Secrets and Shames
Chapter 10: Secrets and Shames
"I'm grateful your employer was willing to let you go early," said Silverlight.
"I don't think he was too troubled by it," said Dawn as he smiled up at the older stallion, "Besides, it's certainly not every day that I get to spend some quality time with my grandfather."
Once again, hearing Dawn refer to him by that title made Silverlight beam as his wings fluttered excitedly, carrying him off the ground slightly before he regained his composure and dropped back into a walk. The two of them had left the teahouse and were now ambling aimlessly down the streets of Ponyville, taking in the sight of the snow-covered town as ponies went about their business left and right.
Though he knew that Dawn had been in residence for several months, Silverlight was more than a little surprised that his grandson hardly attracted any stares. Most ponies who did acknowledge Dawn generally gave him polite nods or even cheerful waves. It appeared he had managed to garner the sympathy and appreciation of a great many ponies. But, then again, given that Dawn had played a crucial role in ending the nearly disastrous drought Ponyville had been suffering through during the summer months, it would make sense for the town's residents to have a positive opinion of him.
"Can you tell me something?" asked Dawn.
"Of course," said Silverlight.
"I'm curious...Does dad truly upset you that much?"
Silverlight's eyelid twitched at the sound of Dawn referring to Caramel by that title. Frankly, he was more than a little uncomfortable with the fact that Dawn was referring to the stallion who, at the moment, was merely dating his mother as his father. There was a whole lot of iffiness to the situation that Silverlight didn't like at all. But still, Dawn's question needed to be answered.
Silverlight let out a sigh. "I suppose not. I'll be honest. For all the misgivings I have about that stallion, he seems to be a decent fellow. But I can't help but worry."
"Why is that?" asked Dawn as he canted his head, trying to puzzle out his grandfather's motivations.
Silverlight slumped, his head lowering down and his ears going back. "Because...By not worrying enough, I once caused your mother more pain than any father rightfully should. It was a case of serious negligence on my part and it nearly ruined her for life. She carries that trauma with her to this day."
"What are you talking about?"
Silverlight looked over at the ebony colt. "Let's go back to the house you're staying at. I'll explain there."
Dawn nodded and led his grandfather through the streets to Caramel's house. After letting them both in, the two of them settled into the living room.
Silverlight took a deep breath and began his story. "Your mother was different from most foals when they're born. Within their first month, pegasus foals are usually bursting at the seams with energy, fluttering through the air as they funnel out the excess magic left over from their births. They're loud, they're rambunctious, they're a hoofful."
He smiled gently. "But your mother was different. She was very quiet as a baby. She almost never cried, even when she was hungry. At most, she made small cooing noises that were barely audible. Your grandmother had to cultivate some sharp hearing simply to be able to know when Fluttershy needed to be fed. That quietness translated over into the rest of her behavior. When most infant foals are buzzing around the house, your mother rarely fluttered off the floor. It was as though flight didn't really interest her. She amazingly gentle and well-behaved for a baby, always preferring to play quietly with her toys than dash about and cause trouble.
"At first, Posey and I were ecstatic. Our first foal was practically a miracle who gave us almost no trouble. We never had to fret that Fluttershy would blunder into something while buzzing about or accidentally fly out a window. We never felt the need to monitor her constantly and caring for her was ludicrously easy. Where most parents would go through their first months with shadows under their eyes and strung-out nerves, we sailed through with barely any inconvenience. We could relax around her without having to constantly worry about her safety. She learned things remarkably quickly too; attentive and accommodating even at such a young age. Potty training was a snap and her transition to solid food was practically effortless. She almost never made any messes and, whenever she did, she was always contrite, something amazing for such a young foal. In a way, that was the problem. Even as a babe, Fluttershy was submissive and docile. But that only became apparent when she grew older...
"Mamaaaaa!"
Posey rushed out of their home's kitchen the instant she heard her daughter's cry, rushing into the living room just in time to see a wailing Fluttershy come bolting through the door and throw herself into her mother's arms.
"Fluttershy! What's the matter?" Posey rocked her daughter back and forth as the little filly buried her muzzle in her mother's fur and continued to cry.
"I got an owie!" wailed Fluttershy, "It hurts!"
"Show me where it hurts," said Posey as she lowered her daughter to the floor.
