August 16, 1006 Post Nightmare Moon
Sweetie Belle groaned as she trotted down the street with her niece. She'd taken a few nasty blows in the comic world and her head was swimming from the exertion of moving.
"You okay aunty?" The chocolate brown filly asked.
"I'm fine Sugar Cube. Just a little headache from all the running I did last night to get my homework sheet."
Sugar Cube shrugged. "Makes sense. Doesn't explain the bruise I can see through the fur on your shoulder though."
Sweetie froze and glanced at her shoulder. Sure enough there was a large bruise, easily visible through her fur. 'Oh crap.... did Twilight see it? Did my sister see it? Did Spike see it?'
'Is something wrong Sweetie?' Nightmare's voice echoed through her head. 'You're very loud today.'
'Oh just fretting over this huge bruise on my shoulder that is visible through my fur. Nothing too big.' Sweetie responded sarcastically.
"And there you go, staring off into space again like the airhead you are." Sugar Cube said boredly as she trotted onward toward a place that wasn't the schoolhouse.
"And where are you going?" Sweetie asked the wayward filly. "The school is that way." She motioned with a hoof.
"Which is exactly why I'm going this way." Sugar Cube responded. "More fun, less rules and less learning."
"Come on Sugar Cube. My sister and Twilight wouldn't like it if their daughter, my niece, was skipping school." Sweetie said as she used her magic to yank the chocolate brown unicorn back over towards her and drag her all the way to school, ignoring the protests as they came at a steady pace.
The lesson was a boring one, the history of Equestria. Sweetie had already learned alot of it from her sister and Twilight, and she was getting irritated looks from Cheerilee whenever she started pointing things that were wrong.
Not that she really cared. She got rewarded when she got back to her sisters boutique and relayed the news, and delivered the letter that went with it.
The issue was mostly to do with the younger foals in the class with them being taught a different set of history now that Luna was the sole Princess after Celestia misread her calendar and tried to cast the Armageddon.
She was also quite well versed in political knowledge due to Twilight's connections in Canterlot and the seat she held on the royal council.
And she knew Luna wasn't really in control of Equestria. At least not while she was living in SugarCube Corner and engaged to Pinkie Pie.
All these facts she was relaying to the class under the ireful gaze of their teacher.
The younger foals, including Sunny, Icing and Dewey were watching her with awe. Applebloom was sniggering at the look on Cheerilee's face and Scootaloo was doodling in her book, casting the occasional jealous glance at Sunny.
"...so the head of the Royal Council holds the current seat of political strength, the head being Ponyville's own Twilight Suzanne Sparkle, as decreed by Celestia before her banishment to the sun." Sweetie finished up her lecture and sat down while Cheerilee rubbed her temples.
"Thank you Sweetie Belle. I'll be expecting your sister and her marefriend in here tonight seeing as those letters I've been sending with you are going unheeded." Cheerilee sighed.
"I'm sure my sister and Twilight will have a few things to talk to you about regarding our curriculum too." Sweetie smiled innocently.
Cheerille just groaned and let her head slam into her desk. "I'm calling a half day today. You can all go home. Sweetie. I'll be following you to talk with your sister and Twilight."
Sugar Cube was the first one out the door and found herself galloping headlong towards Sweet Apple Acres, at least until she barreled into a yellow and pink winged wall, falling flat on her haunches.
"Owww..." She rubbed her nose. "Watch where you're going!"
"Oh..." A meek voice answered. "I'm sorry. But... you're the one who bumped into me." A light pair of hooves picked her up and set her back upright before gently putting pressure on her nose. "It doesn't feel like anything is broken."
"If it is it's your fault ya bleedin' idiot." Sugar Cube snapped. "Get your dirty hoof off me nose!" She slapped the hoof away. "It smells like you've been touching dogs."
"Hey!" Dewey shouted. "Leave my mom awone! It was your fault for not watching where you were going!"
"Oh. It's okay Dewdrop sweetie. I don't mind. She's hurt, and..."
