There had been many times in which Cheerilee pondered whether her wage was big enough compensation for all the effort she put into her work. At times, she wasn’t sure any wage would be big enough, and right now, Cheerilee was one hundred percent sure that even if Celestia came crawling to her begging to fill in just one document in exchange for princesshood, eternal life and an endless supply of strawberry flavored milk shakes, she’d send her back to Canterlot with an almighty kick to the behind.
The mountain of papers on Cheerilee’s desk was so huge that a dragon could probably build its nest atop of it, and it never seemed to shrink. With a loud sigh and the satisfying rustle of paper, Cheerilee tossed a small note at the base of the mountain. Breathing in the warm air, she almost wanted to open the window, but her teacher’s experience suggested that, in doing so, she would doom herself to hours upon hours of picking up and sorting scattered paper all across the room. With a saddened look on her face, she yawned, dropping the pencil and leaned on the back of her chair.
Cheerilee always felt weird when she looked at her office. She spent here so much time she should have learned where everything was long ago, and yet she kept losing stuff in here. She was more than sure that an archaeologist with plenty of time and effort could find ancient artefacts behind the couch located right to the left of her desk and in the bookshelf seated on the opposite side.
For a moment, Cheerilee allowed herself a moment of weakness and closed her eyes. The sense of unfulfilled duty stubbornly pestered her mind, demanded to open those eyes and use them for the good of all ponykind, but her inner voice was telling her that it was okay. A short shut-eye never hurt anypony ever. Just a few minutes of the so long desired sleep…
A sudden creak of the door almost made Cheerilee jump out of her chair in a feat worthy of a martial arts legend.
“Hello?” she asked. “You may come in.”
She didn’t expect any visitors at this hour. In fact, she wasn’t expecting any visitors at all. Cheerilee watched the door with interest when a familiar muzzle slowly leaned inside.
“Umm… hello… It’s me, Fluttershy…” Fluttershy muttered, her eyes looking at a spot behind Cheerilee.
“Oh, Fluttershy. Come in, have a seat.” She gestured for her shy friend to come in. Fluttershy carefully pushed the door open, whispering something under her breath, and entered, followed by two incredibly weird looking fillies.
“No, thank you… I’ll stand…” Fluttershy smiled shyly as the two fillies started looking around the office, eyeing everything with great interest. Cheerilee observed them shortly, before she noticed that her mouth was wide open. “Oh… if you’re wondering, these are my… nephew’s…”
The fillies turned their attention to Cheerilee. One dressed in long white and yellow striped socks and wearing a loose sweater looked at Cheerilee with great distrust through the pair of nerd glasses on her nose and squinted.
“Ehm… Hello there. My name’s Cheerilee. What is your name?” She asked them, smiling invitingly, but none of them responded. Fluttershy spoke in their stead.
“Oh, nevermind them. They’re a bit… shy. This is Snake Smile,” Fluttershy patted the weirdly dressed pony. “And this is Nightshade.” She gently rubbed the other filly’s head, who was fully dressed in a stylish hoodie and pants.
“Oh, I see… So what brings you and your little cuties heeeee….?” Cheerilee tried to turn her eyes away from the weird crown-esque thing on Snake Smile’s head but just couldn’t resist. Before Fluttershy could say a word, Cheerilee, as if controlled by powers beyond her understanding, leaned over the table, using the chair for support, reached out and touched the weird crown thing with her hoof.
“Uhm… Is this normal? Should I panic?” The weird filly turned to Fluttershy, who started making weird gestures. Cheerilee didn’t notice; she had to touch the thing. “I really feel like I should panic.”
“Meseems ‘tis an eldritch ritual of sorts! Try touching her.” Nightshade suggested and Snake Smile followed her advice. It was then that Cheerilee was released from her hypnosis.
“...Eeere?... Huh… What am I doing? Why are you touching my nose?” She looked at the weird filly.
“Why are you touching my… my… thing! Why are you touching my thing?”
Cheerilee blushed when she realized that she was indeed touching Snake’s… thing, and carefully crawled back to her chair. “Uhm… Sorry about that. I wanted to ask what brings you and your cuties here, Fluttershy.” She rubbed her temples, just to make sure there was no desire to touch the thing left.
“Oh… right… I wanted my cuties to join school... “
“You do? Did you get the power of attorney from their parents?”
Fluttershy suddenly turned pale and backed away slightly. “Umm… the what?”
“Their parents’ permission. They aren’t your children, are they? If not, you need the permission to do this in their parents’ stead.” Cheerilee tapped her chin and kept on speaking. “Oh, but you’re also going to need their certificate of birth, their medical cards…” She kept talking, tapping on the table with each document mentioned. Fluttershy kept getting paler and paler.
“Uh… I… erm… Can I bring them later? After I signed them in to school?”
“Well… it’s not permitted; I’ve got to fill in their personal files before I let them visit school, but… I think I can let this one slide. Bring the documents whenever you can, okay?” Cheerilee quickly picked up the pencil she dropped earlier and started scribbling down on a clean piece of paper. Fluttershy waited patiently, flexing her legs from time to time. Once Cheerilee finished her work, she turned her sight to Fluttershy only to feel a shiver run down her spine.
“Fluttershy… why is your mane… watching me?” she mumbled, staring at a single set of crimson eyes, looking at her from within the pinkness of Shy’s mane. When noticed, the eyes tried to conceal their existence, but it was made even worse when a strand of hair shifted, revealing a curved horn.
