AN: For future reference, all notes I have will be placed at the start of text unless in special cases. Special thanks to blackice and MyWorld93 for proofreading and pre-reading this story. You guys are awesome. And now, to let this adventure begin...
Aria of Abandonment – Chapter One – On Lessons and Violation
“Okay, everypony open your Equestrian History books to page 137 and silently read the first page, please.” Miss Cherilee said sternly from behind her maple desk. She looked significantly toward Scootaloo and Apple Bloom who had already started to giggle at a drawing Apple Bloom had made. They promptly quieted down when they saw the look Miss Cherilee was giving them. Among most, the look would be interpreted as stern and unforgiving, but- to them, who had seen first hoof what a stare could REALLY do, it was merely a minor warning. They giggled again and went silent, unwilling to antagonize the teacher that they loved so much. Cherilee shook her head and smiled bemusedly when Sweetie Belle immediately stood up to sit next to the two fillies and look at the drawing as well. Sweetie Belle snorted for a moment before quietly hiding her amusement behind her open open.
Sweetie looked down at the book and smiled, the chapter was about the early migration of ponies to Equestria. She had never told anypony, but she was enthralled by the stories of the Migration. She couldn’t explain why she loved it so much, though, but if pushed, she would guess she just enjoyed reading about the ponies in the story. She adored the stories of Princess Platinum’s adventures before the Migration, and admired her strength when all the unicorns needed her in the Windigo Blizzards. However, she knew that wasn’t everything; there was more. There was something deeper and stronger than just liking the Princess that drew her to the topic. It was almost like a whisper, insistent in its call…
“Sweetie?”
Sweetie Belle looked up from the book and looked around frantically, searching for who had called her name. Giggles came from around the room as Miss Cherilee cleared her throat expectantly.
“Yes, Miss Cherilee?” Sweetie asked nervously. She hoped no one would realize she had been so absorbed in her thoughts that she hadn’t read the page yet.
“Since you seem to be so entranced with today’s chapter, maybe you would like to read it aloud?” Miss Cherilee suggested.
Sweetie, relieved that Miss Cherilee had not noticed her lapse in attention, started reading from the page dutifully. When she could spare a moment to look around between breaths, she surreptitiously glanced to the sides to observe her classmates. Scootaloo seemed to have fallen asleep halfway through the reading as usual. Sweetie Belle couldn’t help but smile a bit at her friend’s predictable habit. Applebloom seemed to be alternating between staring out the window and following along in the book. Unsurprisingly, it seemed like she was easily able to tune in and out of focus – after all, she always said school was easy. The other students around the classroom were all engaged in similar activities. Most were reading along with her silently, or quickly passing notes to friends across the room. Surprisingly, Miss Cherilee wasn’t doing anything to stop them; instead she was quietly following along as Sweetie read, as if she was enjoying herself.
When Sweetie reached the end of the page, she looked up at Cherilee expectantly. Cherilee continued to read for a moment to finish a paragraph that continued on the next page, and then looked up slowly. Her eyes wandered around the classroom, taking in her students actions amusedly. Cherilee rolled her eyes when she saw Scootaloo slumped over desk. A small pool of saliva had formed under her cheek, and she was lightly snoring. Her wings vibrated every few seconds when she exhaled. Sweetie reached over and shook her sleeping friend to wake up.
Cherilee waited patiently as Scootaloo stretched nonchalantly and giggled nervously.
“Sorry, Miss Cherilee, but it’s just so warm…” Scootaloo mumbled, stretching her small wings again and attempting to don an attentive expression. Cherilee was not impressed at her attempt but decided to ignore her annoyance at the filly’s nonchalance.
“I thought that since most of youhave been working so hard lately,” Cherilee began, “we could do something fun today.”
She opened a drawer in her desk and pulled out a large black record with faded writing around its edge. The center had minute writing wrapping around the center hole that listed the music on the record.
Miss Cherilee adopted her serious teacher voice, “As you all learned while Sweetie Belle was reading, much of our culture was lost when Princess Platinum, Commander Hurricane, and Chancellor Pudding Had led everypony into Equestria. They had to leave so quickly that they had no time to keep make any records of the Migration. The only history we now have of that time is what could be written down after the Migration so we have little authentic information from the time to study now. Still… some things were preserved from before the Migration.”
Miss Cherilee held up the record, “Music, poetry, and stories. Some of them are still around today. This record has some music that survived the Migration and is still used today. Every royal function in Canterlot plays this music at least once, sometimes twice if the attendees wish to hear it again. Even though it is thousands of years old, it is still very popular today among the nobility.”
Miss Cherilee walked over to the back of the room and placed the record on a record player’s turntable and adjusted the needle. She fiddled with the back of the player until faint static began to play from the large horn looming out of the box. Satisfied that the record was correctly placed, she rushed back to her seat and waited. After a few seconds, violin chords began to wash over the expectant foals’ ears followed by the light sounds of drums. The music picked up its pace and flutes joined into the music. A melody formed and sustained itself after a few moments, defying characterization for a moment before yielding to the imaginations of the fillies and colts listening.