Sniffling, Fluttershy held up her right foreleg, showcasing a tiny scrape that leaked out a few drops of blood.
"Oh Fluttershy," said Posey with a relieved sigh, "It's nothing more than a scratch. Come, let's get a bandaid on it right away." Just a few minutes, a little disinfectant, and a bandage later, Fluttershy was no longer crying and whimpering, though a few tears still leaked out of her eyes. The problem was taken care of.
"There now," said Posey as she set her daughter back on the floor, "All better."
"Hi there." Posey looked up from her sniffling daughter to see another filly standing at the door, with a couple of other foals standing outside behind her. She recognized them as Fluttershy's playmates.
"Is everything okay?" asked the filly, "I thought Fluttershy was really hurt badly when she ran back here screaming."
"Oh it was nothing too bad," said Posey with a cheerful smile at the filly, "It's just a scrape."
The filly's concerned look devolved into one of confusion. "Okay..." she said, giving Fluttershy a strange look.
Ignoring that look, Posey turned her attention back to her daughter, wiping away the last of Fluttershy's tears. "There you go, now go back out and play with your friends."
Fluttershy nodded, sniffled one last time, and began heading back out the door, closing it behind her. As Posey turned back to the kitchen, her ear twitched as she picked up the voice of one of the other foals muttering under his breath.
"What a crybaby."
"I don't understand," said Dawn, blinking at Silverlight's story, "What's so important about that?"
"Pegasus foals tend to be rough and tumble types," said Silverlight with a shrug, "Most of them, including all of Fluttershy's playmates could handle a tiny scrape like that easily. Most of them would have barely even noticed and gone back to playing like nothing had happened. That was our first real hint that Fluttershy was a lot more sensitive than most fillies her age and that it was setting her apart. Later on, things only seemed to get worse."
"It's no good," said Posey, coming downstairs, "She won't come out of her room."
"Is she still crying?" asked Silverlight, looking up at his wife.
Posey nodded.
"What happened?" asked Silverlight.
"It sounds like she was being bullied," said Posey, "She keeps saying that the other foals keep teasing her and trying to make her cry."
Silverlight groaned and dropped his face into his hooves. "They would stop if she didn't keep giving them what they want. If they realized they can’t make her cry, they’ll stop bullying her.”
Posey sighed. “That’s exactly what their parents said when I talked to them. But it’s not that simple. Fluttershy is too sensitive. She can't help but react like that when ponies treat her harshly."
"She has to learn to control it," said Silverlight, "Otherwise she'll never be able to function as a normal pony. It's a bit extreme, but I have an idea."
"What kind of idea?" asked Posey, feeling more than a little trepidation at her husband's tone.
Silverlight hoofed her pamphlet. Posey unfolded it and began to read the contents. "Cloudsdale Flight School! Dear! You can't be serious..." The Flight School was the most prestigious institution in all of Cloudsdale. In fact, it was one of the most well-known pegasus institutions in all of Equestria. It offered schooling from the elementary level all the way up through Trade School for flight and weather-related jobs. Getting one's foal accepted was neither cheap nor easy. However, money wasn't the problem. With their current income, the two of them could easily afford to send Fluttershy there, even if she wasn't eligible for any kind of scholarship. Posey had heard a great deal about the standards promoted by the school, what was expected of the students and how they were expected to perform.
"I am completely serious," said Silverlight, his expression growing more serious and stern, "What Fluttershy needs is a sufficiently rigorous program with high expectations. If anypony can help her overcome her current issues, it will be the teachers at this school." To be honest, it had been something a last resort for Silverlight himself. More than anything, he simply wanted for Fluttershy to be a normal filly, to play with her friends, for himself to be able to chat with their parents over a beer as they laughed about what trouble their foals had gotten into most recently. Instead, his conversations with other parents lately seemed to consist of him listening as they chided him for raising such a timid, retiring filly. He always came to them because one of their foals had done something to hurt his daughter's feelings, but it always seemed to be him that was being scolded.
Silverlight wanted to fix his daughter, to help her be a normal filly. But he just didn't know how to go about it. Surely, the teachers at this school would know what to do. Surely, they could do what he couldn't.
"I know it seems unpleasant," said Silverlight, placing a comforting hoof on his wife's shoulder, "but it's for the best."
