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// Chapter 4 
// Story: Dinky goes to school 
// by jojijijmz 
//------------------------------//

                Dinky ran into the bright schoolhouse, which was now extremely welcoming to her after only her first day. She bolted in, the door closing behind her in a thud. Oh how she loved the warm feel of the schoolhouse,  the feeling of glazed wood as her hooves slid upon the floors, the bookshelves lining the halls, and even the blackboard gave her an odd sense of comfort. She trotted between the desks, only a few fillies in the class due to her earliness. SHe plopped down on a seat, enjoying the feel of the wooden chair against her rump. She loved everything about school, and learning, she loved learning. Some people said it was boring, but it was new information, new ways to see the muddled and confused world around her. She wanted to know how the sun worked, how chemistry worked, how the world worked, what the word “Macerate” meant. She wanted to know, and she absorbed knowledge like a sponge. How good it felt, she felt a tingling in her horn every single time she learned something new. She had a voracious hunger for knowledge. 
        She grabbed the beginner’s guide to practical magic and propped it open, looking up a new spell. She strained and focused, beginning to turn the pages. She stopped at a spell that interested her, and she began to read. 
        Before Dinky knew it, cheerilee walked into the class, repeating her usual mantra of introductions, and Dinky pushed her book into her purple saddlebag and rested her hooves on her desk, ready to learn. Cheerilee smiled again, gleeful her new student was so curious and ready to learn. She turned to the class, beaming. 
        “Hello my little ponies, now today we’re going to learn about history! Specifically, the poniecians, or, later in history, the colthageinians!” Dinky raised her hoof. 
        “Yes Dinky?”
        “How does a civilization have two names?” 
        “Well... the Poniecians were an empire on the other side of the ocean, but then they were overtaken by the Colthageinians. They are different civilizations who inhabited the         same place.” Dinky nodded understandingly, and Cheerilee carried on with her lesson. 
        “Now class, can you tell me what large empire fought against the Colthageinians?” A small purple hoof raised into the air again. 
        “The Romponians?”
        “Yes Dinky, that is correct, now the Romponians were an interesting empire, much of their art was in the style of pegasi. Now, the Romponians were predominantly made up of pegasi, while Colthage was mainly made up of unicorns and pegasi. The Romponians were very brutal and warlike, after all, they had descended from captain hurricane. Now, Colthage was a very intelligent empire. They developed the first apartments, and devised gigantic air frigates powered by magic and pegasi. There were three wars, and in the end, Colthage won the wars, destroying Rompony. That is a basic overview, but we’re going to go much more in depth. Anypony have questions?” A yellow hoof raised into the calm air. 
        ‘Yes applebloom?” 
        “Didn’t the Colthaginians cross over the great air divide while riding on phoenixes? Even though it was a huge blizzard and the pheonixes were armored for warmer climates? I learned that from Twilight telling me history was cool.”
        “Why yes, that was one of the greatest military feats ever done, and it was the Colthageinians. Now let me begin-” The lesson carried on, with many a question curious and wise. Dinky was dumbfounded, phoenixes, over freezing mountains! That was so cool! She became very engaged, hanging on every word spoken as a token of vast knowledge. And became engrossed in the lesson. Diamond Tiara, glanced over to the filly, disgusted at her interest. I always hate it how those freaks think that they can compensate for their mistakes by trying to study, don’t they know they can never be as great as us higher beings? She thought as she grimaced at the thought of any mistakes being successful. Meanwhile Scoodaloo simply drew out plans for a trebuchet so she could try and fly. As well as fling bananas for banana catching cutie marks. 
        After the mind-blowing lesson, Dinky skipped outside of school, going back to her corner to read. She plopped down, and grabbed the tome. Feeling the smooth paper cover, she inhaled the beautiful aroma of paper that reminded her of Twilight’s library. She propped open the book, and began to read, lost in a sea of words. This was euphoria for Dinky, this was home, among her books, she could read for eternity. But then, an orange filly blocked her view. 
        “What are you reading?” Scoodaloo asked, eyes shining brightly in the midday sun. 
        “Ummmm... A practical guide to basic magic.” The filly scanned the pages, but then grimaced. 
        “Looks complicated.”
        “Not really.” Scoodaloo sighed and trotted off with the rest of the CMC. Dinky began reading her book again. She strained, attempting to take a pencil from her saddlebag and write on the back page of the book. She surrounded the pencil in a strong yellow aura, and placed it on the book, she strained, moving the pencil. But it dropped after her concentration was interrupted by a sharp CRACK. She looked down at the pencil to find it’s lead broken. She sighed and put the book down, instead switching to a Daring Do book. She propped it open, and began to immerse herself in the pages once again. The rough texture of the paper welcoming to her hooves. 
        Several minutes later, she found the book lying out of her hooves. She looked up, once again to be met with the face of Diamond Tiara. 
        “What do you want?” Dinky asked, a hint of fear in her voice.
        “What do you think freak.” Diamond tiara replied, grabbing Dinky’s magic book from her bag. 
        “Why are you trying to take my book again?”
        “You showed me up yesterday, made me look like an idiot because of you, you don’t even deserve the same air as me, but you think you can actually touch me with you freak magic. Now is the time I really show you.”