“Oh? Ah, this is… emm… this is Sombrero.” Fluttershy suddenly flinched as if somepony had hit her and started constantly whispering the word ‘stupid’. Cheerilee tilted her head.
“May I look at him?”
Fluttershy bit her lip at that request, a sight of emotional struggle present on her face. Finally, she poked the pony in her mane, signalling it to come out.
The foal that jumped out of her hair looked a little out of place with his curved horn and crimson eyes. Never before had Cheerilee seen anything like this, although she still decided to blame the foal’s appearance on genetics; curved horns weren’t unheard of, after all.
“Huh… he looks… cute.” Cheerilee rubbed her chin, looking at the little foal with interest. “Nature can truly be creative at times. I assume you want him signed in too?”
“Yes! I mean…. yes… if that’s okay.” Fluttershy brightened up, the paleness disappearing in a matter of seconds. Cheerilee nodded and started scribbling again.
“Okay then, I’ll try to get all of your foals in a single class. You should bring me the documents as fast as possible, though — just to make sure. Inspections aren’t that common, but they do happen. Oh, and one last question: do you really have to wear all these clothes? They aren’t necessary…”
“They are! They’re absolutely are!” Fluttershy interrupted rather forcefully, but her fighting spirit quickly died down and she took a step back. “I mean… it would be most appreciated if they could… wear clothing at school… most appreciated.”
“Very well. As long as their clothes aren’t impeding the education process for them and other students, I’m okay with them.”
“Oh, worry not: clothes are not necessary to impede Chry... Snake’s education!” Nightshade quipped and immediately got a poke to the side by Snake Smile.
“Pff, nerd.”
Cheerilee put the pencil down and allowed herself a moment of relaxation. “Other than the document problems, I can only say: welcome to Ponyville Elementary School, where little foals and fillies prepare to ma…” She didn’t finish her sentence as she felt something pulling her mane.
“Oh no, So- Sombrero! Not again!” Fluttershy cried, facehoofing, while the little foal steadily chewed the ends of Cheerilee’s mane.
“It tawtes like riwce!” he loudly proclaimed, while Shy and her two fillies desperately tried to pull him away from Cherilee, who had no idea what was going on.
***
“Remember: if there is any trouble, you should tell Miss Cheerilee.”
“Yeah, we got it the first thirty times you told us that. Relax, Flutters, we’ll be a-okay!” Chrysalis smiled at herself in the mirror - the ridicilous outfit she had to wear now seemed much cooler when she applied her own style. Green socks and green sweater really went along with her eyes. That was, if the darn enchanted glasses wouldn’t alter them. They’d been requested by Fluttershy from her white unicorn friend — Chryssie always forgot her name — because her eyes were so distinctly different from a normal pony’s. A hat would have been nice as well, but her oblong horn kept getting in the way.
For a moment Chrysalis stopped looking at her clothes and smiled widely, eyeing her teeth with interest and slight displeasure. “It looks nowhere near like a snake’s smile,” she murmured, slightly angry.
“Do snakes even smile?” Sombra tilted his head, while Fluttershy kept gently combing his mane. “I’ve never seen them smile. They all seem to have a bad day when I’m around.”
“I believe they are not able to smile at all. Perhaps life was just too cruel to them. Perhaps, they dislike being ropes.” Moonie mused, carefully brushing off what little dust her hoodie had collected with one hoof. Fluttershy looked at her, eyebrow raised.
“Ropes?”
“They sure look like ropes… I wonder if I could wear a sash made of snakes. That’d be great.” Chrysalis interrupted their conversation, making Fluttershy chuckle slightly.
“Alright, little ones, I think we’re ready to set off.” She put the comb away and took a good look at her little villains. They all looked incredible; their coats’ cleaned and almost sparkling, their manes gently combed and flowing. Even Chryssie had to go through this process, which she hadn’t been too happy about at first.
The foals quickly bunched up together and followed Fluttershy outside. Discord, who was busy watering the flowers with a miniature raincloud, waved them goodbye, smiling. He had been strangely tame lately — he even did windows for a change.
Soon, the school’s roof appeared in Fluttershy’s sight, and slight worry began to overtake her mind.
“Go now. Run along, and don’t be shy. Act naturally, but maintain your identities. Do you remember your names?” All three foals nodded and Fluttershy sighed one more time. “Then go. Just follow everypony else, you’ll find the classroom.”
As the little villains ran into the school, Fluttershy looked at them one more time. For so long she had been keeping them in her cottage, teaching them everything a young pony would need at school, and now, they were on their own, without her. She suddenly felt like she was missing a limb.
“Good luck.” She smiled at her children, watching them walk to the doors, and once they were in, she turned around and slowly trotted back home. She still had a lot of things to do: animals to feed, flowers to water, Discord’s pranks to foil.
***
“I’m very glad to see you all in good health, my dear students.” Cheerilee clapped her hooves together, smiling at her young pupils. Everything was just how it always was — Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were listening to every word coming out of her mouth, Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo were engaged in a fiery discussion about yet another attempt at getting their cutie marks, and Rumble was peacefully napping on a pillow of books. Some things would never change.
However, some change was indeed in order as Cheerilee continued her speech. “I welcome you all back and wish you a pleasant school year. However, before we begin our lesson, I’d like to introduce a new addition to our family.” At that point, all ponies present focused their attention strictly on her, waiting and listening for her next words very patiently.
Gesturing the three foals who were waiting just outside the classroom to come in, Cheerilee took a deep breath and announced loudly. “Please welcome our brand new students! Come on, tell us about yourselves. Don’t be shy.”
