The School Day
There is an expression of unknown origin that goes-”the more petty the reward, the more vicious the politics in getting that reward.”
Nowhere was this seen in clearer detail than the Battle for Ponyville School.
The first engagement was planned out during morning recess by Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. Their objective-to find some new blank-flanks to bully and harass. Their target-a small, albino white-furred, black-mained, highly petite, almost dwarfish unicorn that had gotten from his parents the name Simple Dawn. His parents, chemical engineers, had moved into town a few days ago and this was his first day at the Ponyville School.
This was his first day at school. At all. His parents had finally managed to get a position that was settled, rather than the semi-nomadic life of working various chemical processing stations all over Equestria. If his parents hadn’t been teaching him, he was mostly in the small class groups that his parent’s work maintained on distant work sites. And, the “bullies” there tended to be slapped down very quickly by parents and teachers. Bullies and that sort of mindset when dealing with dangerous natural and magical chemicals tended to get ponies killed.
So, still in a bit of shock, he looked around, and found a ball pen. He loved playing with balls, and Simple Dawn trotted over to get a ball for himself. There were two balls left in the pen, and he began to screw up his magic to get one. Before he did, Silver Spoon “accidentally” bumped into him, knocking him off balance for just long enough for Diamond Tiara to get both balls out of the pen and tossing one to Silver Spoon. “Hey,” he said, his voice squeaking, “may I have one of the balls?”
“Oh? What would you do for it, blank flank?” Diamond Tiara asked. “We got to them first.”
“You’re going to play together,” Simple Dawn said, trying not to cry. Big colts don’t cry… “You don’t need two balls.”
“So, the blank flank might know something?” Silver Spoon said. “Of course he’s wrong. Silly blank flank colt! What makes you think you should get a ball?”
“Well,” a voice from behind Silver Spoon said, “he shouldn’t need to get a ball, because he’s always had one.”
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon turned around, to see Scootaloo standing there. Somewhat looming over them.
Oh, and smiling. A very happy sort of smile. “I mean, Simple Dawn, you don’t know where your ball is?”
“Um, I don’t have a ball…,” Simple Dawn said softly, not sure where this was going.
“Well, it’s not here…,” and Scootaloo reached around herself, semi-comically, to check. “Or here,” she rummaged around a bush that was close by, but only came up with a bit and a mine cart wheel. “But, maybe...it’s here?”
She waggled one of her hooves behind Simple Dawn’s head, and after the third waggle, a ball came out. A blue-and-green striped one. One that, that instant, vanished without even a sound or a flash, from Diamond Tiara’s hooves. Scootaloo handed Simple Dawn the ball with a smile. “Turns out you had it with you, after all.”
“Yay!” Simple Dawn taking the ball.
“If you go over there,” Scootaloo said, pointing at some foals playing, “I know that there’s a little pony named Twist that loves playing with balls. Go on, she won’t bite.”
Simple Dawn blushed, but he took his ball, and trotted off to the other side of the playground. Diamond Tiara began to wind up to screech, when Scootaloo just..looked at her. Her protest died instantly, and Diamond Tiara wondered what was going to happen next…
“First day I was here,” Scootaloo said-in a voice that was so calm and controlled it could put you to sleep, even if it was screeching blood-curdling threats, “you pulled the same stunt with me. You need new material, Diamond Tiara.”
And then, Scootaloo trotted off to break up a fight over some peanut butter crackers. The two foals looked at each other in shock. Diamond Tiara could feel a bit of her hair starting to slip out of it's immaculate coffure.
“What..what just happened?” Diamond Tiara asked. Her right eye began to twitch a little bit...
“I think we were just played,” Silver Spoon whispered.
Diamond Tiara’s eyes narrowed and she could feel her temper rising. “Oh no, we’re not going to let them beat us! Ever! And, we'll get that blank flank the next chance we get!”
The second engagement was during class. Diamond Tiara knew that Simple Dawn was the newest and weakest of links, and they were going to put the proper fear of Diamond Tiara into him. That meant getting him into proper trouble, and that meant making sure a note got passed to him, and Cheerlee saw it. Something nasty about Cheerlee and maybe that she was still secretly doing Big Macintosh behind that silly apple farmer’s back.