Apple Bloom thought she heard the sound of the wind in the trees on her ranch, a quiet whistling through the branches, a rustling of leaves and bending of grasses. She closed her eyes as she imagined the music in visual form. A delighted smile slowly crept onto her face.
Scootaloo imagined light and dainty laughter mixed in with deeper booms of mirth, she heard the staccato patter of little hooves on wooden floors and closed her eyes. In her mind she saw her parents as she had always imagined them, her mother willowy and graceful with lithe wings that could alternately beat powerfully in flight or gently comfort a child. She saw her father; tall, strong, and gentle, his kind eyes watchful of her and her brother. Her brother… she imagined a small colt, barely into his second year of life, clinging to her foreleg and enjoying his sister’s warmth and protection. She imagined the harmony of a family and it brought equal parts sadness and joy to her heart.
Sweetie Belle closed her eyes and almost started imagining something before her head split in two. She tried to open her mouth to scream in agony, but found she no longer could control herself. She sat stock still, her previous expression of delight frozen on her face as her mind screamed and rebelled against the music that so entranced the rest of the class. She could feel it running through her mind as a burning, oily fluid. It oozed through her thoughts in search of something happy to force her to imagine. Sweetie began to shudder at the sheer violation of having her mind opened up and examined so closely. It felt wrong. It felt so WRONG. At last the music ended, and she was able to move again. Before she could form a coherent thought, however, she collapsed onto her desk.
The class jumped straight out of their chairs, when they heard the loud thud and crack of Sweetie Belle’s head and horn striking the desk. Cherilee immediately rushed over to Sweetie and gently lifted her head from the desk, examining her to make sure she wasn’t hurt.
“Sweetie Belle?” she quietly called. “Sweetie Belle? Are you okay?”
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo crowded the teacher and their best friend. The rest of the class kept a respectful distance away and shuffled quietly and uneasily. They felt something was wrong. It somehow felt as if the world were suddenly less cheerful than before, darker and drab. They kept looking out to the colorful outside and then back to Sweetie and Cherilee and her friends. One by one, they slipped outside into the sun, where the feeling of darkness was quickly dispelled. They started back toward the school when they all heard the most terrible scream, as if someone were being subjected to the most painful of tortures.
Sweetie’s eyes snapped open and all the pain and violation brought on by the music caught up to her in a rush. She couldn’t contain the sudden rush of pain, and screamed as loudly as she could. She screamed like she was dying. She screamed in terror. She screamed in pain. She screamed because she couldn’t stay silent. Somewhere deep in her mind, she was commanded to make noise, to not leave the violation unchallenged. To not make noise would be to silently accept the pain like a coward, like a victim. She couldn’t bear to do so. She screamed in defiance of what she had heard and experienced.
“Wha’s wrong Miss Cherilee?” Apple Bloom yelled in fear, recoiling from her friends screams. Scootaloo unconsciously retreated with her before catching herself and standing her ground.
Sweetie began to shake from the exertion of forcing herself to scream so loudly. Cherilee tried to calm her down slowly, rubbing gentle circles into the crying filly’s back. They stayed that way, for a time. The two friends stood frozen in their places and stared at the friend, whom they didn’t know how to help. The teacher offered comfort in the only way she knew, through kind words and reassuring hugs. Sweetie’s screams continued through it all, in pain and fear and defiance.
Sweetie slowly tapered off into the simple sobs of a foal who had experienced too much sadness far too quickly. She shuddered and huddled into Miss Cherilee’s comforting embrace. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo, hastened to join them and promptly started crying softly as well, drained from watching their friend scream and cry and sob. After a few moments, Sweetie’s sobs fell away to tired snores as she fell asleep, succumbing to her mental exhaustion.
“Has this ever happened before?” Miss Cherilee quietly asked Sweetie’s friends.
“No, never. A’ least ah’ve never seen this before.” Apple bloom responded quickly.
“Me neither, Miss Cherilee…” Scootaloo paused, “Is she okay, Miss Cherilee? What happened? Why did she start screaming like that?”
“I don’t know, Scootaloo. You saw that she passed out before this started, correct? Was something wrong during the music?” Cherilee absently stroked the sleeping filly’s mane as she slept. She almost instinctively knew how to comfort the girl, despite having no children.
Scootaloo stared down at the floor sheepishly and Apple Bloom looked away out the window. Neither filly wanted to admit that they had been in their own little worlds and completely oblivious to anypony else. Cherilee understood immediately, but decided not to voice her understanding, choosing instead to continue her ministrations for Sweetie. Even asleep, Sweetie Belle looked scared, but Cherilee still considered this a victory though - she looked much more peaceful than she had before.
“Could one of you see what is happening with the other foals? They must be terrified right now…” Cherilee requested.
Both Scootaloo and Apple Bloom trotted off, taking quick glances back at their friend as they left. They couldn’t help looking back at her as they left.