The class stared in slight disbelief at the trio present in front of them. Cheerilee could understand their reaction; it wasn’t every day they came upon foals who looked a little odd, but maybe it would be a good opportunity to teach children to accept ponies that were severely different from others.
The first one to introduce herself was Snake Smile, who took a step forward and eyed the class with great interest. Apple Bloom started to fidget around for no particular reason, all of a sudden.
“Hello, everypony. My name’s Snake Smile. Yes, I know it is a weird name — snakes don’t smile. But after you see this…” She suddenly widened her mouth in a savage smile, baring her impressive looking fangs. Foals, sitting in the first rows, backed up slightly. “You’ll see where the name comes from.”
She took a step back and looked at her friends, who both seemed to struggle with the fear of the audience. Cheerilee was just about to step in when Nightshade began speaking, her tone and countenance as stoic as she could muster.
“I bid you good morning, my future fellow pupils. My name is Nightshade and… err… my name is… that of a flower. You could have encountered such a family of flowers in the wild. Do not eat it, however, it might be poisonous…” She turned quiet for a little while. “Oh, no-no, I am not poisonous; do not think that. You can eat me… but… I would not like that… so please refrain from it.” She took a step back and now it was Sombrero’s turn.
He didn’t look too talkative at all, though. His eyes were all over the place, and Cheerilee even noticed how he was shuddering. The entire class was staring at him and he did not know how to act.
“Everypony, this is Sombrero. He doesn’t talk much but he’s a really nice colt, so be kind to him.” Cheerilee approached the foal and gave him a gentle pat on the head. He seemed a little reluctant first, but then eased up. The situation was saved. “Now that we’re all introduced to each other, I suggest you three pick your seats and sit down. The lesson is about to begin.”
Quickly, the trio trotted deeper into the class, looking for free seats, and Cheerilee could finally take a moment to swipe the sweat off her brow. Introducing new ponies was always stressful — first impressions were key with children, but this one went decent. No open hostility for the new foals, which meant they were off to a good start. With these heavy thoughts out of her mind, Cheerilee began the lesson on a high note.
Just as Chrysalis expected, the lesson was incredibly boring. The sheer amount of written language and, ugh, numbers Cheerilee wrote on the blackboard was enough to drive her mad. Thankfully, there were things to do besides learning, like napping on her book, for example.
While napping, she kept one eye open and looked at the other ponies, in hopes of finding out something interesting about them. The funny thing she noticed was that the other ponies would sometimes look back with weird looks on their faces. The same looks were directed at Moonie and Sombra, who were listening to Cheerilee attentively. These looks included two fillies, who, as Chrysalis gathered, were Apple Bloom’s friends.
On one side, it would be rather interesting to meet new pony-pillows. The one with the wings seemed particularly fluffy, if a bit too lively. One couldn’t be a good pillow if they kept jittering around all the time. The white horned one looked cuddly too, but Chrysalis took notice mostly of her mane.
Finally, the bell rang and Cheerilee invited all children to play outside and relax after a long lesson. Chrysalis decided to use this break for a little rendezvous with her old friend.
“What’s up, Bloom?” She approached Apple Bloom from behind, leaning over her shoulder. Only then, she noticed her two pony friends, staring at her. “Oh, hi.”
“Umm, Apple Bloom, you know this pony?” The pegasus narrowed her eyes, looking at Chrysalis in distrust.
“Oh, relax, Scoots. This is mah friend ah told you about! She lived at our farm for some time.” Apple Bloom turned around and gave Chrysalis a hug. “Long time no see.”
“I missed you too, pony-pillow. Care to introduce me to these other pony-pillows?” The one named Scootaloo and the unicorn looked at her with suspicion.
“Pony-pillow? I’m not sure I want to get a cutie mark in that,” Scootaloo murmured to herself. “Wouldn’t hurt to try, though.”
“Mah fellow crusaders, Ah’m happy to introduce Chry… err… Ah mean…”
“It’s fine, if you trust them, I’ll trust them too. But… shhh…” Chrysalis put her hoof to her lips. “It’s a secret.”
“Alrighty then. Chryssie, this is Scootaloo and this is Sweetie Belle. Mah friends, Ah proudly present to you: Chrysalis, the changeling.” Apple Bloom beamed like a beacon amidst the sunless sea for about half a second before Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle started laughing. “What are y’all laughing about? Ah’m serious!”
“No offense, Apple Bloom, but that’s ridiculous. Have you ever seen a changeling? She looks nothing like one,” Scootaloo giggled. “A real changeling is huge, has three rows of sharp fangs and weird insect limbs!” Sweetie Belle just nodded to that.
“Who told you such nonsense? Changelings don’t have insect limbs… Well, they do, but there’s not that many!” Chryssie exclaimed.
“I read a book about them. That was the only picture it had — and it was creepy! And you’re far from creepy. More like… weird.” Scootaloo eyed her glasses for a second.
“Very well then. If you don’t believe me, you might believe your eyes. But we need a more private place...” Chrysalis smiled, pointing at a small door with a sign reading ‘Janitor’. “That one will do. Just try not to soil yourself.”
“Hah! We’ll see who’ll soil who. Let’s go!” Scootaloo looked at her challengingly; Chrysalis replied with a sly smile. “Lead on.”
Together, they walked to the door and snuck inside. The room was badly lit and was filled with different brooms, long sticks and differently colored pieces of soap. Chrysalis wasn’t sure who would like to clean this place up, but, since the room was empty and devoid of any sentient life, the answer was obvious.
