This Game of Mine

by Swan Song


5. Devil's Due

Give me your arm, oh bearer mine.
Let me help you fill the world with teeth.
Young Ahamkara's Spine   


I stumbled into the kitchen this morning.

Like, literally stumbled. I managed to make it only two steps into the room before tripping over a very fluffy ball of I don’t even know what because my face just became very intimately acquainted with the linoleum flooring.

Mrreeaaaaaoowoww!” Opal screeched at me.

Owwww,” I groaned in response.

“Opal, just what has gotten— Sweetie?!” came a voice above me. I heard the scratching of a chair and a rush of hoofsteps as the infernal cat darted off. “Sweetie, whatever is the matter?”

Gmmornning,” I mumbled through the floor.

I was slowly helped to my hooves by my sister. “Oh come now, it can’t be that— Oh dear, you look positively garish! Sit still for a moment.” Immediately, she began frenzying around me, wiping scratches off my face and straightening my mane with a brush that had apparently materialized out of nowhere. Oh hi Pinkie Pie, didn’t realize you were here, so have you seen my sister around. “Dear, did you even go to bed last night?”

“I tried,” I mumbled, failing to suppress a wide yawn. “Couldn’t sleep.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” she said in sympathy as she busied herself with my appearance. “I can’t imagine you’d be able to after the, er, excitement of the last few days.”

“Yeaaah. Those were definitely a thing.”

She finished up and navigated me over to the chair. “Come, Sweetie, sit down and have some toast. I’ll make you coffee as well, I’m sure that’ll perk you right up.”

“Thanks, sis.”

“Anytime, darling.”

Breakfast was a rather subdued affair. After last night’s debacle had ended, there had been precious little to say—we had cleaned up, and after everypony had gone home, I had simply retreated back upstairs, wanting to distance my mind from all the damage I had caused that evening.

The broken glasses echoed throughout my mind. Rarity would have to pay for replacements. Way to add more to the pile, Sweetie Belle.

“Oh, Sweetie, there was something I wanted to mention, actually,” Rarity said, interrupting my musings. “You’ll be needed at the barracks to submit a testimony to the Town Guard.”

“Okay.”

“They’ve also asked if you wanted to press charges.”

“Meh.”

“That’s… not an answer, Sweetie Belle.”

“It’s not something I’m in the mood to think about right now,” I grumbled. “I’ll deal with it when I visit the Guard.” Another thought occurred to me, and I looked up at her. “Besides, can we even afford a lawyer right now?”

“Err…” She thought for a moment. “Well, if we settle or win the case, we’ll be awarded damages to pay for our legal counsel.”

“I don’t feel like risking that right now, Rarity. We’re already in a tight situation as it is, and what happened yesterday won’t help.” I stood up and brought my dishes over to the sink. “Besides, you need the money more right now. Your trip to Manehattan is in a few days, and it isn't going to pay for itself."

“That’s… I suppose that’s true,” she said, looking down at her bowl, conflicted. “It just doesn’t feel right to leave things as they are. It’s not fair to you.”

“Rarity, I’m not gonna put your career at risk over this,” I said, walking over to her, “at least not right now. We can press charges or whatever after your trip is over and we don’t have as much to worry about, okay?”

“…Very well, Sweetie Belle, if you insist,” she sighed, turning to me with a resigned smile. “You’re far too thoughtful for your own good, you know that?”

“I didn’t get that way by myself, Miss Generosity,” I replied, kissing her on the cheek. “Thanks for worrying about me. I’ll see you after school.”

“You too.” She kissed me on the forehead. “Have a good day, dear.”


Everypony was staring.

But for some reason, there were more scowls, more grimaces, more looks of disapproval. What the heck was going on? It wasn’t nearly this bad yesterday. I could almost feel their scrutinizing gazes burning into the back of my skull, and I folded my ears folded inward in hopes that I could block out their mutterings.

“Mornin’, Miss Belle!” said Davenport with a wave.

“Morning.”

Try harder than that, it’s the first smile you’ve gotten all morning.

“How’s business?” I asked, stopping for once.

“Been decent,” he said with a shrug. “Though fewer and fewer ponies need quills these days, what with those fancy personal consoles becoming so popular.”