(Silver Spoon didn’t quite know what “doing it” was, only that it was a naughty thing and little foals like them shouldn't know about it. Of course, Silver Spoon suspected it was something interesting. Diamond Tiara had watched her maid and her coltfriend in secret doing it, and she knew in a few years she could lead colts around by their assets, easily.)
So, the note was ready, Silver Spoon was in the right spot on the chain to pass the note along, the timing was perfect for Simple Dawn to be caught with the note...and, the passing began. From Diamond Tiara to Twist, from Twist to Grand Slam, from Grand Slam to Simple Dawn…
...and Miss Cheerlee didn’t see a thing...What was wrong with her?, Diamond Tiara thought…
...and finally from Simple Dawn to Silver Spoon, whom took the note, shrugged, and wrote something naughty details that she heard in a movie in the note. She was about to pass it to Simple Dawn when she heard a very familiar voice say softly, “Nice note. Needs some grammar improvements, ‘fucking’ is a bad word but ‘copulation’ is a much better one that means the same thing. I mean, if y’going to lie, you might as well lie with good grammar.”
Silver Spoon turned around to see Apple Bloom looking at her, with a smile. “May I see that?” she asked, taking the note away from her with her telekinesis. Then, with a swift little flip, she turned it over, and things began to fall out of it.
Diamond Tiara looked in horror as their entire supply of prank materials-disappearing ink, itching powder, a few illicit bottles of like dust, and other such appeared on the floor. It was like Apple Bloom was shaking out a saddlebag full of things they had gotten. And, the items were theirs-she could tell because one of the bottles of disappearing ink had a chipped bottom that made it look like it was a pony hoof. At the end of this, Silver Spoon was only able to look in shock, and Diamond Tiara's right ear began to twitch in time with frustration to her right eye.
There was a long, drawn out moment of silence. Everypony was looking at the final results of Apple Bloom’s shaking. Even Cheerlee was looking at the pile in shock and amazement.
Apple Bloom sighed, and gathered everything up in her magic. “Sorry, Miss Cheerlee, I’ve made a bit of a mess. I promise to clean up after myself.”
She quietly trotted out of the classroom, note and prank materials in her telekinesis and Diamond Tiara started to fume. Her tiara was starting to slip off her head, and off to the right side.
We had been played, Diamond Tiara thought.
Again!
That just meant that their next prank had to be even more spectacular. And, somewhere in Diamond Tiara's mind, something was making the sound of a coil of metal being tightened way too far...
The third engagement was later that day, during afternoon recess. A few of the unicorn foals were sitting around Sweetie Belle, and she was helping them with learning their magic. Most of them were “sparklers”-they could make their horn shoot out sparks, but that was about it.
One of those ponies was Simple Dawn, whom could get an impressive shower of sparks out of his horn, but nothing else. And, he kept trying so hard to figure out how to make his horn do...something! Books, “how to” guides, a “unicorn stabilizer” drink made by the Flim Flam Brothers...nothing worked. He just...sparked.
And sprayed.
And spewed sparkles out of his horn like a fountain.
And, every time he did, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon made farting noises. Long, intricate, elaborate farting noises. Usually when Sweetie Belle was busy with another unicorn, but always when she couldn’t see the two teasing ponies. A few times, they made some very rude noises that sounded like when Mommy and Daddy were having fun. Simple Dawn kept getting more and more embarrassed and more and more frustrated and more and more irritated and more and more…
“Simple Dawn,” Sweetie Belle said firmly. “Stop.”
He didn’t even realize he was panting. He felt like he’d done triple PE and he was so tired and frustrated with himself. He couldn’t even lift things with his horn! Some unicorn he was…
“Simple Dawn,” Sweetie Belle said, looking at him. “Please, look at me.”
Where had the tears that were in his eyes come from? He looked at her, wiped his eyes clean, and could feel the tears again on the corner of his eyes. Suddenly, it was silent. Even the sound of the wind and the leaves was gone-let alone the mocking sounds of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.
“I wrapped us up in a silence spell. The only pony that can hear you is me, and the only pony that can hear me is you. Telekinesis is one of the first things a unicorn learns. Without it,” she said, “you can’t learn anything else. Until you can unlock the ability in your mind to lift things, you can’t progress.
“But, there is a story passed along, from stallion to colt, from mare to filly. It’s not written down anywhere, and nopony will ever admit to knowing it.”