"And that was the greatest mistake I ever made in my life," said Dawn's grandfather with a sigh, "Fluttershy was upset, of course. It was a major change for her. She'd been doing fairly well academically at her present school and her performance in physical classes was at least average. It was enough that we were able to get a minor scholarship and save a few bits on tuition.
"But Fluttershy was miserable. The moment she entered Cloudsdale Flight School, her grades started dropping. Her performance in the physical flight classes practically plummeted. Before, she had been at least fluttering about, but after the transfer, it seemed she could hardly bring herself to fly off the clouds.
"She came home every day, more miserable than the last. Some nights, she cried herself to sleep and many mornings we had to fight with her just to get her off to school. At first, we simply thought she was having trouble adapting to the curriculum and that she was getting bullied a little too. The school officials simply told us that Fluttershy needed to put forth more effort in her training and that, once she started improving, other ponies would stop troubling her.
"But it only got worse. By the time Fluttershy had nearly graduated from the elementary level of the school, she was a wreck. She hardly even talked to us anymore, not even during meals. She spent as much free time outside of school as she could locked up in her room, refusing to come out for most of the day on the weekends. She only made one real friend in that forsaken place."
"Rainbow Dash," suggested Dawn, knowing that his mother had a long history with the cerulean mare.
Silverlight nodded. "But Fluttershy never introduced her to us. I'm not sure why, though I think she may have wanted to keep Rainbow Dash from expressing how angry she was with what we had done to Fluttershy...although, she got her chance soon enough..."
Silverlight and Posey rushed through the air, hurtling as fast as they could towards the Flight School's campus. They weren't the only ones. The air around them was filled with concerned parents, flying with all their might to find out if their colts and fillies were alright. There had been no need for any message from the school. Nopony had missed it.
It had been a perfectly ordinary afternoon earlier. Silverlight was relaxing on the couch after a long day at work. Posey was in the kitchen, getting ready for another uncomfortably quiet dinner. The two of them were simply waiting for their daughter to return home when the quiet of the afternoon had been shattered by an echoing boom that shook the house. The two pegasi had rushed outside just in time to see the coruscating waves of light washing across the sky. It was early enough that Silverlight was able to trace their origin, the area of open sky right next to Cloudsdale Flight School.
There had been no need for conversation with Posey. The two of them had headed out immediately, desperate to make sure that their daughter was okay.
When they arrived, they were just two adults among a mass of jabbering, panicked ponies. Everypony was desperate to make sure that their son or daughter was safe and sound. There was angry shouting and loud demands to know what had just happened.
Of course, the truth would get out much later that the source of the explosion had been one Rainbow Dash, who had performed the first Sonic Rainboom seen in centuries. The school staff would never want to admit that the student they considered a delinquent and deviant was capable of a feat that had not been seen in centuries. They ended up spinning a story about a practical demonstration of the properties of rainbow spectra getting out of hoof.
It had taken nearly an hour to get any information out of the staff. The foals had been released as soon as was feasible to help reassure the parents that their young ones weren't in any danger. But Fluttershy had not been among them. Even more strangely, Posey and Silverlight's attempts to inquire about their daughter's status were often deflected or ignored as the staff went to comfort and assist the parents of other foals. At times, it almost seemed that several ponies on staff were loathe to even admit that Fluttershy existed at all.
Finally, it was not one of the staff who ended up helping them, but a sky-blue filly who approached the couple. "Hey!" shouted the filly as she swooped on them from above as the pair wandered about the courtyard outside the school's main entrance, "Are you Fluttershy's parents?"
"Yes!" said Posey immediately, "We've been looking for her. Can you tell us where she is?"
The filly seemed to be a perfectly conventional pegasus filly. Her cerulean coat contrasted sharply with the entire spectrum of colors that ran in rainbow stripes through her mane, all of which framed a pair of cerise eyes that practically glowed with energy and excitement. Her body was nearly overflowing with energy. This would mark the first time Fluttershy's parents met Rainbow Dash, the only friend their daughter had made in Flight School.
"Yeah, I know where she is," said Rainbow. She went on to explain the situation, how she'd challenged a group of Fluttershy's bullies to a race and went on to win the race by executing a Sonic Rainboom. Fluttershy's parents were dubious regarding that claim, but didn't bother to question it, seeing as there was still a much more important question on their mind.
