Luna wasn't surprised when Aria stormed into her office after lunch. She could easily tell that her middle daughter was furious.
"Mom," Aria said, "Something has to be done about Gilda, you saw her latest 'masterpiece' it's a direct threat against Scootaloo."
"Yes I saw that unfortunate piece of artwork, and I have spent the morning making sure that Celestia doesn't see it," Luna responded, "and even though we both know that Gilda is the one responsible, no one saw her do it and she left no evidence, and thus, in the eyes of the law she is innocent until proven guilty."
Aria looked at her mother, and could see the fire in Luna's eyes. "It's only a matter of time before Gilda follows through with her threat," Aria said.
"Which is why I don't want you or your sisters to leave Scootaloo alone," Luna replied.
"I wasn't planning on it." Aria asked, "can I have a few bucks to get dinner, if I'm taking the brat home, I might as well feed her. it'll just be me and her today. Dagi has some club thing that she is doing over at Crystal Prep, and Nata is having dinner with Pinkie and her family."
"Well take her straight home after school," Luna said, as she handed Aria one of her credit cards,"as much as I know that you want to go after Gilda, keeping Scootaloo safe is more important. I'm sure that Raven will give you a ride if you ask."
"Ok mom," Aria said, "but don't hold me accountable for what happens if I run into Gilda."
"Now shouldn't you be getting to your next class," Luna said, "I won't let you drive the Camaro if your grades drop."
"Ooh, good bribe," Aria said as she left her mother's office.
From her carefully chosen hiding spot, Gilda watched Aria leave the Vice-Principal's office. She wondered why the former Dazzling was always coming and going to Ms. Luna's office.
"What's up Big G?" A voice said behind her. Gilda turned with her fist clenched tight, ready to punch whomever had snuck up on her. She relaxed when she saw that it was Lightning Dust.
"Just watching and waiting," Gilda said with a predatory grin. Lightning Dust pretended to fan herself, as if it was a hot Summer day and not early Winter.
"Meow," Lightning Dust replied, "how is your plan going?"
"So far so good," Gilda replied, "I just need to catch the little snot after school and then I'm as good as gold."
"And how do you plan to do that?" Lightning Dust asked, "everywhere she goes she is either flanked by Rainbow Dash and those goodie two shoes friends of hers, or Monsters Inc."
"Why is Monsters Inc. so concerned about Scooterbutt anyway." Gilda thought aloud.
"I dunno," Lightning Dust said, "but she's been hanging out with Sunset for the last week."
"Maybe Sunset and her monsters were in on Anon-A-Miss," Gilda thought, "maybe we can use that to our advantage."
"Again, how are we going to do that," Lightning Dust said, "the school Administration has blocked MyStable for now because of that Incognito character."
"How did they spread rumors and gossip before the age of social media," Gilda replied, "by word of mouth. We just need to say the right things to the right people."
"And Sunset and her friends are social pariahs once more." Lightning Dust realized, "I love this plan."
"Exactly." Gilda said with a fiendish grin. Unbeknownst to both Gilda and Lightning Dust, their conversation had been observed by a third party.
This will make for an exciting game,
Aria waited for Scootaloo to exit the ISS room after school.ehen she was sure that she had Scootaloo's attention, she approached the younger girl. Scootaloo felt nervous. She could feel the hateful glares from the students around her.
"Ready to go Squirt?" Aria asked.
"Uh, sure." Scootaloo said, "I just need to stop by my locker first.
"No, we aren't,"Aria answered, "if there's something you absolutely need, text Sunset and she'll get it for you."
"I'm, okay," Scootaloo said confused, "what's wrong with my locker?"
"Don't worry about it, we're taking care of it," Aria said as she started walking towards the school exit, "now, what would you like for dinner?"
"What do you mean?"
"My mom gave me her credit card," Aria said smugly.
"Could we have fried chicken?" Scootaloo asked.
"Sure," Aria replied, "why not."
The walk to Celestia's house was short, the principal only lived a few blocks away from the school. It wasn't until they entered Saddleback Park that they ran into trouble.
"Trixie demands justice," Trixie shouted when she caught sight of Scootaloo. Then she turned to several other CHS students that happened to be nearby, "for all we know Sunset and the Dazzlings were most likely in on Anon-A-Miss from the beginning."
"Yeah," Bulk Biceps said, "Trixie's right."
Aria began to look for a way to diffuse the situation. The first thing that came to mind was using her powers, but she quickly banished that thought from her mind. She scanned the rapidly growing mob for a friendly face, she found one.
"FLASH," Aria called out, "a little help please."
Flash ran forward and put himself between the crowd and Scootaloo, meanwhile, Aria began looking for another route through the park and to Celestia's house. Someone in crowd had begun throwing trash and debris. It took her a minute to realize that Flash was speaking.
"What," Aria said impatiently, "I'm looking for a way out of here."
"I have one," Flash said as he pointed toward the park entrance that Aria and Scootaloo had just used, "my car is right over there."
"Let's go," Aria said. She could feel her blood starting to boil. With Flash leading the way, the trio practically ran toward Flash's parked car. Aria made sure to keep herself between the mob and Scootaloo. Luckily, nobody had started to throw rocks yet. Aria didn't give Scootaloo a chance to hesitate before forcing the girl into Flash's car. Little did they realize that they were followed.