My heart sank as a crestfallen expression overcame the stallion. While the advent of the personal console had done much for Equestria, it was still saddening to see that the nation’s rapidly-changing technological landscape wasn’t being kind to many businesses. I glanced towards Golden Oak Library in the distance, wondering how Miss Twilight would feel if the massive tree-library were someday replaced by a single console in the middle of town that contained a copy of every book in the world.

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.”

“Don’t be!” he chided with infectious cheer. “After all, they still need nice sofas to sit on and use their consoles with!”

“Ah, that’s certainly true,” I said, somewhat eased by the silver lining. “Now that I think about it, most of the time I use my console, I’m sitting on the floor.” I gave him a winning smile. “Perhaps I’ll be by in the near future to invest in a new sofa?”

What was I talking about? I couldn’t afford a sofa.

Hush. You’re socializing. He doesn’t need to know.

“That sounds marvelous!” he exclaimed happily in response. “Your sister’s one of my favorite customers. Heck, I’d even be willing to throw a discount your way!”

Hey, I actually got somewhere with that.

“Though I hope you don’t intend to spend too much time on that couch!” he joked.

Huh? “How do you mean?” I asked him quizzically.

“Not much, just that there’s a lot to love about the great outdoors,” he said, waving his forelegs grandly at our surroundings. “I hope that’s something you can continue to appreciate.”

“Why wouldn’t I?” I asked again, completely baffled by where he was going with this.

“Perhaps you’d get too caught up in those video games of yours?” he said with a wink.

Oh. That.

I gave him a flat look. A very flat look. Like, flatter than Scootaloo attempting to sing the Winter Wrap Up. “Perhaps you’re right, Mister Davenport. I might never leave my room if I purchased a sofa from you. Thank you for convincing me.”

He faltered at that as he came to realize his mistake. “Er, I didn’t mean to—”

“Good day, Mister Davenport.” I turned around and trotted away without another word. Seriously, what made him think that was a good idea? Was he just that daft?

“Er, anytime!” he said half-cheerfully. “Feel free to come back if you change your… mind?”

I rolled my eyes, then forced them to the ground as I remembered that ponies were still staring. Seriously, what was up with everypony today?!

“Hiya, muffin!” called a cheerful voice above me.

“Hi,” I grunted.

“Ooh, somepony sounds a little miffed!” I heard hooves clop onto the cobblestone road as the bubbly gray mare landed and fell into step beside me. “Something got your feathers ruffled, Sweetie?”

“I don’t even have any feathers, Miss Doo,” I replied cynically.

“Just Ditzy is fine,” she corrected, “And no, but you don’t need to for me to know that you’re not at your brightest today.” The mare stepped in front of me, her misaligned eyes full of concern. “Is something wrong? Can I help?”

“Yeah, sure you can,” I grumbled. “If you can get everypony to stop staring at me, that’d help a lot.”

“Staring at you?” She looked around, scanning the crowd. “Why’s that such a big deal?”

I sighed heavily. “Miss Doo—”

“Ditzy!” she cheerfully corrected.

“…Ditzy,” I continued. “Do you know what it’s like to get stared at?”

“Actually, I do,” she said. “You know, the eyes? The accident?”

Oh. Right. Nice going, Sweetie Belle.

“…I’m sorry, Ditzy,” I said with a sigh, sitting down and looking at her. “I guess I’m just not used to it yet.”

“You seemed to be doing just fine yesterday!” she pointed out cheerfully.

“That’s because everypony wasn’t staring yesterday,” I muttered.

“Yes they were,” she said.

“No they weren’t,” I muttered.

“Yes they were!” she repeated, trotting up to me. “Believe me, I know. That’s the only reason why I even saw you that morning! I saw everypony staring, and then when I looked to see what they were staring at, I saw you and your cutie mark! So I came down to say hi!”

“Okay, so say they were staring yesterday,” I said in frustration. The mare's persistence was starting to annoy me. “So what? What’s your point?”

“My point is, they were doing the same thing yesterday, but you were acting completely different. You were cheerful! You were happy! You looked like you were on top of the world. What changed?”

My eye twitched. “Nothing changed. Ponies are staring at me.”

She focused one of her eyes on me. “Sweetie Belle, you remember how a few years ago I got fired from my old job at the post office?”