Eventually, Rainbow Dash got to the point. After returning from winning her race, Rainbow saw that Fluttershy had disappeared from the cloud she had been watching from. At that moment, Rainbow realized that Fluttershy might have fallen and had gone to get the adults. However, nopony seemed interested in helping her, so Rainbow had gone down herself. Luckily, she found Fluttershy alive and unharmed.
"And you haven't gotten one of the instructors yet?" demanded Silverlight.
"I'm not even bothering," said Rainbow sharply, "It's pretty clear they don't care. They don't like Fluttershy at all. I think they hope she doesn't come back."
"What?" gasped Posey, her eyes going wide with horror. She wanted to get more information from Rainbow, but the filly was already in the air, leading them to the spot where she'd last seen Fluttershy.
Silverlight and Posey followed along as best they could. Rainbow Dash was an incredible flyer for somepony so young. Both of the adult pegasi were amazed at how much they had to struggle to simply keep up with her as she dove down beneath the cloud level and led them towards the ground. Both of Fluttershy's parents couldn't keep from worrying. Rainbow had said that Fluttershy was unhurt, but anything could happen on the ground.
Both of them let out a sigh of relief when they caught sight of their daughter. However, that relief turned into a near-panic when they saw that Fluttershy was practically surrounded by a carpet of wild animals, some of which were crawling across the filly's body as though it were a piece of the landscape.
Silverlight shot forward, determined to rescue his daughter before those beasts could hurt her, but came to a screeching halt when he picked up the faint sound of happy laughter from the filly. Silverlight's jaw dropped. He hadn't heard Fluttershy laugh in ages. It was one of the most beautiful things he had ever heard. Looking more closely, he saw that Fluttershy wasn't being attacked by the animals around and on her. Rather, she seemed to be conversing with them and, from the way the animals reacted to her words and the way Fluttershy reacted to them, it was clear that they understood one another.
It was at that moment that a squirrel that had been perched of Fluttershy's hindquarters shifted its position, revealing something that made Silverlight gasp. There, decorating his daughter's flank, was an image of three butterflies. Fluttershy had found her cutie mark.
"Fluttershy?"
Fluttershy looked up at the sound of Posey's voice as the animals around her scattered into hiding. Her eyes widened when she saw just who was hovering above her. "Mama? Papa?"
Silverlight felt sick. The moment she realized that they were there, the cheerful smile and happy demeanor that Fluttershy had been exhibiting around the animals had vanished and she now stared up at her parents with an eerie, neutral expression.
"Oh Fluttershy!" gasped Posey as she swooped down and picked up her daughter in a tight hug, "I'm so glad you're alright. We were so worried when we couldn't find you."
Fluttershy didn't seem to share her mother's relief. However, she returned the hug all the same.
"You must have been so scared, down here on your own," crooned Posey as she rocked her daughter back and forth, "But everything's alright now. Let's go home..."
"I..." Silverlight's ears strained to pick up the sound of his daughter's voice. "I don't w-want to."
"What? Fluttershy?" Posey held her daughter at arm's length, staring at Fluttershy in confusion.
"I don't want to go back," said Fluttershy. She began to wriggle and, in a few seconds, managed to extract herself from her mother's arms. Her wings beating, Fluttershy actually started hovering in the air, drifting a short distance above the ground.
"Don't be silly dear," said Posey, moving forward to take Fluttershy in her arms, "Of course you need to come back home. I'm sure that everypony at school is-"
"NO!!!" Fluttershy darted out of her mother's reach, fleeing back as Posey and Silverlight looked on in shock. Never before had they heard Fluttershy shout like this. Worse still was the look on Fluttershy's face as she watched her parents. It was a look of absolute terror.
"Fluttershy? What's wrong?" asked Posey.
"Don't take me back!" shouted Fluttershy, "I don't wanna go back to Flight School!"
"What?" gasped Silverlight, moving forward to try and secure his daughter, "You can't be serious-"
"I am!" shouted Fluttershy, beating her wings furiously as she fought to retreat further, "I don't wanna go back to Flight School! I...I h-hate...I HATE IT THERE!!!" Her final words were a scream that actually made Silverlight's ears ring for a moment.
