"Princess Flurry Heart, Destroyer of Worlds!"

by Fluttercheer

Chapter 10: The Destroyer of Worlds

When Flurry Heart woke up the next morning, the first thing she could see after having fallen asleep while looking into her dad's face was a blinding light that pierced into her eyes the moment she opened them. Still weakened by the horrors of the night, Flurry Heart groaned and turned to the right, showing the sun rays that entered her room through the window her back. They felt warm on her skin, yet Flurry Heart couldn't enjoy the feeling. Another groan escaped her mouth as she realized that the sun was already up. She had missed seeing the sun rise!
Agitated, Flurry Heart sat up on her bed and looked over to the window. She could still feel some of the chill morning breeze waving through it into the room, but the sun was undoubtedly in the sky now. A sad expression adorning her face, she sighed, then she got up and moved towards the window. Flurry Heart placed her hoof on the windowsill and looked out to the streets under her.
The ponies of the Empire were already busy with their morning duties, yet as they saw the little princess at the window some of them waved and greeted her anyway. There were expressing concern over it that she didn't speak to them as she used to do right when the sun started to rise.
This time, only a faint smile flashed over Flurry Heart's face and she just raised her hoof for a barely unnoticeable wave once. She did not answer their pressing questions, though, and just retreated from the window again after a few seconds, leaving the citizens on the ground look at each other in confusion.
Flurry Heart yawned. She rose to her hindlegs and stretched herself. She found her body aching today and no matter how much she stretched it, the feeling did not go away, and so she trotted out of her room unusually slow this morning. A short glance as she passed the bedroom of her parents confirmed what she had already reckoned with; through the open door, she could see that the room was empty. Her parents were already awake and, so she figured, probably waiting for her in the kitchen. She yawned again, then she continued her trot into the kitchen. As she entered through the door, both her parents looked up immediately.
“Flurry! Finally you're awake! I was about to go looking for you,” her dad spoke up to her.
Flurry Heart only gave him a weak glance as answer to his statement, then she motioned towards the stool at his side. Her saddlebags were hung over its backrest, judging by their looks apparently already filled with everything she would need for school, and sat down on it. Her mom approached her and wrapped her hooves around her for a gentle hug. “Good morning, Flurry Heart!” she said. Then she released the hug and looked stern into the face of her daughter. “Are you feeling better this morning?”
Slowly, Flurry Heart nodded, but not without some concern in her face. Cadance could see what was on her daughter's mind, but before she could speak out her thoughts, Flurry Heart already did so herself. “What if it doesn't work, mommy? What if Mr. Know just ignores the decree and demands I tell about it anyway?”
“He wouldn't dare,” Shining Armor spoke up, his face slightly grim. “It is your decision if you want to talk about your name and if he ignores the decree, I'll be the first one who gets him into trouble because of this.”
Flurry Heart's eyes grew wider as she heard this statement. She had never seen her dad being so stern about something. Then an admiring smile appeared on her face.
“Daddy is right, Flurry. If your teacher should really ignore the decree and expects you to tell the origin of your name, you can just refuse. He can't do anything about this then and if he tries something, just tell us and we take care of it.” She reached up into her daughter's mane and ruffled through it, then placed a plate with three big slices of bread, all covered with thick layers of hazelnut spread, that almost seemed thicker than the breads themselves, in front of her, together with a big glass of milk.
The answer to this was a grumbling of Flurry Heart's stomach. She only realized now that she didn't have dinner last night, thanks to her exhausted state and her nightmare, so she didn't waste time, greedily grabbed one of the slices and bit into it with a passion like there was some tasty deluxe food in her hooves. She started munching on it and with every bite, Flurry Heart felt some of her energy returning. Occasionally, she used her magic to hover the glass over to her and took a big gulp out of it, spilling a few drops of milk on the table from being too hasty, then she resumed eating.
In record time, the hungry, little alicorn had finished her breakfast. For a last time, she hovered the glass over to her and eagerly gulped down the rest of the milk, followed by a satisfied groan as she put it down. Flurry Heart wanted to say something, but when she looked into the faces of her parents, she relinquished these plans, as she saw both of them looking at her amused. Her mom was even trying to stiffle a grin, which failed, then she broke into giggling all of a sudden.