“I… think so?” I remember the news going around, but I hadn’t thought about it much. I barely knew the mare back then, aside from the occasional time she’d show up at our house with the wrong package.

“Well,” she continued, “I tried to go about the rest of my day like it was fine. Kept smiling. Everypony knew what happened, asked me if I was okay, and I just said ‘yep’! Just pretended everything was A-Okay! And when I got home, the first thing I did was sit down, pop open a box of my favorite poppy lemon seed muffins, pick the fluffiest-looking muffin, and bite right into it.”

“And?” I asked, wondering where she was going with this.

“And I spat it out on the floor,” she said simply, and my eyes widened. “It tasted like dirt, all chalky and stuff.”

“That stinks,” I said. “What happened? Did they go bad?”

“That’s what I thought at first too,” she said. “But it was weird—the muffin I had eaten the day before was yummy. It didn’t make sense. At that point, I was so frustrated that I just started crying.”

“Crying?”

“Yep! Just like that,” she said with a sigh. “It was like, out of all the things that could go wrong that day, my muffins tasted like dirt. It was like a nail in the coffin. I stared at the thing like it had betrayed me. Like everything else had that day. And I got so furious. I was already in a bad mood, so why did my stupid muffins have to go and make it worse?

“And it was then that I realized, ‘the muffins didn’t go bad. I went bad.’”

I didn't get it.

But I stayed quiet, and she continued.

“It took me a little bit to stop crying, but afterwards I realized, ‘sitting here and being mopey isn’t gonna fix it, and neither is pretending that I’m happy.’ And so, I set out to fix my problems. I faced every day with a real smile and delivered on that smile with a real promise to myself, to work hard and get better. And I’m in a much better place now. And muffins taste great again!"

“Okay…?” I replied slowly. “What’s that gotta do with me?”

“Well, the truth is, they didn’t change, you did.” She pointed a hoof at my chest. “Everypony seems like they’re staring now, because something happened between yesterday and today that suddenly made you start caring.”

I sighed. "Well, what am I supposed to do about it?"

"Stop caring!" she exclaimed. "It's all in the attitude. Go through your day like you did yesterday, with a smile and a promise to yourself that this will be the best day you can make it."

"That’s easier said than done, Ditzy," I muttered.

“Like most things in life, but that doesn't matter as long as it's doable," she replied with a gentle smile, before wrapping me in a hug.

I mulled on her words for a bit, and thought back to the days following the mare’s accident, how difficult it had been just to learn how to cope with the results of her injuries. "Does it ever get better?" I finally asked.

“'Better'? I can’t promise you that, not for sure.” She shrugged with a helpless smile. "But it gets 'easier'."

In the back of my mind, I felt a voice skeptically telling me that she was just trying to cheer me up. But somehow, it didn’t really feel like she was babying me.

"…I'll try, Miss Doo," I said finally.

“Ditzy. And that’s all any of us can ever do,” she replied with another hug, which this time I returned. “Just keep at it, muffin. It won't always be easy, but my sister always said: ‘There's always a way out. Sometimes that way is through’.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right.” ...Waitaminute. Miss Doo had a sister? “She sounds kinda cool.”

“She's a pretty daring gal!” Ditzy replied enthusiastically. “Anyways, I gotta get to work, and you—” she booped me on the nose “—gotta get to school. I’ll see ya around, and hopefully the next time it’ll be with a smile on your face!”

“Yeah. Thanks, Ditzy.” A thought occurred to me. “Say, before you go, where do you work now?’

“See for yourself!” she said cheerfully, hoofing me a business card. “Gotta jet! Say hi to muffi— er, Dinky for me!”

“Sure thing!” As she sped off, I looked at the business card, which was adorned with hearts, a photo of Ditzy’s grinning visage, and a series of text in floral cursive. “‘Ditzy Doo, Professional Matchmaker, Equestria Speedy Shipping Services’…?” I read aloud. “Huh. Okay then.”

Putting the card in my saddlebags, I stood up.

“‘It’s all in the attitude,’” I repeated, steeling myself a little more, as I began making my way to school once again.

Ponies, for the most part, had stopped staring, though a few shot occasional glances at me.