“Show your proof. Come on.” Scootaloo challenged Chrysalis, looking at her with a crackling fire in her eyes. Smiling in reply, Chrysalis raised her right hoof and pulled the sock off, using her magic.
“By Celestia! This is so awesome!” Scootaloo gasped, her eyes widening in a state of pure amazement. “I mean… She’s…. aaaaah! So cool!”
“It’s like straight out of that scary novel I once read! Unreaaaal!” Sweetie Belle added.
The two ponies started circling around Chrysalis, nearly drooling with amazement. Never before had they seen anything as cool, bizarre or weird as this.
“You like that? Cus’ I ain’t done yet.” With great care, she took off her glasses and pulled her sweater over her head, revealing her wings and multi-iris’ed eyes. “How about this?”
“W-wow.” Scootaloo tilted her head in disbelief. “Somepony, pinch me. I have to know this is not a dream!”
For a moment, they were just staring at Chrysalis, and she wondered if they ceased to function and there was some button in need of pressing. She was about to reach out and touch Scootaloo, when suddenly both she and Sweetie Belle bombarded her with questions.
“Can you actually fly with these rags?”
“Do you have, like, night vision with those eyes?”
“Can you transform? Like, become one us?”
“Do me! Do me! Do meeeee!” The exclamations were flying so fast one after another Chrysalis could barely make out who was speaking. Thankfully, Apple Bloom stepped in to save her from being squashed — she quickly pulled Chrysalis away from Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.
“Wow, this is… this is so awesome!” Scootaloo cried, once the raging excitement inside her settled down a bit. “We’ve got a changeling friend! A changeling friend! We can be Cutie Mark Crusaders Changeling Befrienders!”
“Yeah… eh… how would a changeling befriender cutie mark look like?” Sweetie Belle took a good look at Chrysalis, probably trying to find a hint at how her cutie mark would look like if she were to get it.
“Does it matter? I bet it’s going to look awesome!” While Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle got busy discussing the endless possibilities, Chrysalis turned her attention to Apple Bloom.
“Gotta tell ya, that was the reaction Ah expected.” Bloom smiled. Chrysalis smiled in return.
“Then wait till they see the rest of my crew. This will totally knock them off their duff.” She rubbed her hooves together, eager in anticipation.
“Oh, ya mean Nightmare Moon and Sombra?... Hehe, Sombrero. Anyway, shall we go find them?” Apple Bloom looked around, flinching. “Let’s just find a better hidin’ place. This closet gives me the creeps.”
“Sure, scaredy cat. Once your friends are done being excited, we may go.” Chrysalis quickly put on her sock, sweater and glasses. “Try to contain your excitement, this time. We don’t want unneeded attention.” She winked as she approached the door.
“By all that is gracious, Sombra, didst thou not hear a single word I spoke?” Nightmare Moon hung her head in great sadness as she cast her eyes upon Sombra’s grammar. “The commas are in the wrong places! You keep missing letters! ‘Your’ is not ‘you’re’!” Her voice was shaking; she could barely contain the mighty enraged roar she’d mastered while playing teacher back at Fluttershy’s cottage. Sombra dreaded it like a plague.
“I’m sorry…” He looked down, feeling ashamed and discouraged. Noting that, Moon immediately gave him a pat on the head.
“But otherwise, thou art conducting pretty well. There are less spelling errors than before, I can congratulate thee therefore. Also, thy writing looks very, very neat.” She smiled at him and Sombra smiled right back at her.
Moonie had wanted to check Chrysalis’ work as well, but she’d ran away so fast she couldn’t even speak a word to her. And checking the pupil’s work without their awareness seemed like a dishonourable thing to do, so Moon decided to wait.
The classroom was completely empty, save for Moonie and Sombra. As the hooded alicorn began explaining to the foal his mistakes and the difference between an adjective and an adverb, the wind from the open window blew, swishing right by Nightmare Moon, as if teasing her. She told Sombra to keep checking his work, approached the open window and looked outside.
A small playground, filled to the brim with foals and fillies, playing and laughing — some were striking bets and competing against each other, others played in roles, one being a hero, the other’s a villain. They looked like they were having a lot of fun.
Out of curiosity, Moonie started walking through the rows of tables, looking at the papers and words scribbled on them. What she saw was terrifying.
So many mistakes! So many misspelled words! No commas! Confusing your with you’re was just the beginning — the amount of monstrous violence committed against the language was to rival any villainy ever committed! And yet the ponies who would violate the language did just play as if nothing had happened, as if they hadn’t demolished, completely burned down the careful structures of sweet sentences that wise ponies of old had crafted in order to portray speech in just a few scratches of a pen against paper.
She had broken the rule she set for herself, yes, but Moonie could not care less for that now. The biggest horror awaited her at Chrysalis’ table; the only thing she could see when she looked upon the sheet of paper was the hellish, devastating, consuming white void.
“The horror! The horror!” Moonie cried out in agony. Sombra looked at her with slight worry on his face. “Sombra, we’re in one classroom with criminals!”
“Criminals?” He looked around with worry. “But… what kind of crime would they commit?”
“Crime against the language!” Moonie approached his table and struck it with her hoof. Her table was too far away and striking somepony else’s table would be most impolite. “This will not stand. We must act, Sombra, act immediately.”
She continued to ramble on, and Sombra lost interest in her fiery speech aimed to inspire him to start a revolution rather quickly and instead focused his sight on a small butterfly that found its way into the classroom through an open window. Carefully treading through the air of the classroom, it flapped its multicoloured frail wings, looking for a safe haven. Eventually, it decided that Sombra’s nose was enough of a haven to land on.