Sweetie Belle smiled softly, and touched Simple Dawn’s forehead with her hoof. “I want you to close your eyes, and imagine something you have lost. Something you have lost forever, and can never, ever find again.”
The Sun, Simple Dawn thought. He remembered being in Saddle Arabia, and remembering just how bright and beautiful and spectacular Celestia’s Sun was. He’d learned how to make a pinhole box, to sketch out the Sun, its spots...everything about it. The Sun here was the same...but, somehow, different. Palid. Simple. Not as brilliant, not as beautiful as the purity of its intent as the Sun swept across the sands.
“Can you see it now?” Sweetie Belle asked. Simple Dawn nodded, not wanting to lose this thought, lose this memory. “Now, I want you to lift your right hoof, and imagine that you’re holding it in your hoof again. That you can hold it again, and nothing can stop you from having it back.”
Now, things were getting silly. How did you get back the Sun? It was right up there in the sky! How did you lose it in the first place and…
The day before they left Saddle Arabia for Equestria, Simple Dawn had built the biggest pinhole box he had ever made, he remembered. Made from a huge cardboard box, he had to use bricks to brace it properly and to elevate it to the height needed. A sheet of butcher’s paper on the bottom was there, waiting, for him to sketch on. He watched, and waited...and waited...and then…
From just under the mountains to the East, the Sun began to rise. He glanced into his box, slipping under the heavy black blanket he used as a light shield. The first radiant disk of the Sun appeared on the back, and he grabbed his pencil in his mouth and began to sketch what he saw. Once he had, Simple Dawn made a note of the time, moved the sheet of butcher’s paper along the roll, and waited for more of the sun to appear.
He did this for nearly three hours-sketch, note, date, move paper.
Sketch, note, date, move paper.
Sketch, note, date, move paper.
Finally, when the last bit of the disk of the Sun vanished off the top of his box, Simple Dawn looked in wonder at what he had done. The resulting scroll of observations was nearly as thick-wrapped as a scroll-as his leg! For three hours, he had seen and found new sunspots, watched in joyous wonder at the results of his work, and Simple Dawn smiled as he realized just how much he had learned about the Sun...and how much he so wanted to touch that glory…
Sweetie Belle could feel it. She could see it, as small pebbles and leaves and twigs around Simple Dawn began float off the ground. Sweetie Belle could feel him finally take some control of his magic. He stood on his hind legs, feeling that he could touch what he had lost…
And then, Sweetie Belle called out to Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. I think I’m going to need your help here, very quickly, she sent.
What’s going on, Sweetie Belle? Apple Bloom asked.
In between Simple Dawn’s hooves...a bit of the Sun...a piece of Celestia’s brilliant Sun...hovered between his hooves. Barely larger than a hoofball. But, with enough concentrated energy to reduce Ponyville to a very large crater on the map if Simple Dawn ever lost control of it…
Well, Sweetie Belle replied, Simple Dawn just summoned a small bit of the Sun for us to all play with…
Thank Celestia the sound-damping field was still up! Other ponies were running away in terror from what Simple Dawn had done, and the last thing Sweetie Belle wanted was for him to lose his concentration! She was already preparing a teleportation and shield spell-to teleport Simple Dawn away, and to keep the explosion of that bit of stellar plasma from taking out Ponyville.
Or, at least most of it.
“Simple Dawn,” Sweetie Belle said, with precise calm, “can you send back what you brought here?”
Simple Dawn opened his eyes, then they started to sparkle...in wonder. “WOW!” he gushed. “I was right, right there! There’s a sunspot storm that shows up every fourteen days that I can always tell, and I know how fast the Sun spins because I can time it taking so long across the Sun!”
“Simple Dawn...that actually is the Sun, or at least a bit of it…,” Sweetie Belle began to say.
“And, it’s here!” Simple Dawn gushed. “It makes such lovely sense…”
“And,” a very royal voice from behind them said, “it’s so very beautiful, isn’t it?”
They turned, to see a very winded Princess Celestia and Princess Luna looking over them. “So...you’re the pony that has a bit of the Sun…,” Princess Celestia said with a smile.
“Um…,” Simple Dawn blushed, “I’m sorry if I took any of it. May I give it back?”