“What?” Flurry Heart asked irritated. “What's wrong?”
Still giggling, Cadance hovered a small mirror in front of her face and as Flurry Heart looked into it, it was like the reflection showed her a different filly. Her mouth was smeared with the hazelnut spread and had turned the coat around her lips from a bright pink to a dark brown. Drops of milk were scattered over the brown mess. Her dad erupted into loud laughter as he saw the confusion on his daughter's face when she witnessed the result of her messy, hunger-induced eating and drinking.
Flurry Heart pouted a little first, but then couldn't hold herself back and she broke into laughter as well. As it had subsided, Cadance hovered a wet paper towel over to her and Flurry Heart began to wipe her face, until it was as clean as before.
“It's good to see that our daughter finally laughs again!” Shining Armor bent forward and gently ruffled through Flurry's mane as she was finished with cleaning and had tossed the now used paper towel into a bin nearby.
Flurry Heart giggled, then flew over to her dad, landed in his lap and responded with a thankful hug, relieved that she finally felt better after the horrible day and night she had to go through. Shining Armor embraced her gently, but when his eyes fell on the clock on the wall, his face took on a more stressed expression. Still making sure to stay calm, he addressed his daughter to remind her that it was time to go. “Flurry? It looks like it's gotten late and you need to leave for school now if you want to be there on time.”
Flurry Heart's ears flattened as she heard this and she looked up to her dad with new worries on her mind, but tried to set up a confident expression. “Okay.....” she said quietly.
Shining Armor ruffled through her mane once more, then she left his lap and flew back to her seat again. She hesitated for a moment, then she hovered the saddlebags from the stool and on her back. She jumped down on the floor and turned around to her parents a last time.
Cadance approached her daughter again and wrapped her into another hug. “Don't worry too much about today,” she said. “Daddy and me have taken care of everything, so you will be fine today. It will be a normal day like any other.”
Flurry Heart looked at her, still forcing a confident smile, and nodded.
Suddenly, she felt wrapped up by her dad. “Keep your head up, okay?” he said. “If anything goes wrong today, let us know, and we are going to take care of this too.”
Then the parents let go of their daughter and Flurry Heart hesitantly trotted towards the kitchen door. Like the day before, she turned around again and presented them with a short wave this time, then she left their sight and trotted through the corridor. She didn't meet any guards on her way out of the castle this morning and so her path was uninterrupted until she had left the castle through the gate, yet still slow, as Flurry Heart did not exactly desire to go to magic kindergarden on this day. It was only as she had brought a good distance behind her on the streets that she began to quicken her pace, because the detention from yesterday had entered her mind again.
As she could see Sunny's house in the distance, the crystal filly was already sitting on the stairs leading up to it, waiting for her. Relieved, she smiled at Flurry Heart and waved at her as she saw her friend galloping up to her quickly. The two fillies only exchanged a quick hoofbump, then, without speaking a word, both of them galloped towards the schoolhouse in fast tempo.
In a rush, Flurry Heart swung the door open with her magic as they had reached the school and without pausing, they continued their dash until they were at their classroom door. They entered it in the literally last moment and just one second after they were inside, the bell rang out from the school's tower. Glad over having arrived in time, the two fillies sat down at their respective desks and took out their school utensils.
Only a minute later, Austere Knowledge had arrived as well. He was wearing a stressed expression on his face, in addition to his usual stern and strict look, and the first thing he did was shooting Flurry Heart an angry glare that was full of hatred. Flurry Heart, knowing as the only one what the reaction of her teacher meant, twitched slightly. But she reminded herself on the words of her parents and reinstated her composure. If she did anything, she definitely shouldn't appear weak to Austere Knowledge now, so she hid her nervousness.
The first lesson of this day was Magic History, the very lesson Austere Knowledge had planned the task Flurry Heart dreaded so much for, so there wasn't much time until she had to deal with him. While Flurry Heart was pondering strategies on how to approach the situation depending on the exact reaction of her teacher, Sunny Spirit bent over to her.