As it was, despite Ditzy’s advice, it was still difficult. Their stares and scowls were boring into me, and I could just imagine the thoughts flitting into everypony’s heads. Whispers began suggesting things in my head, and I couldn’t drive them out of my mind.

I looked up and noticed that I was approaching a point along my usual path that took me between homes. It stretched for a little while, and usually there wasn’t anypony taking it.

Finally. I could escape for a few seconds.

I quickly ducked into the shadowed pathway and let out a relieved sigh as I finally felt the pressure lift. Letting myself sink into the relative silence of my surroundings, I stared absentmindedly down at the ground and stewed in my thoughts for a bit.

I couldn’t believe that mailmare had to deal with this for weeks after her accident. At the same time, I couldn’t help but admire her tenacity. If there was anypony who knew how to deal with the constant scrutiny of others, it was clumsy, derp-eyed, earnest Ditzy Doo. She probably had to deal with that every single time somepony talked to her.

I really hoped it gets easier, like she said.

As I looked up, I noticed two petite figures blocking my way forward.

…You had to be kidding me. I was not in the mood for this.

“How’s our little gay-mare doing this morning?” Diamond sneered at me.

“Screw off.” I strode around them, making my way towards the street.

“Hey, we’re not done talking to you!” Diamond called, catching up to me.

“Last I checked, you’re the only one who ever talks to me,” I replied without stopping. “Why doesn’t your friend ever say anything?”

“You’re beneath me,” said Silver Spoon without missing a beat.

“Ah, so you’re the silent mastermind of the duo, and Diamond’s just your little lackey who does all your dirty work.”

“Even if I were a lackey, I’d still be far superior to you,” Diamond snarled.

“Is that so?” I said, rounding on her. “If that were the case, why don’t you just do what Silver Spoon does instead? You don’t need to bother yourself with me.”

“Because it’s just far too satisfying to prove it!” she said haughtily.

‘Prove’, huh? That word stuck out to me like a sore thumb.

Ah. I got it now.

“If you’re so determined to prove it to me, I’d wager it’s because you’re insecure,” I said, voicing my conclusions with a smirk. “Sounds to me like you’re just scared. Maybe even jealous.”

Her eye twitched ever so slightly, before she let out a guffaw. “Don’t make me laugh!” Uh, too late for that. “Why would I be jealous? I have far more friends in our class than you.”

She was right. Sometimes the world was full of little injustices. But I knew better.

“They’re only friends with you because you’re rich and pretty,” I retorted. “Not because there’s anything actually likeable about you. Unlike you, I actually have real friends.”

“That’s a treat, coming from the girl who hangs out all day with that ghastly pair of tomboys!”

“At least I’m not so much of an asshole that I have to go be friends with another asshole just so I can feel better about myself.” I shot a look at Silver Spoon. “Which, by the way, just sounds like a magical time. Let me know when the wedding is, yeah?”

Diamond opened her mouth to speak, but for once, Silver beat her to it. “You take that back,” she growled, a blush overcoming her face. “I’m not a filthy little lesbian like you.”

Ouch. Must have hit a nerve there, eh, Silver? I didn't expect that coming from what I generally perceived to be the more reserved of the duo.

“I’m not taking anything back,” I said with a huff. “I’m handing you the truth on a shiny silver spoon. Not my fault it was bent out of shape.” I grinned at my own pun before turning around to continue my trot. “Don’t dish it if you can’t take it.”

Seconds later, my muzzle was forced into a wall, dislocating a poster that had been hung there, and I was rubbing my flank where one of them had pushed me sharply.

“What the Hel, you guys!” I yelled, turning around. “Back off! I just wanna get to school!”

“You? Go to school? Why not just run home to your trashy little video games?!” Diamond scowled, advancing towards me.

“Screw off,” I shot back defensively with a blush. "You wouldn't know trashy if it nipped at your cutie mark."

"Funny you mention hooves," said Silver Spoon, joining in her friend. “As an earth pony, my parents taught me a great deal about how much meaning we imbue into the world through our cutie marks."

She adjusted her glasses.

"Meanwhile, you have the audacity to get a completely useless cutie mark and think it means anything.”

