//------------------------------// // X - Lunchtime Detention // Story: Mare Magnet // by Revenant Wings //------------------------------// Rumble and Diamond Tiara sat in the classroom under the disapproving eye of Cheerilee. Lunch still had a whole ten minutes to go and both of them were not particularly happy; Diamond Tiara kept shooting death glares over at Rumble, who refused to acknowledge them. Cheerilee steadily graded papers at her desk, but kept on looking at the clock every once in a while as though even she wanted it to end. It had been somewhat strange; Rumble was fully expecting to be scolded or shouted at, but for some reason this was worse, sitting in the quiet of the classroom with a disapproving Cheerilee until lunch was over. Even worse was the feeling that this was not the last time it would happen. After a time, Cheerilee looked at the clock and seemed satisfied. She set down the papers she had been looking at and looked at them both firmly. She inhaled and exhaled once through her nose and looked straight down at the two. “Never,” she said. She let a long silence pass as though to make them understand the gravity of the situation. “Never have I had such an unruly group of students as I do this year. I can’t believe it. Seriously! Three physical fights in one year! And both of you have had a hoof in causing all of them!” “He started it!” Diamond Tiara shouted. “No, I didn’t!” Rumble immediately countered. They would have continued had not Cheerilee slammed a book down on her desk and caused a large thump. She was quiet for a moment longer. “And your grades are surprising, too. Rumble, I would have expected someone who’s a studious as you are to be less of a fighter.” Diamond Tiara stuck a tongue out at Rumble and sat there for a moment with a satisfied smirk. “That’s a good thing, Diamond, not a bad thing,” Rumble muttered. “Doesn’t matter. You’re still in trouble.” “And you, Diamond Tiara.” – Diamond suddenly was staring straight at Cheerilee with horror in her eyes. – “You are all over the place! Sometimes I think your father does your homework more often than you do! Well, frankly, I am not going to stand it any longer.” “How dare you accuse me of cheating!” Diamond Tiara yelled. “You don’t know when to shut up, do you?” Rumble muttered. “And how dare you get me into this mess!” “Rumble got you in no mess, Diamond Tiara,” Cheerilee said sternly, bringing the focus back to her. “You did. Trust me, I’ve seen every single one of these fights, and I can’t understand for the life of me why you would pick on them. You are the instigator!” “That’s not fair!” Diamond Tiara protested. “That’s enough!” Cheerilee slammed a hoof down. She waited until she’d calmed down a little before looking over to Rumble. “And you... you’ve been involved in physical fights twice now. What is it? Why are you doing it? And I hope you can provide a clear reason.” Rumble swallowed. “She was teasing us for being blank flanks and thought that made her superior to us because of it. But she wouldn’t back down.” Cheerilee nodded. “Thank you. At least you provided a reason.” Rumble said nothing; this was an odd change he’d hardly seen until recently, and wasn’t happy to be on the receiving end of it. Cheerilee looked over to Diamond Tiara. “Why were you picking on them for being blank flanks?” “Are you kidding me? A pony that doesn’t know what makes up their talent is considered worthless and that’s a fact! You told us that!” Cheerilee glared at Diamond Tiara. “Your history grade tells me more than I need to know about that situation. First of all, it was considered that a foal had up until college to find what their talent is. Secondly, while that is true, it is also considered a very large day in a pony’s life when they do gain their talent. Thirdly, the practice of a pony being ‘worthless’ with regards to their mark stopped ten years after Equestria was founded and Princesses Celestia and Luna took the throne; everypony now makes worthwhile contributions to society. This pegasus you keep bullying” – Cheerilee pointed to Rumble – “helped in the last time Ponyville was required to make the tornado to send water to Cloudsdale!” Diamond Tiara gave an odd look to Rumble. Rumble thought he knew very well what that meant; he’d seen it before. It was a look of “Wait... you did something meaningful?” Her eyebrow was cocked, her face was scrunched up in a scowl, her head slightly leaned backwards, and her upper lip curled slightly at one side. Cheerilee looked over at Rumble and sighed. “You should know better. I know your brother a little. He’s a good, hardworking stallion, and I would half had expected him to have taught you not to get into fights!” “Yes, Miss Cheerilee...” Rumble said. Cheerilee sat in thought for a while. “I’ve come to a decision. I can’t have you fighting all the time. I need to make you understand the value of each other and cooperating with each other. Rumble, you need to learn to work with ponies no matter what they do to you and control your emotions. Diamond, you need to learn to see others as equals and not superior to them. I don’t care how rich you are, unless they work directly for you, you have no right to treat others that way.” She looked straight at the two foals. “Starting tomorrow, you two are going to be on lunch detention. And to obtain the values I want you two to learn, I’m going to make you do team-building exercises.” “What?” Diamond Tiara shouted. “You’ve got to be kidding me!” Rumble said. “I am not,” Cheerilee said matter-of-factly. “I can’t have you two fighting each other all the time. I will spend time tomorrow thinking about what I will make you do. Be thankful I’m not sending you both to a counselor or doing worse. The quicker you learn to appreciate the other’s talents and learn to set aside your differences, the quicker you finish.” Diamond Tiara huffed. Rumble said nothing. The bell for end of lunch rang. “Return to your original desks,” Cheerilee said. “I will be sending a note home with both of you, and I had better receive a response to it from a parent or guardian tomorrow.” Rumble and Diamond Tiara nodded sullenly and went back to their desks.