        “Wha-” Dinky was met with a pink hoof in her stomach. She doubled back, gasping for breath on the ground. She felt as if all breath and air and been pushed out of her in a single breath. She gasped for air, an action which sent creeping tendrils of pain up her torso. She gazed up at a smirking filly. 
        “Good, now you know your place, below me.” She said creully laughing as she walked off with the book. 
        “Well, isn’t this a precious little book. It tells you exactly how to be a freak.” She said as she turned towards the sobbing filly. She grabbed one of the pages with her hoof and pulled abruptly, sending several pages spiraling to the ground. For Dinky, the soft sound of paper hitting the ground was the sound of an elephant stomping. Diamond tiara was manic, laughing as she sent more pages to the ground. A symphony of stomps singing a song of despair to the unicorn. Her magic, the one book she could use to actually hone her abilities, was gone. Diamond was shouting now in rhythm of the ripping.
        “ THIS IS WHAT YOU GET OR BEING A STUPID, BLANK-FLANK, FREAK, YOU DESERVE TO DIE IN THE PITS OF TARTARUS!” She yelled in frantic mania, planting another hoof into the now bawling filly. Pain shot into her as she gaped on the ground between sobs. Her book her precious book that taught her everything about her abilities, gone.  She cried out with tears of utter desperation and sadness, and her red eyes were met with the sight of all the pages of her beloved book. She scrambled forward, feeling the shredded paper in her tender hooves. 
        “Nononononononono...my...my...book.” He muttered between sobs, stuck in the utter futility of her magic. 
        “See... all that freak magic and look at what you are, nothing.” She laughed, ckicking the downed filly again. Pain shooting up her side again. 
        “P...please...stop.” At this, Diamond giggled. 
        “STOP, STOP, YOU THINK, AFTER YOU TOUCH ME WITH YOUR DISGUSTING FREAK MAGIC AND YOU REFUSE TO ACCEPT ME AS A HIGHER BEING, NOW, WHEN YOU GET WHAT YOU AND YOUR KIND DESERVE, YOU ASK ME TO STOP!” Dinky looked up in horror as she was met with a hoof in the jaw. She felt a burst of blood running into her mouth as she gazed up, now unable to move her mouth. She was in agony, the scratching of her now moved jaw pestering her every time she made a small movement. She submitted, wallowing in a pool of a mixture of blood and despair, she submitted. However, just as she gave up, something clicked inside of her, something, connected. She stood up, the pain now dulled to the point that it was nothing, even though she would be writhing in agony at any other time. She stood. Her eyes slowly parted, revealing her yellow eyes to be gone, and instead, it was replaced by pure white. Her horn was gleaming. and she began to hover in the air. A celestial aura surrounded the filly as she lost awareness of everything around her, her body becoming a puppet of greater magic within her. All attention was now on Diamond as she gazed nervously at the filly floating next to her. 
        In a burst of pure, unfiltered arcane energy, Diamond Tiara was lifted into the air three meters, she struggled and fought against the force, but it was far beyond the foal. Suddenly, all force dropped, and she plummeted to the ground. Pain shot into her leg, and she cried out, sobbing and bawling on the ground. She looked down at her cut, it was about a centimeter in width and five in length, it could have been mistaken as a paper cut. A small drop of blood fell out, and she stared in agony. 
        “NO, OH GOD IT’S BLEEDING!” She said as she wailed, crying and crying, but nopony came to her side. She looked up, finding dinky floating. That was when it began to rain. The fillies gazed up, as the storm became torrential, the pattering of heavy rain became so loud one would have to shout to even have a chance to be heard. All only in a matter of seconds. Diamond looked up, finding her breath foggy. Goosebumps popped on her skin, it was freezing, but it had been twenty degrees moments ago. The rain itself turned to hail. And it began to pelt all of the fillies. They ran into the schoolhouse, sopping and hurt. Cheerilee gazed up from her grading to find a soaking class in her room. 
“What is going on?” She asked in an inquisitively kind voice. Applebloom stepped forward, breathing heavily. 
“Dinky.” Was the only word she muttered as Cheerilee ran outside, investigating the hail. 
“Wow, I really do get in the zone when I grade papers.” She muttered as she ran to the incredible sight of Dinky floating in the air. Hail pestered her at every moment, and she was already feeling pain. She gazed up, wind blowing her mane this way and that. She looked down, finding Diamond tiara sobbing as she gazed at her paper cut. Cheerilee stood imposing over the filly. 
“What in the name of celestia happened?” 
“It was her, she did it, she hurt me, and then just went crazy!” Diamond yelled in a non convincing voice. 
“Is OW that OW what OW really OW GOD THAT BURNS Happened?” Not even getting an answer, she picked up Diamond and ran away, following the fillies and colts that already fleed the site without her knowing. 

Meanwhile, in twilight’s library, twilight was interrupted by loud thudding on her roof. The purple mare stepped up from her couch, gazing up at the roof. 
“Usually the pegasi would tell us when they make a malestrom like this, well, at least I get to stay in and re-” She was interrupted by knocking at her door. Twilight sighed, trotting over before she opened the door with a magical aura. She was surprised when she was met with Cheerilee herself. 
“What is going on?” Twilight asked, truly vexed at the situation. Cheerilee only muttered a single word. 
“Help.”