“Is it just me or is he angry for some reason?”
Tentatively, Flurry Heart nodded. “He is,” she answered taut. “I can explain you why later, Sunny, but you're going to see the reason soon anyway.”
The mysterious answer made Sunny curious. “What did happen, Flurry? Does he try to bring you into trouble?”
Flurry looked at Sunny and scrunched her face in worries. “Maybe..... But I hope not.”
“What is it? You have to tell me, Flurry, maybe I can help you!” Sunny Spirit probed further.
But Flurry Heart shook her head. “Not now, Sunny. It's something I can't tell you about here in class. And maybe I can't–“ Flurry Heart bit on her tongue before finishing the sentence, which caused more confusion in Sunny.
“Flurry? What's wrong?” she asked again for the reason of her behavior.
This time, Flurry Heart didn't answer anymore. She turned away and brought her focus on Austere Knowledge and the task ahead. Sunny poked her a few times, but Flurry didn't react anymore, until Sunny gave up, her face showing utter confusion about the peculiar behavior of her friend.
What Flurry Heart had almost told Sunny was that she maybe couldn't tell her what happened at all. With shudders, the filly thought back on her nightmare. Even though it was just a very bad dream, some elements of it were true. Sunny's parents did witness King Sombra's reign and they were suffering from it that he took the Crystal Heart away from them. Flurry Heart knew it would be anything but unrealistic if Sunny Spirit would react to the origin of her name in a similar way like she did in her dream. She knew she couldn't tell her and at the same time, that she had to sooner or later. Sunny was her best friend and concerned for her and so eventually, she would get the information out of her. This filled Flurry Heart with fright of an intensity that King Sombra himself couldn't do it better if it would be in his interest to sow fear in her.
Yet she didn't have time to ponder how she could get Sunny to stop asking or at least how she could cook up a lie for her friend, because Austere Knowledge took the word and finally began with his lesson.
As Flurry Heart had figured, he immediately began to speak about the task he had assigned to the class yesterday. Everypony should now step out in front of the class and recite what it had heard from its parents; where its name came from and why its parents named it the way they did. The whole time while Austere Knowledge explained these instructions, he did so without so much as looking at Flurry Heart and he didn't mention the decree sent to him either. As he had finished his explanations, the first foal he commandeered to the front of the class was Starry Skies.
The timid filly gulped, but still remembering how Austere Knowledge hated slow or delayed reactions, she hurried out of her stool and towards her teacher. She took position to his right and breathed in deeply.
“Now, finally tell your class how your name came to be,” Austere Knowledge ordered her with impatience as he saw her hesitation.
Immediately after he had said that, Starry Skies began to blush. Very hesitantly, she began to tell the tale.
“Well, m-my parents always liked stargazing. A-And in one night, they went outside for it. T-There were more stars in the sky than usual, s-so they could make some interesting observations. A-And then.....” Her face blushed more brightly. “W-Well..... It was a beautiful night and they were so happy and so.....” She gulped. “A-And so they made me in this night and..... that's why they had decided to name me 'Starry Skies'.....” Her face was deep red now and she looked down on the floor, suddenly heavily concentrated on the pattern of it.
Confused over her weird choice of words, the other foals looked at her for a moment. Then it dawned upon them and many of them held their hooves in front of their mouths and began to giggle, some of them slightly blushing as well.
Starry Skies ducked her head between her shoulders and crouched back to her desk slowly, not daring to look at anypony in the class.
As she had taken seat at her desk again, where she proceeded to stare down at its surface, still not daring to look around, Austere Knowledge called the next foal to the front.
One student after another came to the blackboard and told the story behind its name. Some stories were boring, some were more exciting than anypony of them reckoned with and there were also a few more embarrassing ones. The latter ones eased Starry Skies somewhat, as she saw that her story wasn't the only one that caused giggling in the classroom and when it was the turn of her friend Fiery Breeze, she received a reassuring pat on the back by her on her way out, which finally resolved the embarrassment Starry had felt up until this point.
After a few more foals had informed the class about the origins of their name, it was Magnolia who was called to the front. Regal as always, she made her way through the rows of desks. Striking an elegant pose, she took position at the side of Austere Knowledge, cleared her throat and began to talk.