“Ugh, where is thy mind? Certainly not with me!” Moon cried in despair and anguish. The grammar revolution was crumbling before it even began. Leaving Sombra to his own devices, she started walking around the classroom once more, this time looking at the works of other pupils’ more thoroughly. With each passing moment, she felt more and more miserable.
That was until she noted a very special copy-book. It was medium-sized, notable for by its flashy colours and the tiny tiara in the corner of each page. The most noticable thing about this copy-book was the mesmerizingly low amount of mistakes. The text Cheerilee dictated to them was written here almost perfectly, aside from a few missed commas, that Moonie herself had trouble with. Other than that, this copy-book needed to be framed and put on display.
Moonie reached out and was about to turn a page to see more of this copy-book when suddenly she was rather rudely interrupted. The book was slammed shut by a light-pink hoof. Nightmare Moon shuddered and staggered back a little, looking up immediately. She was met with the furious glance of a blue-eyed pony wearing a fancy tiara.
“Didn’t your parents ever teach you not to touch others’ things?” she hissed maliciously. “Especially if those things are mine!”
“Oh, I am terribly sorry; I was not intending to lay hoof on thy possessions… I merely wanted to see what else was writ in this copy-book.” Nightmare Moon kept her voice cold and collected. She couldn’t allow emotions to overtake her and make things worse — after all, she had been touching things that weren’t hers. The tiara pony didn’t look convinced.
The tiara pony raised an eyebrow. “You talk weird. Gah! If you’re so desperate to copy, you could have at least asked!” She measured Moonie with a contemptuous glare. “Not that I’d let you copy, anyway.”
“I know I am not in a position to, but I’d like to ask that thou abstain’st from accusing me of cheating.” The injured pride started speaking instead of reason, as Moonie took a stance, slightly turning her head to the side to express displeasure. “I would never stoop so low! Not even in the direst of circumstances.”
“You wouldn’t? Then why would you be looking through my work?” Moonie took a split second to look at Sombra, only to see that he was still busy with the butterfly flying around him, and thus of no help.
“I only wanted to take a look, nothing more — to compare, so to say. Thy written language, out of what I have gathered so far, is one of the best in this class.” Nightmare Moon put up a genuine smile as the pony’s expression softened a bit.
“Oh, so you’re just going around checking the others’ work? Interesting. Pretty interesting.” She took a step towards Moonie and extended her hoof daintily. “My name is Diamond Tiara. Nice to meet you.”
“Oh… Nice to meet you too. I’m…”
“Nightshade, I know. Unlike some, I don’t sleep in class.” Tiara and Nightmare Moon shook their hooves. “And that pony — that’s Sombrero, right?”
She looked over Moonie’s shoulder to look at Sombra, who was still busy with the butterfly. Upon noticing a stranger’s glance at him, he shuddered a bit, looked back and blushed.
“Yes, you are right. He is my friend, and, one could say, my pupil.” It was true, after all. It was something to be proud of as well; she might also win her new friend’s respect with it.
“Oh, is that so?” Diamond Tiara raised an eyebrow when all of a sudden Sombra popped out right behind her. “That’s rather unusual. Then, I take it you’ve already got a cutie mark.”
Moonie stuttered for a moment, desperately searching her mind for the meaning of the word cutie mark. She remembered talking about it at one point, but it was an event so minor it completely escaped her memory. Then, she recalled the images on the ponies’ butts that varied in shape and colour.
“Actually, no. I possess no such mark.” She felt a little blush filling her cheek. “Is that of much importance to thee?”
“Bah, of course! A cutie mark is one of the most important things in the world for a pony. It determines their best talent, what they excel at. It is a first step to success!” Tiara exclaimed, looking at the hooded Nightmare Moon, who sulked at that remark. “But the success comes with time and hard work, they say. And as it seems you’re not doing much in regards to hard work, if you haven’t gotten it already?”
“Oh… That is of most concern—” Nightmare Moon looked back with a worried glance, but Tiara smiled.
“But I suppose I could let you and your friend stick around with me. Some ponies need to be taught directly — but some can just watch others succeed, and then succeed on their own.” She watched Sombra with the corner of her eye, so she knew he was listening in their conversation from now on. “I trust you are one of those ponies, am I right?”
“Yes!” Sombra and Moonie cried out in unison, exchanging confused looks for a split second, and then both turning back to Diamond Tiara.
“We’re ready to work hard. Aren’t we, Sombrero?” Moonie winked at Sombra.
“Hooray for hard working for butt pictures!” Sombra shouted in excitement, earning a confused look from Diamond Tiara.
“Eeh… yeah, whatever. Let me just grab my comb and we’re ready to go…” She started digging in her bag, when suddenly, she turned to the two ponies. “And one more thing: if you ever meet ponies who call themselves the Cutie Mark Crusaders: run! They claim they’re looking for their cutie mark, but in fact they do nothing but slack off for days and annoy me. Stick around with them, and you can kiss your cutie mark goodbye!”
“Oooh… that sounds really harsh.” Sombra mumbled. “So, one can never get a cutie mark at all?”
“Exactly, if he or she doesn’t work hard to get it. Such a pony will forever wander Equestria in search of anything he or she can call his or her talent, but usually, they end up as criminals!” She returned to digging in her bag.
“I don’t want to be a criminal…” Sombra whispered into Moonie’s ear, who nodded solemnly.