“Certainly,” Princess Celestia replied, and took from his hooves the bit of the Sun, and then lifted it to the sky, where it shot off towards the Sun and vanished in an instant. “That was something I have never seen before, a unicorn that all by himself could even touch the Sun, let alone bring down a bit of it safely. Your name?”
“Simple Dawn, your Highness,” Simple Dawn said, blushing even brighter and bowing. Sweetie Belle bowed as well, and waited.
Princess Luna looked at Simple Dawn, then at Princess Celestia. Then, again at Simple Dawn. “Sister, why does that foal have Your Cutie Mark on his flanks, but in white and platinum? Should there be something You need to tell Us?” Princess Luna asked, an eyebrow raised archly.
All of them looked at Simple Dawn’s flank, and he started to tear up in joy. His Cutie Mark had appeared, without any warning, and it was...Celestia’s Sun. But, in platinum and white, not the gold and bronze of her flank. Princess Celestia looked at Simple Dawn and said, “Well...I keep saying I wanted to have a new personal student…”
“Um…” Simple Dawn said. “What just happened?”
“Well,” Princess Celestia said, “you’ve gained your Cutie Mark. And, I once knew another young unicorn, very powerful and very much wanting to learn about magic. Would you like to go to Princess Celestia’s School for Talented Unicorns, Simple Dawn?”
“My parents...I know they make good money, but they can’t afford it…,” Simple Dawn said sadly.
“Who said anything about needing to pay, Simple Dawn?” Princess Celestia asked gently. “There is a scholarship program and anypony that can directly manipulate the Sun itself shouldn’t have a problem getting a scholarship. And, it pays for everything, from books to a place to stay in Canterlot.”
“Simple Dawn,” Princess Luna said, “if you are not given a scholarship and remittance for the education of your skill, I will be most displeased and the ponies in charge will feel My wrath on this matter.”
“Don’t use the Royal Canterlotian Voice on them,” Princess Celestia sighed. “Manehattan Mutual is still not happy with us over the damages.”
“They were playing legal games with Our ponies money and lives,” Princess Luna sniffed. “They should feel fortunate that was all that My anger did.”
At some point, Sweetie Belle had dropped the silence spell. And, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon heard it all. Silver Spoon felt her jaw drop around her withers again for the second time that day. She turned to look in shock at Diamond Tiara, and that shock became horror.
There was no expression on Diamond Tiara’s face. There was no expression at all on Diamond Tiara’s face. Her hair began to collapse into a messy pile, the tiara settling down one eye. Something inside her brain made a soft, but very very loud breaking sound. A sound that, years later, Silver Spoon could swear she heard when something let go in Diamond Tiara's mind. Suddenly, there was an expression on Diamond Tiara’s face. Absolute calm, absolute conviction. “Well,” she said, just softly enough to be heard by Silver Spoon, “we’ll just have to see about that.”
The hair snapped back into her immaculate coiffure, the tiara exactly where it should normally be. Then, Diamond Tiara trotted off as quickly-and as quietly-as she could.
Silver Spoon followed, and she could feel the worried frown on her face. Something said this was not going to end well.
Diamond Tiara had a Super Secret pouch in the bottom of her saddle bag. She tore it open, and lay out a pony sling on her desk. “Where is it, where is it…,” she muttered, searching through the lining of the other half of her saddle bag.
“DT,” Silver Spoon said. She hated that nickname, and Silver Spoon was using it deliberately to get her attention. “We’ve got to stop. This has gone on way too far, and way too long. We’ll tease some of the other blank flanks tomorrow.”
“No,” Diamond Tiara replied, still rummaging around the other saddle bag. “We’ve got to get Simple Dawn, and get him good. We can’t let any blank flank show us up.”
“He’s not a blank flank any more, and the Princesses are here, and…,” Silver Spoon whispered, trying not to back away from her friend in horror.
“NO!” Diamond Tiara half-yelled, then calmed her voice down. “No! If he can get away with it, those three blank flank ‘Cutie Mark Crusaders’ can think they can get away with anything with us! We’ll be made outcast foals! And, I’ve got just the solution for that…”
Diamond Tiara had found a small, thick-walled clear glass bottle in the lining of her other bag. Inside of it was something small, black, the size of a brussel sprout, and it made Silver Spoon’s eyes hurt to look at it. Silver Spoon remembered reading something about this… “Diamond Tiara,” Silver Spoon whispered in horror, “is that mordite?”