The other foals were silently huddled around the schoolyard and were speaking in whispers to their neighbors. When they all spotted Apple Bloom and Scootaloo they all jumped to their hooves and swarmed them.
“What happened?”
“How is Sweetie Belle?”
“Is Miss Cherilee okay?”
“Can we come back inside?”
“Can we go home?”
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom didn’t have time to answer between questions and stood silently as they waited for the excited fillies to calm down. They wanted to go back and help Sweetie Belle and their patience was beginning to fray as the questions continued. Finally, they shouted down the crowd until they had quieted somewhat and tried to answer their questions.
“Miss Cherilee is okay! Sweetie Belle is sleeping now!” Scootaloo shouted into the loud and tumultuous crowd.
Apple Bloom followed up, “Y’all should stay outside fer now, so ya’ don’t bother Sweetie.”
A malicious voice cut through the silence, “Why should we care about you blank flanks? I want to go inside, so I will.” Two earth ponies were cutting through the crowd and made to go inside the schoolhouse. Scootaloo’s eyes flashed angrily, her temper flared and her patience thrown into the wind. Apple Bloom attempted to remain calm and barred the door to the classroom.
“Hold it, Tiara. You too, Silver Spoon.” Scootaloo ground out angrily, “You aren’t going in there. Sweetie Belle needs to rest and we aren’t going to let you bother her.”
The crowd shuffled nervously at the open hostility Scootaloo was pouring out toward the two ponies. It seemed as if her anger truly manifested itself in the air as a tension or tautness. It grew large and stronger as Diamond Tiara stared viciously at Scootaloo. After a few moments of tense silence, Diamond tried to force her way past Apple Bloom. Scootaloo immediately pulled her away from the door roughly and threw her to the ground.
“I said. You. Are. Not. Going. In there.” Scootaloo hissed venomously, she longed to hit Diamond’s smug smile from her muzzle. She reveled in the violent thoughts bubbling away in her mind. She let it grow and grow until she felt she couldn’t take the anger any longer.
“I will.” Diamond said and ran at the door. At Diamond’s rush, Scootaloo’s anger bubbled over and the tension in the air snapped violently. Scootaloo grabbed her as she passed but instead of just throwing her away, she head-butted her as hard as she could. Just as Diamond dropped to the ground, Scootaloo bucked her in the belly.
“And stay down…” Scootaloo hissed. Seemingly out of nowhere, Silver Spoon tackled Scootaloo and began screeching and pulling at Scootaloo’s mane. In the time it took for Scootaloo to roll out from under her, Diamond had gotten up and started toward their thrashing forms.
Before she could reach them, Apple Bloom had moved between them and yelled, “Ah no ya’ don’t.”
Cherilee breathed a sigh of relief as Sweetie stirred in her lap. Cherilee watched the little filly slowly awaken and snuggle into the warmth she found herself surrounded in. Her eyes slowly filled with tears as she remembered the music, the terrible music that hurt her.
“Shh… it’s okay… it’s alright… I’m here…” Miss Cherilee murmured. She scooped Sweetie into a gentle embrace and held her until Sweetie was under control again. “What happened, Sweetie Belle?”
Sweetie shook her head at the gentle question and resolved not to cry.
“I don’t know. The music started and it was so pretty and happy and then…” She paused and tried not to cry at the memory of the horrible pain. She tried to ignore the revulsion she felt at the violation of having her mind stripped for information, her own most precious memories and dreams.
“I hurt. It hurt so much. It was looking for something.” Sweetie broke again and started to cry.
Cherilee hugged her again, “I don’t understand. What was? What was looking? What did it want?”
“I-I-I don’t know…” Sweetie whispered through her shudders and tears.
A screech from outside caused her to bolt out of Cherilee’s hug and run to the door. She opened it to the violent scene in the schoolyard. Diamond Tiara and Apple were rolling on the ground, pulling manes, and trading punches. Nearby, Scootaloo and Silver were hoof to hoof, trading blows like boxers.
“Stop!” Sweetie yelled ineffectively. Fresh tears streaked down her face. “Stop!” She screamed ineffectually. It almost seemed as her cries made the four even more violent. Sweetie became more desperate and scared. She didn’t understand what was going on but she knew she had to do something – anything. She took a moment to decide and threw herself between Silver Spoon and Scootaloo and tried to make herself as big an obstacle as possible.
She turned towards Scootaloo to convince her to stop.
“Please, st-“ She began before she was bucked in the head from behind.
She felt herself sliding across the ground, but barely felt it. Her entire mind was focused on the burning agony that had engulfed her head. It felt like her entire skull was on fire and her vision was fluctuating between coherent images and swirling lights. In the final moments before the pain forced her into unconsciousness, her eyes focused on a sight that froze her mind with horror.
Her horn lay in front of her, bloody and shattered at the base. Almost as a delayed echo, Sweetie Belle heard a snapping noise and almost gratefully fell into unconsciousness.