Fluttershy's wings appeared to have reached their limit and the filly dropped back to the ground. She was sobbing, tears running unrestrained down the sides of her face. "E-everypony is m-mean and they all call me n-names and the t-teachers don't c-care. They w-want me g-gone too."
"Don't be ridiculous," growled Silverlight, "We put you in that school for your own good. I won't have my daughter put my hard work to waste so she can live in the forest and play with animals all day."
Fluttershy cowered back from her father, her terror only growing. Silverlight dropped to the ground and began to step forward, only to halt as rustling sounded from the undergrowth all around him. Seconds later, all the animals that had hidden when he and Posey had first arrived had emerged from the foliage again. This time, they were behaving very differently, watching the stallion with a great deal of intensity as they moved to put themselves between him and Fluttershy. Silverlight got the sensation that, if he made any attempt to take her by force, they would respond by attacking en-mass.
"Stop it!"
Silverlight jumped at the sudden shout of Rainbow Dash's voice as the cerulean filly streaked down from the sky and landed in an angry crouch in front of Fluttershy, shielding her from Silverlight as Rainbow glared daggers up at the stallion.
"What kind of parents are you?" she demanded, her tone enraged, "Do you have any idea what they put her though up there?"
"Wha-what are you talking about?" demanded Silverlight.
"I'm there all the time, so I see it," snarled Rainbow, "All the other colts and fillies pick on her and the teachers just pretend they don't see it. They always make Fluttershy go last whenever we do anything so that everypony can watch her fail. I even hear them saying mean things behind her back. They're awful to her!"
"Tha-that can't be true," stammered Silverlight, "Th-they're just trying to toughen her up a little bit."
"No they aren't," snarled Rainbow, taking a step back so she could better shield Fluttershy, "When I told the headmistress that Fluttershy had fallen, she said it was good 'cause then she might never come back."
Silverlight wanted to protest, to claim that that was impossible. But then he began to remember how the staff had been behaving when he and Posey had been looking for Fluttershy, how the two of them had been ignored and misdirected, how none of the teachers or instructors seemed to care about where the filly was. But there was no way that could be true.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was Posey who defused the situation as she stooped down, having finally noticed the same thing Silverlight had noticed earlier. "Fluttershy dear," said Posey, "You found your cutie mark." Posey kept her voice soft and comforting.
"Uh huh." Fluttershy nodded her head meekly, though she stayed tucked behind Rainbow.
"Did you find it down here?" asked Posey, her eyes looking around, taking in the numerous animals that had gathered around Fluttershy and Rainbow.
"Uh huh," said Fluttershy again, "I...I can understand them. I-I was really scared when I first fell down here. But the butterflies caught me and I've seen so many wonderful things." She let out a giddy sigh. "And then, there was this biiiiiiig explosion and all the animals were scared away. I talked to them and told them there was nothing to be scared of and got them to come out again..." As she was talking a rabbit crawled up to her and curled up against her side, a squirrel draped itself across her shoulders and a robin landed on her head, chirping cheerfully.
"Oh that's wonderful," said Posey, landing and slowly approaching her daughter, "Do you think you got your cutie mark because you can understand them so well?"
Fluttershy blushed and shrugged slightly, making the squirrel shift as it tried to keep settled on her shoulders. "Maybe," she said hesitantly. She was still shying away from her mother, mostly hiding behind Rainbow, even though the cerulean filly was actually smaller than her.
"Listen dear," said Posey, laying down on the ground, "Why don't we go back home and talk about what we can do there. I don't think you'll be going back to Flight School anyway."
Silverlight shot his wife a questioning look. She didn't acknowledge it, but instead continued talking to Fluttershy. "After all, it's nearly time for you to go to Trade School. But Flight School doesn't have any animal related programs, so we're going to have to find someplace else for you anyway."
Fluttershy looked at them nervously, as though she couldn't quite believe what Posey had just said and suspected that this was some ploy to get her back into Cloudsdale so that they could keep sending her to Flight School. Finally, after a long moment, she apparently decided that her mother was being sincere and got to her hooves. "O-okay..."
"...And that was that," said Silverlight, wrapping up the anecdote, "We took Fluttershy back home and I got to work on the withdrawal forms for Flight School.