“Took me nearly a month’s worth of allowance to get it,” Diamond Tiara said in a brittle, too-cheerful voice. “I’m gonna sling it at the blank flank and let him get what he deserves.”
Silver Spoon looked at her friend in horror. “Diamond Tiara, just owning mordite is six years in prison! And, the Princesses are there! If you hit Simple Dawn with it, you’ll get them too, and that’s not just murder, but regicide! They still give ponies death by torture for that!” Silver Spoon gasped. She looked around for the door. “You’ve got to stop this, now!”
“NO!” Diamond Tiara yelled, and kicked Silver Spoon in the head. Silver Spoon fell down and didn’t move, blood coming from her scalp. Diamond Tiara started to giggle a bit. “You’ll see, when I’m done...you’ll see…,” she whispered, putting the bottle of mordite in the sling and running out of the school.
By this time, Princess Celestia had contacted Princess Twilight Sparkle, and the three Princesses and the three alicorn foals were talking enthusiastically with Simple Dawn. Princess Luna was impressed, and Princess Twilight Sparkle wanted to do some tests on the foal.
“Direct stellar manipulation!” Princess Twilight Sparkle pronked around, happily. “You were touching the Sun itself. I need to take notes, notes, ink, quills, paper!”
“Twilight Sparkle,” Princess Celestia said gently. “You’re starting to worry Simple Dawn.”
Twilight Sparkle stopped, and looked at Simple Dawn, who was still looking a bit scared being surrounded by six alicorns. “Ooops, sorry,” Twilight Sparkle said sheepishly, scratching the back of her head. “But, a full scholarship to the School! I had one, and I’m glad I went.”
Diamond Tiara had used slings before, and she found the perfect spot for this. Hidden enough so that she could use the mordite without being seen, but far enough away to get good trajectory on her sling. She set down the bottle, after opening up the cork on the top. With a pair of long-arm tweezers in her mouth, Diamond Tiara pulled out the mordite and set it in the cup of the sling. Trying not to sneeze from the dust from the mordite, she got the tails of the sling in her mouth, and took a quick glance over the hedges to see where the ponies she wanted to hit were.
Diamond Tiara braced her feet, took a firm stance, ignored the nosebleed she had from the mordite dust that had gone up her nose, and started to swing the sling around her head. The cup of the sling started to gather up speed.
“I’ve already sent a scroll to his parents,” Princess Celestia said. “They’re at work now, but we’ll meet with them and talk about everything.”
Holding the sling, Diamond Tiara sneered. Any pony that had to do something as silly as work was poor, and Diamond Tiara wasn’t poor. She was rich, and she could do whatever she wanted.
Because she was rich and powerful.
Because she was Diamond Tiara.
Including...this!
She felt the slight surprise as the perfect release of her sling happened, and the mordite went flying.
Scootaloo saw the flying chunk of mordite first, and by instinct, tried to grab it with her telekinesis.
And...nothing happened. Her telekinesis touched the mordite, and felt it slip off like jamming fingertips onto a hot greased skiddle. Scootaloo hissed in pain, “What the flank was that…”
Princess Celestia turned her head, and then yelled, “Mordite! HOLD ON!”
In a sudden flash, all seven of them lept into the air, as Princess Celestia teleported all of them out of the path of the mordite stone. It hit where Simple Dawn would have been, and shattered into a malevolent black cloud of dust. Twilight Sparkle caught Simple Dawn with her telekinesis and got her wings open to hover. “Princess Luna, where did…”
It was an instant later when they saw that the three alicorn foals had flown down to a small clearing, where another young pony was there, trying to hit them with...a sling? Princess Celestia looked back at the trajectory of the cloud, then back at where the sling-armed pony was. “Twilight Sparkle, do you know how to clean up a mordite cloud?”
“Um, yes,” Twlight Sparkle replied.
“I think I know where the attack came from, and I want to know why it happened,” Princess Celestia said, and carefully levitated Simple Dawn onto Luna’s back. Simple Dawn clutched onto Princess Luna’s neck with all the strength he could muster, and all she could do was wince slightly. “Please protect him, Luna. Twilight Sparkle, please clean up the cloud while I find out what is going on.”