“Well, my name is easy to explain. My parents named me 'Magnolia' to show how important I am.”
A collective cringing went through the class and Magnolia pretended to not notice it.
“A 'magnolia',” she continued “is one of the biggest flowers that exist. My parents chose that name because one day, I'll be a big flower myself when I control the business empire of my family!”
The story she told caused an honest smile of admiration to appear in the face of Austere Knowledge and he started a short speech. “Class, don't forget what Magnolia just told you. She has already the determination to become a successful business pony one day and this is the only way to achieve something in life; working hard and never resting. Unlike some other ponies who have no idea what it means to work for their success–“ He paused for a moment and shot Flurry Heart a glance. “–Magnolia will be able to be proud of her achievements when she is older. Take her as an example and be like her, then you will be a successful member of society too one day!”
Raising her head proudly, Magnolia looked around in the class to bath in the admiring looks she would undoubtedly get for having such an impressive name. As she didn't receive any, except from Dope and Dork of course, she raised her head even more, not showing her disappointment, and cantered back to her desk in the same regal way as before.
Another few stories later, Flurry Heart sighed relieved. That was it. Almost all of the foals, including Sunny Spirit, had now told how their name came to be. She was the only one left, and Austere Knowledge had never called for her once.
As the last foal who told his story had taken seat again, Austere Knowledge swiftly approached his desk and sat down on it. For a moment he didn't say anything and just eyed the class. Then he began to talk.
“Now that we are almost finished with today's Magic History lesson, there is only one of you left who hasn't told us the origin of her name yet.”
Without having to say who it is, the eyes of all the students immediately became rested on Flurry Heart.
“That's right,” he continued, noticing the reaction of the other students. “Our dear, beloved, magnificent, royal Princess Flurry Heart.” His voice became more mocking with every word. “It is now her turn to tell us how her name came to be, like all of you already did. Unfortunately“ – His voice became sneering now. – “it seems that our fine princess is above telling us the origins of her name.” His horn began to glow black and a piece of parchment was hovered into the air from behind his desk and placed in front of him.
“Yesterday, I received a letter. It was sent to me by a royal messenger.” He cleared his throat, then he set his eyes on the parchment and began to read the text that was written on it.

As Austere Knowledge had finished, a murmur went through the class. The foals were looking at each other, curious and surprised expressions on their faces, and already exchanging theories what was so unusual about Flurry Heart's name that she didn't want to tell it and even got her mom to send a decree so she didn't have to. As Flurry Heart looked over to Sunny, the expression in her face showed that she now understood why Austere Knowledge was so angry. And like it wouldn't be clear enough for her already, his next reaction hammered it into Sunny's mind even more.
Austere Knowledge looked up to his class again. “Well, this is unfortunate.....” he began, a cynical hiss in his voice. “The princess does not agree with the way I shape my lessons. The princess wants to have an exception for her daughter because the origin of her name is apparently an embarrassing secret. The princess commands me to change my plans. The princess is telling me how to do my job.”
With every sentence, Austere Knowledge's voice grew louder. His hooves began to shake.
“The princess wants to manipulate my education. The princess wants to dictate me.”
The shaking of his hooves grew stronger the more the talked himself into rage. “The princess is taking decisions I should make for my class into her own hooves. The princess wants to influence my class.”
He moved one of his shaking hooves up and rubbed his temple, his eyes now closed. Then, after just a second, he opened them again abruptly, his face now distorted in complete anger.
“THE PRINCESS IS TRYING TO CONTROL MY LESSONS!” His hoof came down on the surface of his desk, leaving a crack in it and sending a loud bang through the classroom.
The foals flinched. Some of them sank further into their seats, trying to make themselves as small as possible. Others just sat there and watched their teacher with widely opened eyes, their fear making it impossible for them to move.
Austere Knowledge's face softened again somewhat after this outburst, not without keeping a hate-filled expression, though. He activated his magic again, lifted up the parchment with the decree that was making him so furious and crumpled it. Then, with a calmer voice again now, he continued to speak.