I gritted my teeth. Her comments stung. I knew I shouldn't internalize them, but…

"Too right, Silver Spoon," said Diamond with a menacing grin. "You're too broken to do anything useful with your mark. And if it isn’t gonna be put to good use…"

She stomped at her own hoof at a nearby discarded bottle, shattering the bottom half. Without breaking her gaze with me, she slowly picked it up and leveled it between us, the jagged edges pointed directly at me.

“Maybe we should just get rid of it for you.”

Silver froze and shot a glance at Diamond, and it was in that moment of pause that Diamond’s words sunk in.

Immediately, I struck out with a forehoof, slapping Diamond across the face. She stepped back, momentarily dazed by what had just happened.

“You… you barbaric little gay-mare!” she cried, holding a hoof to her face. “My father will be hearing about this—”

“Save it for someone who cares,” I spat back. I felt my blood boil and my face warm—from fear or fury, I couldn’t tell. It was a fire torching the walls that sealed my lips, and I embraced it, letting it fuel my anger. “All you do is parade around with your tough girl act, then cry to daddy as soon as something goes wrong. If anyone needs to lose anything, it’s you and your Sun-forsaken mouth.”

I walked up closer to her and leaned in.

"The only way out is through," echoed Ditzy’s voice in my mind.

“I can’t believe I was ever scared of you, you pathetic little coward. But now that your real colors are so obvious, I almost pity you. So here’s some advice: daddy can’t protect you forever. I suggest you get used to it.”

She growled back at me. “He will if I have anything to say about it.”

“We’ll see about that once the Guard get involved.”

Their eyes widened, but I didn’t plan on staying to let them open their mouths again.

As I turned to leave, an audible crunch sounded from my hooves. I looked down to see the poster that had come loose from the wall, crumpled underneath a foreleg. The minimalistic visages of Princess Celestia and Princess Luna smiled kindly at me from between the wrinkles, their wings spread in a cradling embrace. Below their expressions was a simple phrase:

“THE SUN AND STARS WILL PROTECT YOU”

I scowled at the poster, then glanced behind me to see Silver helping Diamond to her feet. With a scoff, I turned away and strode out the alley.

Only I could protect myself.


“What do you mean, assault and battery?!” I yelled, jumping out of my chair and nearly knocking the glass on the Headmaster’s desk right off.

“You know exactly what I mean,” said the Headmaster sternly. “You struck Diamond Tiara. Now sit down and keep your mouth shut.”

“NO!” I stomped up to the desk. “She started it! She was the one who—”

“Miss Sweetie Belle, you are about to graduate!” she shouted over me. “Do not try to convince me with such childish assertions as ‘she started it’!”

“Do you even realize what she was trying to do—”

“As far as I’m concerned, she has done nothing! The facts presented to me are that she appeared in the nurse’s office with a swollen cheek, saying you did it, and you are perfectly unscathed! But thank you for confirming that you were indeed present! It’ll make my report to the Guard much easier!”

I blanched at that. “Are you kidding me?!”

“No, I am not. Diamond expressed her desire to contact the Guard, and I do not doubt her intent for a second.”

She… she beat me to it.

“Luckily for you,” she continued, “as this incident occurred beyond school grounds and outside of school hours, this matter is out of my hooves until she follows up on that intent. So for now, you shall return to your classes. I will recall you to my office when you are needed.” She fixed me with a withering glare. “Now go.”

“Am I even allowed to—”

“No, you are not. As far as I’m concerned, you have forfeited any right to say anything in your defense. Go.”

I couldn’t believe it. She had used my own defense against me.

I was an idiot. I shouldn’t have said anything this morning.

My blood boiled in fury.

“Fine,” I said simply, withholding a scowl towards the Headmaster. Without another word, I jumped off my chair and stormed out.


“Press charges?” the two girls asked in unison, glancing up over their lunchboxes.

“Yeah, press charges,” I grunted, slamming mine shut. “I’m sick of her and her family’s horse manure, and it’s about time she gets a reality check.”

“Well it’s about time someone gives her one!” said Apple Bloom cheerfully, taking a slice of apple pie out of her box. “I’m just glad you have something to go off of.”

“Yeah, I can’t wait to see what the look on her face will be like when she finally gets the slammer!” said Scootaloo.