After that, Princess Celestia flew down to the clearing, where the three alicorn foals were trying to not be hit by the sling. Princess Celestia looked around, and realized that she had to stop this and find out what happened. She took a deep breath and let out her Royal Canterlotian Voice.
“STOP THIS, NOW!”
Everything seemed to vibrate except Princess Celestia for a few seconds, and all the ponies stopped moving. Princess Celestia’s eyes tracked onto the small pony foal with the tiara on her immaculately coffered head and the sling in her mouth.
“WHY DID YOU DO THIS, MY CHILD?”
The foal looked at her, then leapt at her, screaming, trying to hurt her with her hooves. “You made me miss the blank flank! I have to get the blank flanks, I have to get all the blank flanks!” she screamed angrily.
Princess Celestia let herself be buffeted by the weak blows of the foal, and then reached out and found the spell she needed. Diamond Tiara fell asleep in mid-strike, landing with a soft thump on the ground and an angry expression on her face. Princess Celestia looked up at the three alicorn foals. “Do you know this pony,” Princess Celestia asked the three of them.
“We know her,” Apple Bloom said. “Her name is Diamond Tiara and she ain’t a friend of ours. She teased us mercilessly when we were here, because we were still blank flanks.”
“We were keeping an eye on her and her friend, Silver Spoon,” Sweetie Belle continued. “They made our lives here miserable, and we didn’t want them to do it to other ponies.”
“But, I have no clue what set her off,” Scootaloo finished. “And, hey, where’s Silver Spoon?”
There was a blood-curdling scream from the schoolhouse. “Somepony call an ambulance!” Cheerlee screamed from inside.
“I’ve called for ambulances,” Princess Celestia said to the three of them. “And, I’ll need to find out the contact information for her parents.” She looked at Diamond Tiara, sleeping at her feet. “What happened to you, my child?” Princess Celestia whispered softly.
The shockwave of his passage probably meant that Filthy Rich was going to be paying a lot of fines over the next few weeks.
He had hired, the moment news had gotten to him, the fastest pegasus chariot you could get short of a Royal chariot. And, only because he didn’t want to waste the time to use the favors needed to get one. He had gotten the letter by dragon post, and was in the hospital as fast as wings could carry him.
He had gotten to the reception desk as fast as hooves could take him.
“My name is Filthy Rich,” he said to the nurse at the front. “My daughter, Diamond Tiara, is here. Where is she?”
The nurse flipped through the chart quickly and said, “I need to make a call, Mr. Rich. If you will please sit down, the doctor will see you very shortly. I will impress upon him how urgent it is.”
For what seemed like hours and according to the lying clock was only five minutes, Filthy Rich waited in a chair. The nurse said, “Mr. Rich, the doctor is here.” He turned his head to see a unicorn in a doctor’s coat and the Princesses.
“Princess Celestia, Princess Luna,” he said, trotting up, and bowing. “I...why are you here, your Majesties?”
“That...unfortunately, requires some explanation,” Princess Celestia said sadly. “I will let the doctor explain first. Doctor Stable?”
“If you will come into my office, Mr. Rich,” Doctor Stable said, and Filthy Rich wanted to scream what is wrong with my daughter!, but he followed the three of them into Doctor Stable’s office. “First, the good news. Physically, Diamond Tiara is fine. She has some bruising and some minor cuts and contusions, but otherwise she is in good shape.
“The bad news,” and Doctor Stable flipped to another page in his file, “your daughter has had a psychotic break. Serious enough that we’re having to restrain her and medicate her. She attacked four nurses-all of them larger and stronger than her, and unicorns-trying to clean her so we could treat her injuries. She will be getting a psychiatric consultation tomorrow…”
“Why tomorrow, and not today?” Filthy Rich interrupted. “Why isn’t she being helped now?”
“We don’t have a staff psychologist-we’ve been trying to get one for years-and one is being flown in from Canterlot tomorrow,” Doctor Stable replied calmly. “In addition, the medications she’s on...we had to knock her out to keep her from hurting herself. She was trying to chew her way out of her restraints. There’s also another issue...a legal issue. Princess Celestia?”