“Unfortunately for her,” he began threateningly “I don't let royalty dictate my lessons and control what I'm doing.” The parchment that was still held crumpled in the air by his magic was suddenly engulfed by bright, orange flames. The fire devoured the unwanted piece of vellum and a steady stream of black, burnt flakes rained down in front of Austere Knowledge, while the fire shone an eerie, flickering light on his face, that now showed a malicious grin.
The class was, despite the fear of the foals, simultaneously gasping over what they saw. The shock over it that their teacher just dared to ignore and destroy an official, royal decree from one of their rulers was written all over their faces, yet none of them dared to say something after the infuriated outburst of Austere Knowledge.
As the parchment had gone up in flames completely and nothing more than a small pile of black ashes on his desk was left of it, Austere Knowledge had his famous satisfied and smug grin back. He looked over to Flurry Heart.
“You are not escaping this, little princess. No matter how embarrassing your story is, you will recite it like everypony else. Being a member of royalty does not get you any privileges in my class.”
Flurry Heart couldn't say that she was surprised. She had hoped for it to work, but in the end, it was just to expect that it wouldn't be so easy. Nonetheless, a decree was a decree, and she remembered her parents' words. It was her decision if she wanted to tell the origins of her name and she could refuse if he should insist on it. And that's what Flurry Heart did.
“No,” she said, looking at her teacher as calm and confident as she could muster.
The other foals sank even further into their seats. Austere Knowledge's left eye twitched.
“What did you say?” he asked, his voice revealing that Flurry Heart was entering very dangerous territory.
Flurry Heart took a breath, then she repeated it. “I said no. I have decided it, I don't want that anypony knows about it, it is.....” She trailed off and stopped for a moment. “It's just too awkward. And you have a royal decree from my mom. You can't force me to tell it.”
To Flurry Heart's surprise, Austere Knowledge did not erupt into another rage fit. He stayed calm and just looked at her, with a mock, yet still believable, clueless expression.
“What decree are you talking about, princess? I don't have something like this. All I have here is a stubborn, little filly who thinks she can disobey her teacher because she is a princess.”
Flurry Heart's face broke over the display of such an obvious lie, as well as complete carelessness about it. But only for a moment. It was now Flurry Heart who had a smug expression on her face.
“But you have,” she countered. “You just read it in front of the whole class. Everypony here knows about it.”
But Austere Knowledge kept his clueless expression and stayed calm. He shrugged his shoulders. “I was not reading anything, princess. This is something that everypony knows.” He lifted a hoof and moved it over the rows of students, who still sported fearful expressions, and many of them still crouching behind their desks. “I am sure nopony knows what you are talking about, princess. Is this right?” He slightly increased his voice when asking this question, once more letting his students flinch.
They still didn't speak a word, but quiet nods were making their rounds in the class. Nopony, though, dared to point out the truth. Starry Skies in the last row flashed a hateful glance towards Austere Knowledge for a moment and opened her mouth, only to immediately close it again as a cold wave began to spread from her heart, robbing her off the courage immediately, which Austere Knowledge noticed amused. He returned his attention to Flurry Heart again.
“See, princess? There is no royal decree that tells me what to do. Nopony here knows about such a decree. You are making this up again to get it your way.” The snide expression on his face showed how thoroughly he enjoyed the situation. Until it turned into surprise for a moment, as finally, one of his students spoke up for Flurry Heart.
“But I do!” Sunny Spirit shouted at him, gathering all her courage. “You read the decree out loud to all of us and then you used your magic to crumple and burn it. I have seen it and I will tell the principal and the other teachers about it.” Sunny eyed her teacher with a fierce expression.
“Oh, this?” Austere Knowledge replied mockingly and pointed at the pile of ashes in front of him. “Just a burnt piece of empty parchment. It can happen to a magic user by accident. This is nothing out of the ordinary. But I suppose as the best friend of our little princess here, you feel obligated to come to her aid.” He presented Sunny with a scornful smile. “But I fear this won't be of use, for neither of you.” Once again he pointed at the class. There are twenty-eight other foals who have not seen me do such a thing. And they won't pretend that I did to make me look bad. Right, class?” Once again, he raised his voice to create the necessary impact.