“She’s not gonna go to jail, Scootaloo,” I replied. “But I’ll at least make their family pony up for this mess. Maybe Filthy Rich will realize he can’t let her get away with this forever.”

“Sounds right ta me,” nodded Apple Bloom. “His language is money, seems only natural to make ‘em talk in it.”

“Hey Apple Bloom, I was wondering,” said Scootaloo suddenly. “Doesn’t Filthy Rich work with your family a lot?”

“Yup!” she replied. “He stocks our products in stores across Equestria, takes a cut of the sales.”

“How does your family even deal with him?”

“He’s normally real polite ’round us,” she explained. “But I figure that’s only ’cause it’d be mighty bad fer business if he gave his clients a hard time.”

“Just because he’s a jerk doesn’t mean he’s stupid,” I added. “But he probably wouldn’t give the Acres a second glance if he didn’t see a way to profit off of it.”

“Yeah, that makes sense,” said Scootaloo, nodding. “It’s surreal though. One minute he’s this nice guy, making business deals and helping you sell your stuff all over the country, next minute he’s threatening you if you mess with him. He sounds like the Godmother or something from one of those Manehattan mobster flicks.”

“’Cept that’d technically make him the ‘Godfather’,” chuckled Apple Bloom.

“That doesn’t sound nearly as scary though,” said Scootaloo. “I mean, really, what kind of stallion runs a crime family?”

“Hey, it could happen! Maybe that’s the reason why he always manages to get Diamond outta trouble! He, like, threatens ponies with extortion and bribes and gang warfare and stuff!”

Right on the money, Apple Bloom.

“I don’t care,” I groaned. “Just please don’t make this mean that I’ll wake up with a manticore head on my bedsheets or something.” I shivered at the thought.

“Haha!” Scootaloo laughed. “I remember that scene! Man, I was cracking up. The look on the guy’s face!”

“I dunno ’bout y’all,” Apple Bloom mumbled, “but that movie just plain creeped me out.”

“Yeah, but you still watched it, because it’s Button’s favorite,” I teased.

“D-did not,” she stammered. “I just watched it ’cause it looked cool.”

“Hey, speaking of which, where is Button anyways?” Scootaloo piped up suddenly.

“Good question.” I looked around for the fourth Crusader. “He left in a hurry after we got excused for lunch. I think he said he wanted to run down to the shop to grab some paper or something.”

“Oh, that’s right!” exclaimed Apple Bloom. “He wanted to go grab the paper!”

The paper?” I blinked at her… then it clicked in my head.

Oh no.

LOCAL FILLY EARNS CUTIE MARK FOR VIDEO GAMING WORLD RECORD!” came a shrill voice, like a herald of doom and destruction that had developed an impeccable sense of inconvenient timing. We all glanced up from our lunches to see Button galloping into the yard, frantically waving around a paper in his hooves like a madmare possessed, other kids turning to behold his passage.

“What’s his deal now?” asked Scootaloo from across the table.

“Don’t ask, it’ll make your head hurt,” I muttered, looking away. “Let’s just avoid eye contact and hope he doesn’t—”

“Too late, he’s coming this way.”

Horseapples.

The brown colt stumbled up to our table, out of breath, hair frazzled. Apple Bloom, of course, was blushing furiously, but Button was too excited to notice. Not like he ever noticed. He doesn’t notice a lot of things.

And he also didn’t notice that I had wilted in my seat. Apple Bloom yelped a little as my shrinking revealed her presence to the colt, and she shrank behind me. I would have laughed had I not known what would happen once he got air into his lungs again.

“Button,” I groaned futilely, “Don’t you dare—”

“HEY SWEETIE BELLE LOOK YOU’RE IN THE MORNING PAPERS!” he shouted as loud as he possibly could.

“Button…” I buried my face in a hoof.

“Check it out!” He trotted closer to us, holding the paper out so we could all see it, and reading the article aloud. “‘Sweetie Belle… something local filly… something Crusaders… on Monday evening, earned her cutie mark when her guild, Sanctuary, became the first players in the world to defeat Theralon in the Infinite Citadel!’”

“Listen, Button, do you mind—”

“Hey, it even mentions me, Zaid and Freya!” He did a hoof pump. “We’re in the newspaper, Sweetie! Isn’t that awesome?!”