“Neither do I. But that’s a good reason for us both to work hard. Even harder than before.” A certain non-pony character crawled into Moonie’s mind immediately when she thought of working hard. “Let us hope our lazy friend takes Diamond Tiara’s advice to heart when they meet.”
***
The search for Moonie and Sombra took far longer than Chrysalis had anticipated. They looked outside, but noticed no hooded figures or foals with weird horns; neither were they in the classroom. Her friends started to worry.
“If they really are who I think they are, they might have vanished! A cloaking spell of sorts,” Scootaloo theorized as they headed outside into the school’s yard once more.
“Cloaking isn’t that easy, y’know. I tried doing it once — cloaked my own mane.” Sweetie Belle shuddered at the memory. “I look so weird without my mane.”
“Where could they have gone?! Gah, and when I need them the most!” Chryssie grumbled, eyeing every foal and filly with utmost meticulousness. Neither looked very Sombra-ish or Nightmare Moon-esque. Perhaps she should put bells on both of them — maybe then they’d be easier to find.
Finally, she managed to spot a slight glimpse of a curved red horn.
“Over there, follow me!” Chrysalis exclaimed, waving at the Crusaders to follow her. They had to bump their way through a small crowd of fillies and foals before reaching the outskirts of the school’s yard, where a small gang was residing at a small wooden table.
“There they are! Hey, Ni—” Chrysalis couldn’t finish her sentence when Apple Bloom suddenly covered her mouth and pulled her backwards.
“Shh! Can’t ya see who’s standing there?” she hissed with a slight touch of anger in her voice.
Chrysalis looked at her friends and noticed two other fillies she hadn’t noticed before. She recalled seeing them in the classroom, but that was about it.
“That’s Diamond Tiara and her suckerfish, Silver Spoon,” Scootaloo grumbled. “What are they up to this time?”
“And why are they talking to your friends — probably setting up another mean prank, I bet,” Sweetie Belle added her own comment.
Chrysalis eventually managed to wrestle out of Apple Bloom’s grip and went on straight ahead, ignoring the Crusaders’ comments. Scootaloo tried to block her way, but Chryssie sidestepped her.
“Where have you been hiding, guys?! I’ve been looking for you everywhere! Leave a note next time, will ya?” Chrysalis loudly exclaimed, drawing the attention of all four ponies before her.
“Weren’t you ever told that it’s rude to interru—” Diamond Tiara began, but Chryssie cut her off.
“I almost got scared for a moment. But, oh well, it can happen. On a positive note, I wanted you to meet my friends!” She grabbed Sombra and Moonie, both with rather confused looks on their faces, and forcefully dragged them towards the Cutie Mark Crusaders. However, halfway there, she felt a tap on her shoulder.
“Excuse me, but what is your problem?!” Tiara scowled at Chrysalis, who turned around to face her. In the corner of her eye, Tiara noticed the trio standing not too far, and her expression eased up a bit. “Oh, now I see the problem.”
“Have fun with that.” Chrysalis was just about to turn away from Tiara when she suddenly adressed Sombra and Moonie.
“See those ponies? They’re the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Those are the ponies you should be avoiding — and so should your friend here… Snake Smile, if I recall correctly?”
“Avoid your face, Tiara!” Scootaloo shouted, offended by her remark.
“When you spit upwards, you’re going to hit yourself in the face, Scootaloo. Don’t forget that.” Silver Spoon took it upon herself to distract the three friends. Crusaders started bickering with her, with varying degrees of success, while Tiara continued her speech uninterrupted.
“This is no good — just butting in when I and my friends were having a pleasant lunch break.” Tiara was looking straight into Chrysalis’ eyes, unafraid and even with a hint of challenge in her blue eyes. “You ought to show more respect to other ponies.”
“Sorry, pumpkin, but you’ve got to earn that first.” She turned to Sombra and Moonie. “Come on, you’ve got no business talking to this loser.” Chryssie proudly walked past Tiara and continued nudging her friends forward.
“Loser?! Who are you calling a loser?!” Diamond’s cheeks turned crimson with rage. “Nopony dares call me a loser!”
“I just did. Whatcha gonna to do about it?” Chrysalis didn’t even turn around this time as she spoke. “Come on, hurry up, we’ve got lots of things to discuss.”
“Unhoof me at once!” Moonie finally recovered from the initial shock and spoke up. “Thou may’st not just take us away! We were not finished talking with Diamond Tiara; she was just introducing us to her friend.”
“Pff, that can wait. I’ve got some real meeting right over there. Now, less talkie, more walkie.” Chrysalis nudged Moonie onward, but she didn’t budge. Instead, she sat down on the ground and crossed her forelegs. “What is this garbage now?”
“This gesture may roughly be translated as: I shall not move onward. Your behaviour is outrageous, Snake; this is well past a joke!” Moonie said coldly and firmly before turning to Sombra. “I suggest you follow suit. We must not allow her to just tell us what to do.”
“Uhhh…” Sombra looked just as confused as he did at the beginning of the entire mess, if not more. “Eeeh…”
“Look at it this way: do you want to be an uncivilized brute that just trash talks ponies she barely even knows—” Diamond looked at Chrysalis with unconcealed contempt. “—or do you want to actually be a good member of your family?”
“What are you playing at?!” Chrysalis’ teeth made a painful screeching noise. “Are you saying I’m a bad member of my family?”
“If I am to be blunt, yes, that’s exactly what I’m saying.” Tiara smiled at her own remark as she watched Chryssie turn all kinds of reddish-green.