"When Posey and I turned them in to the school's headmistress, we got a firsthoof idea of just what Fluttershy had been through. That mare actually said she was glad that Fluttershy wouldn't be coming back to school anymore, that she'd been dragging everypony down and that she was a disgrace of a pegasus. She even had the gall to say that Posey and I should have left her to starve in the dirt."
Dawn's eyes flashed and Silverlight actually felt the colt's anger as a tremor through the air. It wasn't directed at him, but the silent, cold fury intimidated the stallion as he viewed the colt in a new light, the feeling pressing home viscerally that Dawn wasn't merely mature for his age, he was dangerous. Still, it was clear just whom Dawn was really angry at. The colt said nothing, but silently mastered his anger and waited for Silverlight to continue.
"When my wife heard that, she punched the headmistress in the face. If I hadn't stopped her, I'm sure that Posey would have beat that mare into a pulp. We were lucky she didn't press charges, although I think that was mostly because she didn't want what she had just said to be dragged out in front of the public." Seeing that Dawn was still angry, Silverlight smiled. "But, thanks to you, I think she got her just desserts."
"What do you mean?" asked Dawn, his anger evaporating into confusion.
"The Flight School's headmistress was from one of the old, traditional Cloudsdale families. In fact, she was one of the ponies in on the whole conspiracy that you and Rainbow Dash thwarted. So were several members of the Board of Directors. Rounding up all the conspirators essentially gutted the Cloudsdale Flight School's administration. Several teachers were implicated, particularly in the physical education department. It seemed as though they'd been moonlighting as some of the conspiracy's enforcers."
Dawn thought about some of the ponies he'd fought in Cloudsdale, particularly the thuggish ones who had been especially loyal to Meadowlark, the conspiracy's leader, or at least its figurehead. He was a bit surprised to learn that some of them had apparently been teachers.
Silverlight returned to the story. "Anyway, after withdrawing Fluttershy from Flight School, we had her cutecenera, which was pretty sad, all things considered. She and Rainbow were the only foals there and Rainbow kept close to Fluttershy, like she thought she needed to protect Fluttershy from us." He sighed. "Although, given what Fluttershy went through, I can't exactly blame her.
"After that, we started looking for trade schools that Fluttershy could go to that would allow her to indulge her passion and her talents. We looked into several veterinary schools, though they were mostly attended by earth ponies and the odd unicorn. A pegasus in that field was a true rarity. Our greatest fear was, if we sent her to one of those schools, Fluttershy would be singled out in much the same way she was at Flight School, just for being a pegasus.
"Ultimately, we found Fluttershy an apprenticeship rather than a Trade School. She apprenticed under an older mare named Willowbrook, who was looking to retire from her role as Ponyville's wildlife manager. As it turned out, that was the perfect job for Fluttershy and the two of them got along wonderfully. Fluttershy learned how to look after Ponyville's wildlife and how to treat injured animals from her. After Fluttershy finished her apprenticeship and Willowbrook retired, Fluttershy even got her cottage, the very one you and she were living at."
"What happened to Willowbrook?" asked Dawn.
Silverlight gave him a sad smile. "She passed away a few years ago. She went peacefully and was a good friend to our daughter, right up to the very end. We owe her a lot."
Silverlight lowered his head into his hooves and rested it there for a moment. “We’re lucky that Fluttershy is able to function as a normal pony at all. She suffered so much at that school and it’s all my fault! I wasn’t really trying to understand her or address the problems that she had. All that I cared about was ‘fixing’ her so that I didn’t have to deal with the parents of the foals that were tormenting her. I tried to foist her off onto somepony else when I should have been acting like an actual father to her!” Silverlight let out a strangled sob. “I know she forgave me and Posey for what we put her through, but I can’t forgive myself. If I can help it, I’ll do whatever I can to ensure that she never has to suffer like that again.”
Dawn frowned. He understood now why Silverlight was so overprotective of Fluttershy and why he seemed immensely suspicious of any stallion who tried to court her. But… “Are you sure that you aren’t hurting her in a different way by doing this?” he asked, tilting his head slightly.
“Huh?” Silverlight blinked and stared at his grandson for a moment.
“Mom is very happy with dad. Even I can tell that they love each other a great deal. What’s more, dad cares for me too. If you keep questioning it so much, you might end up driving mom away, rather than making sure that she’s happy.”