The whole class gulped and nodded once again. Only Starry Skies looked away, yet did still not dare to say something.
Comfortably, Austere Knowledge leaned back in his chair. “See? Nopony.” His voice had become cold now. “Now, princess, would you please come out and stop with this nonsense? Abusing your royal status to skip an assignment by your teacher is grounds for getting expelled from school.”
Now it was again Flurry Heart who countered his statement. “You can't do this,” she said. “My parents won't allow it.”
A victorious grin built itself up on his face. “You should stop now, princess. You continue to dig yourself a hole. You already refused to follow an assignment by me with the reasoning that you are a princess and above it and you even lied about a royal decree to weasel yourself out of it. If your parents would try to prevent an expulsion based on the grounds that you abused your princess status, they would make themselves guilty of power abuse as well. This school may be a public institution, but I'm sure your parents don't want to appear as dictators in front of the parents of all your classmates and the rest of the students here.”
Flurry Heart was about to launch a sharp answer to this implied threat, but then her spirit sank when her mind began to put together what her teacher had just said. The mixture of horror and understanding on her face was all that Austere Knowledge needed to know that he had won. Smugly, he addressed her again.
“So, what is it going to be now, princess? Do you want to finally share with us why you are called 'Flurry Heart' or do you prefer expulsion? This is of course something you can decide.” The tone of his voice mocked her once more.
Now Flurry Heart had lost her courage completely. Unsure of how to handle the situation, she turned towards her friend. Her voice shivered. “What should I do, Sunny? He has thought on everything.” In her desperation, she completely forgot that she hadn't told Sunny yet why she had such problems with the simple task assigned to her, so she didn't expect the answer her friend gave her.
“Just go out and do it,” she said. “I know that Austere Knowledge is a jerk“ – This statement caused the teacher to raise an eyebrow, but with how far everything had come, Sunny didn't care anymore – “and that he hates you. But there's nothing you can do right now, Flurry. You would just make it worse if you continue to refuse now.”
The logic in this advice was something Flurry Heart couldn't deny and she knew that Sunny just meant well, but nonetheless, hearing these words from her best friend felt like betrayal to her.
As she didn't move, Sunny nudged her comfortingly. “Just get it over and done with. You are not the only one whose name origin is embarrassing, Flurry. Just think on Starry Skies. You know how shy she is, but she did it. And you're always so brave, Flurry. If she could do it, you can too!”
As Flurry Heart still refused to do just one step away from her desk and began to shiver, Sunny played out another card. She took her hoof. “If you are really so afraid, Flurry, then I'll join you!” Holding her hoof firmly, she dragged Flurry Heart with her, out in front of the class. Flurry Heart tried to withstand the attempt, but ultimately, Sunny succeeded.
She took position with her at the blackboard and gave Flurry Heart a confident smile, all while still holding her hoof. “Just tell it,” she encouraged Flurry again. “It's only hard before you do it. Once you have told everypony, it's going to be easier, trust me!”
Flurry Heart looked away from her friend and faced her other classmates. Some of them gave her similar encouraging looks, smiled at her and prodded her to be brave and do it. Even Magnolia shot her a smile, which still rather creeped Flurry out than proving helpful for her. The other foals just looked at her curiously, obviously wondering why she was making such a secret out of her name's meaning.
The longer Flurry stared at the foals, the stronger her heart was pounding in her chest. She could see the looks of the other students resting on her, expectant and so eager to find out. She could feel Sunny's hoof on her own. She could sense the piercing looks from her teacher without even looking at him.
Flurry Heart broke out in sweat and started to clench her teeth. She did a step to the right, intended to just leave the classroom and accept the expulsion, but Sunny was holding her in a strong grip, not allowing that her friend would be expelled for something that she saw as just a silly, little secret, a secret that was embarrassing and everypony would laugh about for a while, but ultimately become forgotten again rather quickly. The truth wasn't so easy, but this was exactly what Sunny was expecting, as a look into her face made clear to Flurry Heart. Another confident smile was displayed there and Sunny gave her once again a nudge, prodding her to finally tell.