“Are you done, Tiara? I’m running out of quips!” Silver Spoon approached her friend, while the Crusaders joined Chrysalis’ side.
“And they weren’t any good, too.” Sweetie Belle smirked. “I could come up with better insults in my sleep!”
“Perhaps, but it doesn’t even matter anymore, because we are about to leave. And by we, I mean myself, Silver Spoon, Nightshade and you, Sombrero.” Diamond Tiara smirked haughtily, while everypony’s eyes turned to Sombra, who kept staring into the ground, still rather lost about the current situation.
“Come on, Nightshade, stop acting up and let’s go. Our little argument has been going on for long enough!” Chrysalis exclaimed in reply, adjusting her glasses. “You too, Sombrero. Come on, get packin’.”
Subjected to all their voices, Sombra’s legs began to shake. “Oh! I forgot something in the classroom! I need to go! Now! And quickly!” With the swiftness of a rabbit, he quickly ran away and back into the school.
“Well done, Crown-Butt, you scared him with your ugly face!” Chrysalis looked at Diamond with a mix of anger and sadistic satisfaction at witnessing the proud pony turning crimson like brimstone.
“You’re certainly the one to talk about beauty!” Silver Spoon stepped forth, while Chryssie’s guard was low. “What’s up with the sweater? And socks? What are you trying to hide underneath that?”
“Yes, exactly!” Diamond Tiara joined in on the offensive. “While you’re at it, put a bag on your head! I mean, what’s up with your teeth, blegh!”
A few seconds later, Cutie Mark Crusaders were engaged in a test of courage, tenacity and strength as they desperately tried to stop Chrysalis from lunging at Diamond Tiara and doing unthinkable things to her.
“I think we’re done here. Our opponent is obviously not ready for further discussion.” Diamond Tiara smirked, watching Chrysalis roar and growl at her. “Let’s go — break’s about to be over anyway.”
She and Spoon, both sharing an insidious smile, started trotting back to school. Only a few seconds later did Tiara turn around and look at Moonie, who was just sitting and watching them leave.
“When I said we, I meant all of us. You are part of the team, right, Nightshade?”
Nightmare Moon sighed heavily, then looked at Chrysalis, who was still pushing away her friends, spilling saliva all over the place, her eyes burning devilishly green. Deeply disappointed in Chrysalis, she got up and followed her newfound team back into the school.
***
The rest of the day flew by like nothing. Fillies and foals were collecting their books, copybooks and pencils, smiling, talking and chatting. There was still a long day ahead, and not even a heap of homework could ruin it.
Most were beaming with excitement and happiness; the only black sheep in this crowd were Moonie and Chrysalis. The instant the bell rang they gathered their bags and headed off in separate directions, Sombra couldn’t even speak a word to them. Not wanting to leave his friends behind, he settled down outdoors, right near the entrance, and waited patiently until they would come out the door.
When the two finally appeared in the hallway, instead of happiness Sombra felt worry; Chryssie and Moonie were staring each other down, as they walked. They walked at the same pace, both in a straight line, eyes focused on each other.
“Hello!” Sombra tried walking between them, to disrupt their visual contact and provoke at least some kind of reaction from them. It was to no avail, as they had just kept on walking. Sombra wanted to try poking, but there was no need for that — the doorframe made sure Chrysalis lost the staring contest.
Muttering a disgruntled ‘ow’ Chrysalis got up from the floor and watched Nightmare Moon walk out the door, leaving a note of prideful celebration in the air with a short snicker. Grinding her teeth, Chryssie shook her head to get rid of dizziness and hurried outside.
“I thought we were all friends now…” Sombra let out a deep sigh, fetched his bag and followed the two fillies outside.
The yard was crowded beyond belief. The voices of fillies, foals and their parents all mixed into a loud cacophony, ranging from ‘what did she give you for your homework’ to ‘no, I didn’t put the cat into the aquarium’. Moonie took a rather unusual interest in watching all this action unfold. She stopped and looked at foals talking to their mommies and daddies: occasionally, her ears twitched under her hood, as if catching the escaping sounds.
“How was your day at school, honey?” A plump, smiling mare said, hugging her little foal.
“It was great, mommy! I—” The rest of his words were lost to the cacophony. It was unclear to Sombra why Moonie got so captivated by the sight, but he didn’t question it; all that mattered right now to him was finding Fluttershy.
And there she was, standing and looking around with a nervous look on her face, probably looking for them. When she finally noticed Sombra waving at her, she hurried over to him.
“Oh my, you were so hard to spot there — just too many ponies.” Fluttershy led her foals onto the road that would take them back home. “So, how was your first day at school? Did you enjoy it?”
“Yes!” Moonie exclaimed.
“It was okay,” Sombra said.
“If you write ‘horrible’ on every tiny piece of sand in the entire world, then multiply the number of those pieces by a million, that still wouldn’t come close to how my day went.” Chrysalis gritted her teeth, sulking down, her mane almost sweeping the ground. “In short: no, I didn’t like it.”
“Of course thou wouldest not like it — thou’st slept for most of the day!” Moonie remarked, not even turning to Chrysalis, which made her even angrier.
“Oh, excuse me for not being a total nerd! Not to mention a traitor!” She snarled back, and yet not seeing the reaction she’d expected; Moonie just ignored her.
“Uh… oh… what happened?” Fluttershy looked confused and scared. Just this morning it seemed they were the best of friends and now they were at each other’s throats again? Were they back on square one again?