“Mr. Rich, I’m sorry to say that your daughter very nearly committed murder. She had a small supply of mordite, and she flung it at us,” Princess Celestia said, head bowed and eyes closed. “We’re lucky that the pony that saw what happened was able to give us enough warning before she killed seven ponies with mordite. And, to get to there, Diamond Tiara attacked one of her friends, Silver Spoon. Badly enough that she must remain overnight in the hospital due to a concussion.”
Filthy Rich listened for a moment, then fell on his haunches. “How...what...why did she do that?” he whispered, softly.
“Silver Spoon was reticent about telling Us the details,” Princess Luna said. “But, she finally admitted that the two of them have been harassing and abusing any blank-flank foal they have come across. Silver Spoon believes she is being loyal to your daughter...and has been hard to question.
“The trigger incident may have been the return of some of the students to Ponyville-Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo. That they were hiding out and pretending to be blank-flanked normal ponies, then came back as alicorns and were taking your daughter’s ‘teasing’ because they couldn’t risk being exposed may have over-strained her psyche,” Princess Luna continued. “The snapping point may have been Simple Dawn.”
“Simple Dawn, your Highness?” Filthy Rich asked, still in shock.
“A young unicorn foal,” Princess Luna said. “She was apparently trying to ‘break in’ a new blank-flank to tease and the three alicorn foals kept exposing their efforts. Only after Diamond Tiara committed the actions, mind you. The final trigger was that Simple Dawn gained his Cutie Mark-in such a manner that We felt it happen. After Our arrival was when she attacked Us-but her target was Simple Dawn.”
“I am hesitant to press criminal charges,” Princess Celestia said. “Your daughter...I do not know, to be honest, what must be done. Only that I want to help her-if she can be helped.”
Filthy Rich considered this. “May I speak with Silver Spoon?” he asked carefully.
“Of course. Doctor Stable, if you may? We will wait right here,” Princess Celestia said, and nodded to the door.
Doctor Stable and Filthy Rich left, and the two Princesses looked at each other. They waited in silence for about an hour, when Filthy Rich returned to the office. His eyes were those of a strong pony that didn’t quite know how to cry. “Princess Celestia,” he said, softly, hoarsely.
“Princess Celestia,” Filthy Rich said, a bit louder, but still hoarse. “My daughter...it is hard to see the pony you love having done something this...monstrous. Please, if Simple Dawn needs for anything, let me know. And, for the foals she had abused...may I speak with them?”
“You may,” Princess Celestia said.
“I will not wash my hooves of her,” Filthy Rich said. “But...if she has committed a crime, she must be punished for it. I can only ask for mercy, Princess Celestia, for my daughter and her foolish actions.”
“When she has recovered her mind,” Princess Celestia said, “I will consider what has happened. Until then...I will stay my hoof and my will. She must recover, for I will not leave her in a place of harm that she has found herself in.”
Filthy Rich looked at Princess Celestia, and for the first time in years, for the first time since his wife had died...the tears flowed down his cheeks.
Princess Celestia swiftly took Filthy Rich into her embrace and held him.
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Why is mordite so bad? What are some of its properties?
That junks real?!?!?
Hoof
Losing his wife and then years later having his daughter lose her mind. Wow, I'm really pitting Filthy Rich, even if he is loaded with money. Still...
tough luck I guess.
Did Cherilee actually take the note that was being passed, grade it like a school paper, and pass it back or did I read that bit wrong???
And if Simple Dawn is going to be Celestia's newest apprentice... can Luna get a unicorns student she can teach as well??? While summoning a chunk of moon would just get you a rock and not be impressive as a small star, what if they could manipulate moon light or something????
4179141 well obviously it's immune to magic, since scoots couldn't levitate it. maybe it cuts you of from your magic entirely? i mean, if you have to magic, then you don't continue living. and if the stuff is immune to magic, then it would be incredibly difficult to cure. i mean, it was so dangerous that even the princesses were in danger, and the only thing i can think of that would endanger them would be the loss of their magic. but then again, this is all speculation.
4179241 So essentially a magic absorbing powder/stone? That kinda sucks ass... Not very creative without some foreshadowing or whatever. To me it just seems like that chapter was just to get rid of DT for good...
4179453 like i said, i have no true idea. just some ideas based on how things worked out.