For a moment, Silverlight was dumbfounded by Dawn’s words. He’d never considered things from that angle before. Perhaps, in his efforts to be protective, he might end up doing Fluttershy as much harm as he had when he’d neglected her by sending her to a special school and simply trying to make her somepony else’s problem.
“Y-you might be right…” said Silverlight hesitantly.
“I know it might be difficult,” said Dawn, “But you could simply try dealing with dad as another pony, rather than just as the pony who’s with mom.”
“You really trust him, don’t you?” asked Silverlight.
Dawn smiled at his grandfather and nodded.
Silverlight looked at Dawn for a moment before finally letting out a weak chuckle. “Alright,” he said, “I guess I can give the guy a chance.”
“Well, it’s always nice havin’ visitors here. Y’all just weren’t the kind ‘o visitors Ah was expectin’.” Braeburn looked nervously at Shining Armor and the other fourteen guards that were arrayed before him.
“Don’t worry too much about it,” said Shining, “I can understand that this is a bit out of the blue, but we need to carry out an investigation on the C-I mean…the Order of Celestial Light. I’ve heard that they’re building some kind of temple here, right?”
“Eeyup, ya heard right,” said Braeburn, “It sure caused a bit ‘o hemmin’ and hawin’ when they started, what with all the zonin’ and codes they had to bend to get it up.” He began to lead the guards in the direction of the building in question.
“Why’s that?” asked Shining, giving the Appleloosan stallion a quizzical glance.
Braeburn shrugged. “Mighty weird location is all,” he said, “A bit out ‘o line with the streets and the other buildin's. Threw somethin’ of a wrench into the town’s layout ‘round that spot fer sure. But them folk from the Order were mighty particular that they build right there.”
So the position is important, Shining reasoned to himself. The location of the temple was apparently so critical that the cultists were willing to take on the zoning laws and town hall to ensure that they got the temple built exactly where they wanted it to be built. However, he kept this to himself for now. “What is the building like?” he asked.
“Nothin’ special,” said Braeburn, “Ah’ve seen fancier architecture in Ponyville. It kinda stands out, being made ‘o rock when everythin’ else ‘round here is made ‘o wood. Kinda clashes with the town’s look if ya ask me.”
That made perfect sense to Shining Armor. Given how stubbornly fanatical some members of the Cult Solar could be, it was obvious that they would construct whatever worship space they were making according to the designs of whatever strange set of rules informed the Cult’s approach to architecture, regardless of what outsiders thought of it. “Is there anything that stood out to you?” asked Shining, “Anything particularly odd about it at all?”
Braeburn lost himself in thought for a moment, his eyes turning skyward as much as he dared without taking them off where he was going. After a moment, he seemed to remember something. “There was somethin’ that struck me as mighty odd. When they first started, it seemed like a normal buildin’ pretty much. But, Ah noticed somethin’ weird. After the walls and ceilin’ were already up, they still seemed to be haulin’ a lot ‘o dirt and stone out from the inside, like they were still workin’ on excavatin’ the foundation, even though Ah know the foundation was done before they started puttin’ the walls up.”
“So they were making some kind of basement?” inquired Shining, his eyebrows going up. That wasn’t just strange, that was dangerous. If a building was meant to have a basement, then it was usually excavated as part of laying the foundation for the house. Otherwise, the builders ran the risk of weakening the ground beneath the walls that were already in place and bringing the entire building down on their heads while they were working. That they’d continued digging something out after the walls and ceiling were up suggested that they didn’t want outsiders to see what exactly they were digging out.
Even though he hadn’t laid eyes on the temple yet, Shining was already beginning to think that Arkenstone had been onto something. Now all that was left was to determine exactly what Arkenstone had been onto. Somehow, Shining got the feeling that he wouldn’t necessarily like the answer to that.
When the building came into view, Shining Armor had to stop a moment to take it in. It wasn’t the most bizarre thing he’d seen in his life…not by a long shot. However, the temple did look strangely out of place compared to the town around it. It was set off of alignment with the other buildings nearby, both of which were fairly ordinary houses. Because of that, the street had to wind and twist at an awkward angle, narrowing down at one point as it curled around the temple to resume its original course. The building also sat at an angle opposed to all the other buildings around it, which made it seem even more out of place. Finally, it had been built from blocks of carved granite, which was surprising to Shining, because, aside from the fact that it made the temple stand out all the more against its neighbors, there were no major granite deposits anywhere near Appleloosa, which meant that the Cult Solar had hauled all of this in from somewhere well outside of town, possibly another region of Equestria entirely.