I angrily grabbed the newspaper out of his hoof. “Button, I swear to the Sun—”

Suddenly, my hoof was empty—someone else had swiped the paper from me.

“What the—” I swiveled around. Horseapples! Diamond Tiara was scanning the paper with Silver Spoon, their faces a grimace from barely restrained laughter.

Weekend… Sanctuary… oh my Stars, you two play this stupid thing for ten hours a day?!” She laughed uproariously. “Do you even bathe?!”

“I bet her sister comes in with a portable toilet when she needs to relieve herself!” giggled Silver.

“Guys…” I warned, feeling the heat rise in my cheeks. We already played this game this morning.

“Aww, is Geekie Belle sad that she’s infamous for being a geek?” sneered Diamond as she clopped up.

“I’ll say,” chimed in Silver Spoon rosily. “It seems the world is destined to know that you’re a gay-mare.”

I cringed again.

“Hey! You take that back!” yelled Scootaloo. “She is not a gay mare!”

I flattened my ears against my head in embarrassment as chuckles rang throughout the crowd.

“What even is a gai-mare anyways?!” asked Apple Bloom. “Y’all kept writin’ that word on the board!”

Great. This is totally what I wanted to have to explain to my best friends right now.

Thankfully, Diamond took care of that for me, pointing a hoof.

“It’s what she is. A filthy, bloodthirsty savage who plays those barbaric, violent little video games.”

Ergh. Maybe not so thankfully. Well, at least her explanation was rather vanilla compared to the other definitions I’ve heard.

“Yeah, so what if she plays video games?!” retorted Apple Bloom. “Y’all’ve been brewin’ a storm over it ever since she got her cutie mark! Why’s it such a big deal, anyways?”

I chuckled at Apple Bloom’s innocent naïvety. It was wonderful. Charming. I could almost pinch her little cheeks. She probably wouldn’t appreciate that much though.

“You know that video games are only for colts and stallions,” replied Diamond Tiara, her voice smooth but her tone biting and cold. “Or at least, the kind that have no lives, no jobs, no mares, and do nothing all day but laze around in front of their stratoscreens, wasting away their energy on these stupid games instead of doing what they’re supposed to.”

“I know!” exclaimed Silver Spoon. “Can you imagine? Colts that don’t labor, fight, or make babies! What’s even the point?!”

“Hey, that’s not nice,” snarled Button Mash, scowling with a slight redness on his cheeks. “That’s not all we’re supposed to do…”

“It’s all you need to do,” stated Diamond simply. “Even Snips and Snails know they’re just breeders.”

Diamond and Silver devolved into titters. Button Mash was fuming now.

“You take that back!” growled Apple Bloom. Sometime within the last few minutes, she had regained her confidence, and was now standing in front of Button Mash protectively.

“Oh?” grinned Silver Spoon disarmingly. “Oh, I’m so sorry. Did we insult your little breeder?”

“Button is not a breeder!” she yelled, and another blush overcame her yellow cheeks.

“Oh, but he is yours, isn’t he?” teased Silver. “Don’t think I don’t see you, going red every moment he so much as looks at you. It’s so glaringly obvious. I don’t even know what you see in him, despite that you’re both just dumb as bricks.”

Apple Bloom blushed even harder, gritting her teeth.

“Why don’t you quit standing behind your girlfriend and come out here yourself?” Diamond taunted. “Or did I bruise your fragile little ego too hard? Just another wimpy little colt who can't even stand up for himself!”

The crowd laughed, and there were a few stomps of approval. He blushed furiously, and Apple Bloom stepped up closer. “Quit messin’ with Button!”

“Oh, come off it, you stupid hick!” she roared with laughter. She shot me a look. “Hate to break it to you, but he clearly doesn’t give a damn about some farm girl like you—it’s obvious he’s got eyes for Sweetie Belle instead.”

A few whoops and lewd noises emanated from the crowd. I started to drown them out. I was shaking. My head felt hot. My ears were ringing. I could only see red.