4179141 The short version of all the properties of mordite? For Earth ponies, it's bad-kind of like a very diffuse cloud of hydroflouric acid. DT was close enough to the dust and she was getting nose bleeds. To pegasui, it's very bad-they lose their magical lift, feathers start to fall out, and tissue starts to go. For unicorns, it's awful-imagine somebody tearing out your fingers, joint by joint. And then jamming those bones into your soft tissues. Like your ears, your nose, your gentitals, your eyes...
For alicorns, being in close proximity to plutonium is safer-they can shield against the radiation and the effects of the very deadly heavy toxic metal. But, they can't handle mordite-it will absorb their magic the same way that quicksand absorbs small animals.
4179155 Very. And fixed.
4179192 Filthy Rich is sort of tragic, and I will make his life better soon. Just...probably minus a daughter.
4179215 Apologies for the lack of clarity. Cherlee missed the note.
And, DT always seemed to me that she needed somepony to be below her...or there's nothing keeping her up. She needs sycophants and victims.
Princess Luna doesn't have an apprentice yet because she's still doesn't feel "ready" for one yet. If one fell into her withers, she'd gladly take one on, but it's only been two years since she's been free of the Nightmare Moon (my rough math is one season = half a year). Simple Dawn is going to become Princess Celestia's apprentice because of his talent-and not just because he can summon small spheres of blazing nuclear plasma...
4179329 I wish...and, nope.
4179241 Mordite responds to magic the same way matter responds to anti-matter. Poorly. Dealing with mordite spills is like putting out fires with gasoline-drown it, keep it away from fumes, cut off it's sources of energy.
Ok, that makes sense... I still wouldn't mind seeing Luna get an apprentice at some point though.
OH HELL! I literally just figured that last sentence out as I was typing it out and had the capitalized reaction.
I hope DT gets the mental help she needs, I might not like her, but I'm scared of this verison of her more than anything. She could easily play right into the cults... hooves...
4179530 Probably will be the next story, since I want to deal with Simple Dawn and Dev Null some more (and, Dev Null will not be Luna's apprentice, but he'll be involved...).
And, the fate of Diamond Tiara?
4179698 It only gets better from there!
I don't know what to feel about this chapter. I want to give you the benefit of the doubt, but part of me feel that this chapter is behaving like a hatefic for Diamond Tiara, blowing her bad characteristics out of proportion, to the point where I have to raise an eyebrow at it, and it's also making me wondering how it tribute the story in some ways. There may have a good reason for this, something you are planning with it, but still, it kinda leaving a bad taste in my mouth. It isn't too bad that it will turn me away, but all I can say at this point is to tread lightly.
Another curiosity is with Tiara's little note. The subject seems kinda overly mature for a young filly. Sure, I can understand that she might have learned it accidentally, but I doubt she have the mental maturity to handle the idea very well. It would have been too disturbing and disgusting in her point-of-view.
4186656 Cutie Mark Failure Insanity Syndrome is when a pony believes it isn't living up to their special talent, symbolized by their Cutie Mark. A good example of this is when Twilight Sparkle had her full-on psychotic break during "Lesson Zero".
For Dev Null...yea, how do you live up to that kind of Cutie Mark?
4189156 Elsewhere.
AKA Hammerspace.
AKA "Where does Pinkie Pie manage to hide a FULL THIRTY LAYER CAKE AND THREE PARTY CANNONS?!?"
It's the space where ponies store things, and they don't have saddle bags handy.
This mordite stuff is it from something or did you invent it? its horrifiying
4200485 A version of it shows up in the Dresden Files.
So, what will happen with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon now?
Wait... her jaw dropped to her withers?!
aboutyourhorse.com/sites/default/files/horse_anatomy.jpg
Oooh, a Dresden File reference.
And yeah, DT screwed up big-time. I guess that's keeping in the darker theme of parts of the fic, though. I think finding out how she acquired the mordite is worth an investigation in itself and might even lead to a break in the whole Order fiasco, given how it's pretty damn dangerous from your comments.
Meanwhile, Simple Dawn has a game-breaking ability with being able to take a part of the sun. It's a good thing Equestria physics works differently, because taking plasma gas from the sun like he did and exposing it to Earth gravity and ambient air constitution? There wouldn't be a Ponyville elementary left after the first few hundred milliseconds.