“Nothing,” Moon and Chrysalis spoke in unison, their voices firm. Fluttershy got the hint and kept silent for the rest of their walk, only occasionally throwing a few worried glimpses at the two.
The cottage welcomed them with the loud clanking of dishes and the shredding of a guitar. The blast of air was so strong it almost blew Fluttershy and the foals away when she opened the door.
“Discord! What are you doing?!” she shouted, sure that it was Discord’s doing. She wasn’t wrong.
One after another the dishes were throwing themselves into a huge pot where they were washed by animated brooms and towels, while Discord was standing on the sofa, rocking on a guitar with his claw. The music roared and boomed throughout the entire cottage, but didn’t penetrate the walls, for some eldritch reason.
Angel Bunny was hanging under the ceiling, strapped by several ropes that now resembled snakes, and was squeaking unruly words that Fluttershy would only ever hear in places that ponies like her would never visit.
“And here she is, our wonderful Fluttershy! Say hello and bow down to the queen of the masquerade!” Discord bellowed, forming a sign of the horns with his paw. “Kneel before Her Imperial and Royal Majesty!”
“I just asked you to do the dishes! Why do you have to turn everything into chaos?” Fluttershy shouted, making the angriest face she could muster.
“Dear, it’s the name of the game. I’m the Spirit of Chaos! Wherever I go, chaos follows! Oh, gotta write that down; it’ll be my new album!” Discord exclaimed and snapped his fingers. The guitar disappeared, and all the dishes quickly formed pretty stacks near the dishwasher. With loud squeaks, Angel fell down from the ceiling and started showering Discord with bunny insults.
“Angel, stop! There are children here!” Fluttershy flushed red, despite knowing the foals probably couldn’t understand a word Angel was saying.
“’Tis a sorry sight to see an angel fall.” Discord smiled, kicking Angel right out of the cottage through an open window, much to Fluttershy’s horror. “But the deed is done; the dishes are clean and sparkly, just like you asked.” He briefly glanced at the foals. “So, how’s school? Regretting your life choices already?”
Sombra preferred to stay silent, while Chryssie and Moonie exchanged angry glances and trotted right past Discord, each heading in a separate direction — Chryssie went upstairs while Moonie decided to take a stroll into the backyard.
“Ah, they’re already ignoring adults! Soon, they’ll start swearing, then abusing illegal substances and then...” A wet towel thrown by Fluttershy hit Discord right in the muzzle disrupted his train of thoughts, probably for the better. “Okay, okay, I get the hint. You don’t need to throw things at me.”
“Just go do something non-destructive. Something happened at school and I need to look into it.” Fluttershy sighed heavily. “I just hope it’s nothing serious.”
“Pff, like anything serious ever happens in this town. Not that I’m complaining or anything.” Discord grabbed the towel from his face, squeezed it to the point it was completely dry and threw it in the drawer. “Serious stuff is boring. Bringing a little chaos in never hurts. Anyways, I’ll be outside — haven’t taken a walk in a while!”
With these words, he disappeared into a puff of smoke. Fluttershy sighed heavily and looked around; the dishes were clean and nothing was broken. At least Discord did what he’d promised to do. Though, the windows still had water stains.
“Mom…” Sombra’s poke woke Fluttershy from her temporary hypnosis and she turned around to face her little darling.
“Oh. What is it, Sombra?” She looked at him, smiling.
“Moonie and Chryssie quarrelled again…” Sombra looked distressed and worried. Why wouldn’t he be?
“Yeah, I think I noticed.” Fluttershy hummed, looking at the stairs leading on the upper floor. She definitely needed to talk with Chrysalis and Moonie after they had calmed down a little. “Can you tell me how it happened? Or what you think happened?”
Sombra was quiet for a moment and then began recounting the events of the day exactly how he remembered them. Fluttershy listened attentively all throughout. Eventually, they decided to rest on the sofa, with Sombra resting his head on Fluttershy’s lap.
“And for the rest of the day, they didn’t even talk to each other,” Sombra finished his tale, while Fluttershy was stroking his head. “Why did it happen? Was it because of me? Was it because I couldn’t pick a side?”
“No, sweetheart, not at all. It has more to do with… with them having different friends.” Fluttershy sighed, realizing what kind of trouble her children had run into.
“But why? Can’t we all be friends?” Sombra asked meekly. “You should talk to them; you’ve got to tell them! I know you can make them friends again!”
“No, sweetie, I’m afraid I can’t…” Upon seeing Sombra’s confused look, Shy sighed again. “This is something Chryssie and Moonie have to settle on their own. Who you want to befriend, what kind of friends you make is entirely up to them. I cannot tell them who can be their friend and who can’t. It’s not okay if I just try to control them in such a way.”
“Can’t we do anything?” Sombra’s voice shook. “Will they… never get along now?”
“I don’t think we can do something about it. Perhaps, it’s only a matter of time.” She looked Sombra deep in the eyes. “And what about you? Have you made any new friends?”
“I?” Sombra looked around in surprise. “Uh… no. Not yet… I think.”
“I know, it may seem difficult and scary to approach other ponies on your own, but believe me: ponies are kinder than they look. Some may already be willing to be your friend.
All you need is just to say hello.” Fluttershy smiled, ruffling Sombra’s mane. “Just approach them and try to start a conversation.”
“Okay. It sounds easy.” Sombra nodded.
“Good. Now, go and rest a little. I’ll call you all when it’s dinner time.” She pecked Sombra on the cheek and let him run away to do his things.