“You’re such a flawless match after all!” she howled, sneering at Button over Apple Bloom’s shoulder. “Isn’t that right, Button? Isn’t it just too bad that she’s a raging gay-mare!” She walked forward, roughly shoving Apple Bloom aside so she could bear down on the trembling colt. “You're so pathetic, she won't ever like you back! Just face it, no matter how hard you try, you'll never ever get a chance with the filly of your dreams. You should just go geld yourself. Or maybe we'll even do it for you—!”

CLANK.

Her head shot backwards as a lunchbox slammed into it, leaving behind an angry welt on her forehead and a look of pure shock as she beheld the spinning metal object that had bounced off her face only a split second ago.

Flank them. Attack from the side or rear while they’re distracted by your teammates. Act swiftly and you will reduce harm to both yourself and your allies.

Before the lunchbox could even drop to the floor, before the green aura of my magic had even faded from the improvised projectile, before my target could even process what had just happened, I had already breached the distance between us. In no time at all, my hoof had made contact with its face.

WHAM. Critical hit.

There is no room for distraction. Focus on your target, and engage with all of the might at your command.

The crowd around us disappeared from my focus and the rest of the world turned dark as I fixated on my sole target. Three years.

CRACK.

Land your attacks in quick succession to stagger your opponent, throwing off their aim and preventing an effective counter.

A pink hoof sailed randomly at me and caught me in the shoulder, but it was sloppy and desperate—I ignored it and struck again. Three fucking years.

SMACK.

Neutralize with speed. Eliminating a threat swiftly ensures that they will have no time to respond.

Another pink hoof caught me on the side, and I staggered back, but recovered quickly to deliver another punch. I am going to kill you, you little shit.

WHAM. Critical hit.

My target fell backwards, collapsing to the ground. I coughed, raising a foreleg to favor the side that had taken a hit, but continued my advance. As I closed in on it, a blur intruded upon my approach.

“ENOUGH!” it shouted. “Have you lost your mind—”

I rammed it out of the way without hesitation. I had eyes for only my target, who now lie sprawled on the floor before me. As her face blurred into focus, our gazes met—her pupils were pinpricks, barely visible through blackened eyelids.

“Guzzle this," I growled darkly, and spat in her face. She winced as the wad of spit smacked into her cheek.

I raised a hoof to begin anew.

Suddenly, she was wiped from my vision, replaced by a cacophony of blurred colors—there was a sudden, searing pressure in my shoulder, and I felt extreme vertigo as my hooves left the ground. Within a split-second, my entire back flared in pain as it was shoved against the rough concrete floor beneath me.

What the fuck. I had fallen somehow—my ears rung from the impact, and my vision was a disorienting sea of wild shapes and colors. I thrashed my limbs wildly, attempting to recover, but something kept me grounded. Let go. The world blurred in and out of focus as I tried to get up—I lashed out with my elbow and it caught something, which grunted in response. Get the fuck off me, or I swear to the Sun I’ll—

“—I said STAND DOWN, NOW!” I felt my hooves forced to the sides.

I pulled at my limbs, desperate to free myself. As my motions weakened, I slowly felt the adrenaline withdraw from my mind. The pulsing black and red receded from the edges of my vision, and the mishmash of curves and lines above me came into focus, resolving into the strained face of an angry blue mare.

“Sweetie Belle, enough is enough! Stand down.”

What was going on?

Slowly, my brain worked to catch up to my surroundings.

What just happened?

Don't be stupid. You know exactly what happened.

I looked to my right. A gray filly, glasses askew, was slowly being pulled to her hooves by a few other students. She glared at me, anger written all over her visage, along with… something else that I couldn’t quite place.

I did that?

Yes. You did that.

I looked to my left. A pink filly was lying curled up on the floor, her forelegs held up protectively to her face.

When did I do that?

Just now.

I looked around. A large crowd of schoolkids had gathered, with a few adults zipping through the scene.

How long had it taken?

Half a minute, maybe less.

I looked back up at the blue mare again. She was talking to someone over her shoulder.

How much damage did I cause?

Probably not very much. You’re not exactly a boxing champ.

I followed her gaze, and saw magenta hooves quickly stroll up to the prone filly, accompanied by a voice that carried soothing tones.

Did I do the right thing?

Miss Cheerilee looked up at me. She had a grim countenance, and her glaring eyes were sharp as daggers. Under no universe could that expression be considered happy.

What do you fucking think, Star Swirl?