The bell ringing signalled the end of another day at school for the foals of Ponyville. And if that wasn't a clear enough signal, the mass stampede of cheering ponies departing from the building was. At the back of them were two Earth pony fillies, who watched their classmates departing with barely concealed disdain.
"Another day finally over," one of them said, "and we don't have anything to do. Any ideas, Silver Spoon?"
Silver Spoon shook her head and shrugged.
"I don't know, Diamond Tiara," she replied, "maybe we can go to the park? Normally we'd have some fun with the blank-flanks, but none of them were in school today."
Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes and sighed.
"Fine," she muttered, "let's go to the park. Maybe somepony will fall over or something and we can make fun of them for that."
The two nodded to each other and set off, the afternoon sun beating down on their backs.
***
The Ponyville Park was a hive of activity. Ponies played, talked and laughed in the sunshine and lounged in any shade they could find.
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon entered with all the grace and charm of a rabid manticore, scanning the area around them for potential victims with just as much vicious cunning.
After a while, Silver Spoon saw a pair of foals – a filly and a colt – in a sandbox and nudged her partner in crime. Diamond Tiara glanced at them.
"What about them?" she asked, "It's just two foals in a sandbox."
Silver Spoon smirked.
"They're the librarian's foals," she whispered, "so that would mean that their dad is a...?"
Diamond Tiara mulled the question over for a moment before realisation hit her and she grinned.
"Of course!" she said, "Their dad's a human so that makes them half-breeds, which are even worse than blank-flanks!"
The two fillies put on their most angelic smiles and trotted over to where the two foals played in the sand. Each of them would build a sandcastle, only for the other to destroy it. The activity brought laughter rather than tears, as each of them sought to bring down the other castle in the most imaginative way possible.
Diamond Tiara waited until the colt built another sandcastle before casually sauntering over and stomping it underhoof. The colt looked up at her with quavering eyes, only for her to sneer derisively at him in return.
"Look at this, Silver Spoon," she said, "the little half-breed has actually got a backbone. I thought for sure he wouldn't on account of the fact he's a freak, just like his sister."
The colt snorted at her angrily. While unable to reply himself, he was clearly able to understand the harsh words being directed towards him and his sister. Silver Spoon chuckled.
"I think that messing with these two will turn out to be even more fun than messing with the blank-flanks." she said, "Wouldn't you agree, Diamond Tiara?"
Diamond Tiara nodded.
"Oh yes, Silver Spoon," she replied, "Much more fun. They may look like normal ponies now, but you just know they're going to grow fingers or something later. It's just... creepy."
Silver Spoon shuddered dramatically.
"Yeah," she said sycophantically, "it totally is."
The two foals huddled together, as if trying to show their aggressors that they would not be intimidated, but the two fillies looked at each other and laughed. They both took a step forward and prepared to fire off another insult before a loud, and authoritative, voice cut through the air and caused their fur to stand on end.
"Leave. Them. Alone." the voice demanded, "You will not harass the innocent any longer."
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon looked at each other in panic, while the two foals each developed a smug expression. The voice was soon joined by a flash of light, which caused the two fillies to shield their eyes.
When the light cleared they found themselves looking at a dark blue leg. They slowly looked up to find none other than Princess Luna looking down at them, a very prominent scowl on her face.
"P-Princess Luna?" Diamond Tiara and her lackey both bowed, "What brings you to Ponyville?"
"These two," Luna gestured to the two foals now clinging to her leg, "are my responsibility while their parents are assisting Princess Cadence in the Crystal Empire, so you can imagine that I would not take kindly to those who would seek to do them harm, be it physical... or verbal. Now would you kindly explain yourselves?"
"We were just—" Silver Spoon stuttered.
"— messing around!" Diamond Tiara finished.
Both fillies looked at Luna pleadingly. The Princess seemed unphased by their explanations and snorted.
"I think I know a bully when I see one," she said, "because in case you had forgotten, I used to be one myself. I think you two need some time to think about how best to conduct yourselves around other ponies. I think the proper term is 'a time-out'."
The two fillies' eyes widened in horror as Luna's horn glowed. Another flash of light followed and soon the two were gone.
Luna looked down at the foals nuzzling her legs and smiled. They looked up at her and cooed happily.
"That takes care of those two," she said, "but I don't think my sister is going to be happy when she hears of this..."
She walked over to the swings while whistling a jaunty tune, the two foals squealing gleefully with every step.
***
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon opened their eyes slowly, the light from Luna's horn having almost blinded them and were greeted with nothing but blackness.
"Diamond Tiara?" Silver Spoon asked, "Are you okay?"
"I think so, Silver Spoon." Diamond Tiara replied, "Are you?"
"Yeah," came the reply, "I am. What do you think the Princess did to us? Did she turn us into anything... horrible?"
Diamond Tiara scoffed.
"She probably just teleported us somewhere dark to try and scare us." she replied, "We're probably in somepony's closet."
"Well then," Silver Spoon said cheerfully, "let's find the exit and get out of here. Nopony must know of this, okay?"
"Of course not," Diamond Tiara snorted, "least of all those blank-flanks. They'll eat this up for weeks."
The two fillies started walking in the direction they were facing, fixing smiles upon their faces and readying their stories for whomever the closet belonged to regarding how they ended up there in the first place.
After several minutes of walking, the smiles had been replaced with scowls and the stories replaced with what they were going to tell their parents regarding why they were so late in getting home. Diamond Tiara stopped and sat on her haunches, panting heavily.
"This... is too much." she groaned, "Nopony... has a closet... this big. We'd better... turn around... and head back... to where somepony can find us."
Silver Spoon nodded, beads of sweat trickling down her face. The two fillies turned around to head back. They managed a few paces before they noticed what was in front of them.
"Umm, Silver Spoon?" Diamond Tiara asked, "Is that... Equestria?"
Silver Spoon nodded again, her jaw hanging open in shock.
"I think... it is," she replied, "but if that's the case, then that would mean we're... oh no."
They exchanged a horrified glance before raising their heads to the heavens and screaming.
***
Back in the park, Luna's ears picked up a faint sound coming from the sky above. A small smirk came to her lips as she took respite from pushing two foals on the swings.
"I think they've just realised where they are." she said to herself, "Hopefully they'll learn their lesson about being nice in a day, rather than in a thousand years."
She giggled and resumed pushing, the sounds of two happy foals overriding the sounds of two anguished fillies.