All of this; the prodding by her best friend, the encouraging looks and curious expressions of her classmates, the menace to her left, came on top of Flurry Heart's nervousness and the remnants of her nightmare that still lingered at the edges of her mind.
In this terrible situation, Flurry Heart now began to break out in panic. Her breath and the urge to flee became stronger with every minute. Grasping for the last straw that came to her mind, she decided to at least try to buy herself time. Now shivering, she looked over to Austere Knowledge and addressed him with a question.
“I-I can tell everything, b-but can I do it tomorrow? I-I'm going to need more time and it would be easier if I can talk with Sunny about it first.”
Austere Knowledge only rolled with his eyes. “Now!” he demanded. “No privileges, princess.”
Flurry Heart looked away from him again, having gotten exactly the answer she had expected, but not hoped to get, and she felt her face becoming hot. It started around her eyes – for a moment she reckoned with it that she would break out in tears, but then she didn't – and quickly spread out over all of her face until it felt like her head was glowing.
All of a sudden, the sound of the schoolbell rang into Flurry's ears, signaling the end of the lesson, and Flurry Heart saw her chance coming. She could leave now, the lesson was over!
But nopony was moving. Her teacher did not call an end to the lesson and no other foals were doing any attempts to head out a little or to get prepared for the next lesson. And since nopony moved, Sunny just kept holding her hoof and prodding her more.
Flurry Heart shut her eyes and her whole body began to shake, signs for it that the pressure became too strong. Then it was Austere Knowledge's voice that sounded into her ears.
“Are we going to tell it today, Miss Princess, or should we stay like this and wait until tomorrow?”
As no answer came from Flurry Heart, he got up and took position in front of her, but in a way so that she would still see most of her classmates.
“You're overstraining my patience, princess. I will count to three and if you then don't speak what's on your mind I will personally take care of your deserved expulsion. One!”
Flurry Heart's eyes shot open again, now indeed with a few, small tears glistening in their corners.
“Two!”
Flurry Heart's breath began to increase in rapid pace. Her mouth opened, she now started to breath in an audible manner, akin to a pony who had problems getting air into its lungs, which earned her a concerned look by Sunny. Her chest was rising violently now and as her teacher had finally spoke out the dreadful, last number, she could not endure all the pressure and just shouted out the fateful words that were wearing at her mind like a heavy weight:

“My parents called me 'Flurry Heart' because I destroyed the Crystal Heart as a baby and allowed the snowstorm to cover the Crystal Empire in ice and snow!”

Now that the confession was made, the tears began to stream over her face and she was sitting down, no longer able to stay on her hooves.
The initial reaction on what she just said, was one Flurry Heart did not see coming.
For a moment, the whole class was staring at her with widely opened eyes, then every foal broke out in loud laughter. And Sunny was just shaking her head, not angry about what she had just told, but not amused either.
Once more, Austere Knowledge rolled his eyes. “The real story, princess. We want to know what really happened.”
Flurry Heart sobbed and all she could press out between her lips was a weak and quiet “It's true.”
“Exemplary nonsense!” her teacher shouted. The class stopped laughing. “Everypony knows that no one can destroy the Crystal Heart and especially not a newborn baby. But I see how it is, our usually so impudent princess is now suddenly a coward and invents exciting stories to cover up the true and embarrassing meaning of her name.”
Now it was Austere Knowledge who was laughing loudly. But this was not the worst thing, the worst thing was the look Sunny Spirit gave her. Her forehead was wrinkled and she looked clearly unhappy, her eyes emanating sternness that Flurry had never seen in them before.
“That's not funny, Flurry. I know you are afraid of telling the truth and even though I don't know what you want to hide, I don't blame you for it. But the Crystal Heart is important to everypony, nopony wants to hear such a horrifying tale.”
Between two sobs, Flurry Heart continued. “It's true, Sunny. I did it. My mom told me yesterday. I was born with a magic so strong that nopony thought it would be possible for a newborn foal. I was crying sometimes, and at one point..... At one point.....” More heavy sobs interrupted her confession and she closed her eyes before she continued. “At one point I became so upset over something that my loud cries produced a kind of magic nopony had ever seen before and this magic.....” At the end of her nerves, she forcefully freed herself from Sunny's grasp and her hoof lunged forward. “And this magic destroyed the Crystal Heart, Sunny! I destroyed it with my voice alone and I destroyed almost our home with it! Our history books are lying! There was no monster that destroyed the Crystal Heart! It was me! I am the monster who did it, Sunny!”
