly. A moment later, Pinkie’s gaze returned to her plate. In the third room Rainbow saw Sunburst holding Apple Bloom over his shoulder as he talked with Big Mac and Granny Smith. Poor Apple Bloom was crying uncontrollably. Rainbow pressed her hooves against the window drew a labored breath.
“Oh why? Oh why-y-y?
Oh why? Oh why-y-y?”
Granny and Big Mac gasped and exchanged glances. Rainbow couldn’t bear to watch the Apples break down. She grimaced and forced herself to look away while closing her tear-filled eyes. “Oh, Celestia. What have I done?”
Bon Bon's acceptance speech for her Element included a bit of exposition regarding changelings. I originally had that speech written to contain two or three times as much information, but decided it made the scene drag. This deletion had the unintended consequence of creating a plot hole with Dragonbane's out-of-nowhere promotion to a leadership position, which I noticed recently. Some of this material overlaps with already-established canon for how changelings work in my fanfic, while some of it explores new territory. So, whether you're a lore lover or a Cinema Sinner, here's the rest of the info dump.
Changeling Lore
“Changelings repopulate by two ways: reproduction and assimilation,” Bon Bon continued. “Reproduction is fairly straightforward; a changeling monarch abducts, entices, or rarely and more ethically, genuinely falls in love with an individual of a different species and opposite sex. Five to six months later, the female, whether changeling or not, lays an enormous amount of eggs. Two more months, and the eggs hatch into changeling larvae, which will spin a cocoon at age five and emerge as tiny versions of adult changelings a few weeks later. This short maturation period comes as a tradeoff, however; the life expectancy of an adult changeling is only thirty years, not including time spent as a larva. So, changeling monarchs often resort to assimilation.
“Assimilation occurs when the changeling monarch uses their fangs to pierce the skin of a member of another species. Within moments, venom glands on the roof of the mouth dump their contents into the victim’s bloodstream, and the victim rapidly transforms into a changeling. The primary benefit of assimilation is longevity. The victim retains many of their original physical traits. More often than not, assimilated changelings possess longer lifespans. Because of this, assimilated changelings are given leadership positions more often than their non-assimilated brothers and sisters. I myself am an assimilated earth pony.”
This next scene was written in whole, deliberated over, and cut completely. Originally, this scene was going to go into Chapter 8, but I felt it made History Lesson unnecessarily dark and brought little or nothing to the table in terms of advancing the main plot. Those of you who were wary of the "Dark" tag going into my story, be advised, as this is the darkest material published under this title. I might take this opportunity to say again that this scene is not canon to History Lesson.
Losing her Marbles
Pinkie Pie’s hooves clacked against the metal ladder as she ascended. She carefully yet urgently felt her way up, guided only by the insufficient light provided by the small window in the roof access hatch. At last, she reached the top and opened the hatch, but not before noting the already-flipped latch. She squinted as light from outside flooded her vision. As her eyes adjusted, she climbed up onto the roof of the high-rise. She took a breath and called out to the mare sitting at the edge of a precarious drop. “Marble!”
Pinkie’s sister whirled around with a start. “Pinkie! I—I told you not to follow me!”
“Marble, don’t do this! Please! I understand what you’re going through; let me help!” Pinkie slowly began making her way towards her sister.
“I can’t go on like this!” she shouted, the wind whipping through her unkempt mane. “Not after what happened to Maud.”
“You can’t do this to Mom and Dad! You’d be another Maud to them!”
“Pinkie, stop!” she ordered. “Don’t come any closer!” Pinkie froze mid-stride, then returned her hoof to the ground. “I can’t live without her! What they did to her—nopony should go out like that. It’s—it’s horrible!”
“I know,” Pinkie said as the wind blew through her short hair, howling all around her. She paused and sighed, continuing on with a much more tender tone. “Marble? Will you let me come out there with you?” Marble took a step backwards. “I—I want to give you one last hug before you—you know—”
“Jump,” Marble finished. Pinkie’s sad blue eyes were too much for Marble. She lowered her head and lifted a hoof, dragging the leading edge back and forth along the top of the building.
“Oh, Marble!” Pinkie ran to embrace her sister, sobbing as she drew near. She slowed as she closed the distance, and noticed streams of tears on her sister’s face. “Marble…”
Marble threw her forelegs around Pinkie and each cried on the shoulder of the other. Several long moments passed before Marble drew out of the embrace and looked her twin in the face. “I hope you won’t miss me too much.”
Pinkie caught one of Marble’s hooves as she tried to go down to all fours. “Marble? Will—will you let me jump with you?” Marble was taken aback by the unexpected request. “You can’t live without Maud, but I’ve never lived without you. We were born together, we grew up together, lived together… now, we die together.”
Marble lowered her head. “Pinkie, I—I don’t know—”
“Why? Why shouldn’t I jump? Any reason you would use against me, I could use against you.”
Marble contemplated her sister’s request a moment, finally raising her head to meet her sister’s gaze. “Y—you really want to?” Pinkie Pie nodded. “O—Ok. Just—just don’t try anything. I’ll know if you’re trying to trick me.”
“Right. Marble Sense.”
And I’ll know if you’re about to fall, she thought. Pinkie Sense.
The two held hooves as they looked over the edge at the ground far below. “Ok,” Marble said with shaky voice. “One.”
No Pinkie Sense yet.
“Two.”
Twitchy tail! Grab her!
Marble involuntarily wretched her hoof away from Pinkie and stumbled a few steps away from her. She stared at her hoof, then at her sister in disbelief. “Pinkamena Diane Pie! Wh—Why! You didn’t mean it, did you? I thought I could trust you!” she shouted through her tears. “I thought you were different!”
“I am, Marble, look at me! Look at what I’ve become!” she shouted, pulling at her short, straight hair. “How am I, of all ponies, supposed to be the Element of Laughter? Marble you can’t. Do. This! Not to our parents, and not to me!”
“You betrayed me!” Marble shouted. “You came to me telling me how you understood! How that you felt what I was going through! You’re just like all the rest! You don’t know! You don’t even care!” Pinkie lunged, but Marble jumped before she could reach her.
“Marble, no!”
Suddenly weaker than she had ever felt, Pinkie collapsed and began to weep.
Pinkie doubled over at the feeling of nausea that overtook her; she clutched at her chest as a deep pain stabbed at her chest. She heard the whoosh of a pegasus she knew to be Rainbow Dash, whom she had instructed to remain on the ground “just in case.” Marble would be safe, but right now she didn’t even care. Marble would never trust her again. She’d probably be placed in some mental ward and put on suicide watch. Effectively, Marble was now dead to her. Just as dead as Maud.
And that wraps up History Lesson! Hope you guys enjoyed. I'd love to hear feedback in the comments down below. Three easy ways you can make an author happy: upvote, follow, and comment. Stick around for the sequel, History Reimagined!
EDIT: It's here.
https://www.fimfiction.net/story/349059/history-reimagined