Dewey sighed. "And injured creatures will wash out at what hurt them." She finished. "I know I know mom."
Sugar Cube blinked and looked up, finding the smiling face of Fluttershy looking down at her. "Oh. I'm sorry Aunty Fluttershy. I didn't know it was you."
"It's okay Sugar Cube. You apologized so I'm not bothered." Fluttershy smiled. "Though I might have to have a word with your mothers regarding your language." Her demeanor suddenly turned stern.
Sugar Cube gulped. "No no. Please. Just.... old habits I picked up from my dad before he got caught."
Fluttershy let out a light chuckle as she trotted past and gave her daughter a motherly nuzzle. "It's okay Sugar Cube. It was just a little joke."
"Some joke." She grumbled before cantering off, angling towards Sweet Apple Acres. Her belly rumbled and thoughts of pilfering fresh apples from the trees filled her head.
Scootaloo and Applebloom had managed to build a considerable lead over Sugar Cube on their way back to their clubhouse, Silver Spoon following after them at a slight distance.
"You don't have to keep throwin' those glances at Sunny like she's done somethin' to personally offend you. Ah mean, okay, you're Rainbow Dash's biggest fan here in Ponyville. Fair enough, but you're givin' her such a hard time about it. It ain't her fault she is who she is." Applebloom scolded her friend.
"That's not what's getting to me." Scootaloo defended herself before withering under her friends gaze. "Well okay... maybe that's part of it. But what really irks me is just.... how similar she is to me. And yet so different at the same time."
"Explain."
"Well, our wings are both weaker than the average pegasi's, and we've both found something to keep our minds off it. But where as I've set my time to finding a way to validate... these!" she gestured to her woefully underdeveloped wings. "She's ignoring her lack of flight and....grah!" Scootaloo groaned as she put her hooves to her face and stood on her hindlegs, tipping back and falling to the ground. "Soccer. Damn Soccer. She's going to get famous like her mom, and what am I going to be? The head of a faceless corporation that no pony knows? An obscure star in a sport dominated by earthponies?"
"She's reminding you of your own shortcomings and it's drawing your attention to your own flaws." Silver Spoon spoke up. When she noticed the looks she was getting she shrugged. "My aunt's a psychologist at Ponyville general. I've had to spend a few afternoons getting psycho-analyzed because I've gone home upset after she's stopped in for a visit."
"Your point?"
Silver Spoon shrugged again. "My point being, she's everything you want to be in one way or another. She's in the family of your idol, she's not bothered by her lack of wing power and she's found an interest that could make her as famous as her mom." She looked down at Scootaloo. "Stop hating her for what she has that you don't, and try actually being her friend and not faking it. That way you can say that you're friends with the daughter of your idol. And who knows, maybe you're being a bigger influence on her life than you think."
"Which ones life?"
"Take your pick."Silver Spoon said before trotting ahead of the pair.
"She makes a good point." Applebloom said.
Scootaloo just grumbled and got up, trotting after the pair.
Sugar Cube headed right to the center of the orchard and started pilfering apples from the trees that grew around the CmC's clubhouse.
"Mmm... so juicy." She smiled as she took another bite out of the apple in her magic's yellow grasp. Her thoughts drifted to her magic. She knew basic levitation and telekinesis but anything beyond that was an immense strain on her.
"So what are we going to do today? Sweetie isn't with us so..."
"We can go into the comic if we want, it'd be good practice for Silver Spoon."
"Ah don't think that'd be wise. Sweetie got hers first and she seems to have a bigger clue about what's goin' on in there than we do."
"We're just going to head in, beat up some of those Shadows, maybe look around for Diamond Tiara. Nothing too hard or stressful."
"I don't think that's a bad idea myself. I would like to start searching as soon as possible."
A sigh. "Alright. If y'all want to do it that way."
Sugar Cube sat under the clubhouse window, waiting for any more conversation to take place.
After about five minutes, and four apples, she got bored and started the journey home.