Now Flurry Heart's body gave in completely and she sank down on the floor, lying flat on her belly, her hooves covering her face and she was crying into them in a volume so loud, they could impossible muffle it. Her incessant crying sounded across the whole classroom. The shock was written all over Sunny's face as the realization hit her.
“You're not making this up, are you? This really happened?” Shaking herself now, she did a few steps away from Flurry Heart, her mind trying to process what she had just heard.
This display took care of it to convince the rest of the class. Now, in a disturbingly familiar scenario, several voices rang out to Flurry Heart.

“You really destroyed the Crystal Heart? But how is this possible? Nopony could ever do this, not even King Sombra!”

“Yeah, how, Flurry? Explain us!”

“Why explaining? What's to explain there? Don't you get it? This means she's dangerous!”

“You really think she is? Do you think she could do it again?”

“Maybe!”

“What should we do? We can't allow that something happens to the Crystal Heart!”

“She must be brought to the dungeon!”

Soon, a tumult broke out in class. More and more foals talked about what they had just heard; expressing worries and concerns, making suggestions what to do or simply bombarding Flurry Heart with curious questions.
The voices grew louder and louder until Austere Knowledge raised his own voice and drowned out the discussions between the foals.
“QUIET!” his voice bellowed across the classroom and immediately, the students did as they were told and waited for what he had to say. Austere Knowledge's face showed belief too now, but unlike the foals, the expression was more of glee than serious concern. He smiled down at Flurry Heart.
“Now I see why you wanted to hide it.” He turned around, looked at the class and spoke again, with the most mocking tone Flurry Heart ever heard in his voice. “Our princess! Always nice and always perfect! Always caring about her classmates and trying to help them! And now it turns out that she is just a destroyer!” Another set of loud laughters sounded from his throat, one that expressed honest happiness over the mysery of the filly he hated so much. He turned back to Flurry Heart again, not paying attention to her distraught state. Another gleeful grin appeared on his face. “Our perfect, little princess..... Just a monster. A monster who had almost wiped out the Crystal Empire forever. A monster that could do it again any moment. And who knows..... With such a powerful magic, she could be able to destroy other parts of Equestria in a matter of seconds.”
A worried murmur went through the class and some foals began to shudder in fear over this imagination.
“This is what you are, princess. A destroyer. A destroyer of worlds!” He broke out into another laughter, which caused Flurry Heart to whimper more.
“And since our princess here is so dangerous,” he continued “it is my duty to report everything I just heard. Your parents, princess, have covered all of this up, even though they knew how dangerous you are. They even altered books to protect you. This fits very well into the definition of a dictator, to endanger the lives of many to protect their royal offspring, don't you think?” He turned around and faced the class again. “I will cancel the next lesson to have talks with the principal about what just occurred and to make a decision about what do do now with our monster here. Spend the time with something useful and keep an eye on the princess. We don't want that she causes the same disaster again.”
Keeping an eye on her, though, was something the students wouldn't be able to do anymore. Having seemingly calmed down, Flurry Heart was suddenly getting up, without being recognized by her teacher. For a moment, she looked around with her tear-filled eyes. She was hoping to see some consolation, but all her eyes fell upon were looks of distrust, of worry and of fear. Even in Sunny's face was a strange expression she couldn't interpret; her friend just stood there, staring at her with her mouth wide open, not saying anything, her eyes looking empty.
Flurry Heart tried to speak out to the class again, but found herself unable to say anymore words. She looked around for a moment longer, new tears shooting into her eyes and running down her cheeks, followed by more sobs, which finally let her teacher hear her and turn around to her.
Before he could say anything or stop her, Flurry Heart turned around at the spot and galloped out of the classroom, only leaving behind the sound of her thundering hoofsteps and of her sobbing.....