That aside, the building’s construction was fairly unremarkable. It occupied a rectangular space a little bit larger than the average house. Its height marked it to be about three stories high (though the interior space was likely just one large room). Each of the corners where the sloping, angled roof met the wall ended with a small steeple, decorated with a bronze sun disk on the top. For something that was being called a temple, Shining had been expecting the construction to be more elaborate.
"So this is it," said the Guard Captain, staring up at the building, unsure of what he felt. There was a certain degree of trepidation. But the whole thing seemed so ordinary as to be completely underwhelming.
"Eeyup," said Braeburn, "The inside ain't nothin' to write home 'bout neither. But it ain't finished, far as Ah know. Maybe they're gonna put up some extra decorations later."
Shining strode up to the large double doors and knocked firmly on them three times. He waited a few seconds before the door slowly inched open and a unicorn looked out from them.
"Can I help you?" she asked softly, her eyes widening at the sight of a group of grim-looking Guards arrayed in front of the doors.
"Yes," said Shining Armor, keeping his tone polite and neutral, "I am Shining Armor, Captain of the Royal Guard. I am here at the behest of Princess Celestia to inspect the premises, if you please." There was no need to be overbearing. It was entirely possible that this was one of the many ordinary ponies in the Cult Solar who had, until recently, known nothing about the Cult's darker dealings. Even if she had read the newspaper article, it was all too likely she believed that it was nothing more than a pack of lies fabricated by the journalists of Canterlot.
The mare's eyes widened and she nodded frantically, stepping back to open the doors wide. "Of course, sir. Please come in at once."
"Thank you," said Shining, fighting to keep a smug smile from his face. The Royal Guard acted as an extension of Princess Celestia's authority and presence to the population at large. That, combined with his statement that the Princess had ordered this inspection (which might not have been technically true, but Shining knew that she would have given the order if he had taken the time to consult her), meant that this mare would be tripping over herself to accommodate him, so long as he kept from directly expressing his distaste with the Cult and his fondness for Dawn in their presence.
Stepping inside, Shining was not surprised to see that the space within the building consisted of a single cavernous room. Looking up, he noticed that the ceiling was decorated with an impressive mosaic of Princess Celestia's cutie mark upon a field of blue skies. The tiles of the sun symbol were reflective, bouncing light from the candles and torches that dominated the room off the ceiling and back down, giving the impression that the sun was always shining down upon those within. The walls were presently bare, but Shining could make out the bars and hooks where elaborate tapestries were undoubtedly going to be hung.
From the door, the floor was occupied by several rows of squat benches, arranged so that they were split down the middle to form an aisle between them. The aisle ran up to a dais that dominated the front of the room, upon which was situated a large, square altar, carved from white marble, which contrasted sharply with the grays of the walls and floor. The rest of the room was surprisingly unadorned, and the altar seemed peculiar in how lonely it looked up on the dais.
"I'm afraid it doesn't look like much now," said the mare her voice filled with quiet reverence, "But soon, once it's finished, it will be the perfect shrine to Her Radiance's glory."
"That's good," said Shining as he swept his eyes about the space. Turning his head, he nodded to his fellow guards, who fanned out into the room and began carefully inspecting everything.
"Is something wrong?" asked the mare, who was looking at Shining, her demeanor becoming more nervous.
"No. Nothing's wrong," said Shining, "But we are here to inspect this place, so we need to examine it very closely to ensure that there are no threats, should Princess Celestia come to visit herself."
The mare's attitude did another one-eighty and her eyes lit up like a foal that had been given exactly what she wanted for Hearth's Warming. "Her Radiance...coming here...?" It was clear that she was thrilled with the idea.
"At this point, I can't be certain of it," said Shining, "But we need to know everything about this place. Is there anything here, not readily visible, that you can tell me about."
"Well...no," said the mare, her enthusiasm fading somewhat.
"Are you sure?" asked Shining, raising an eyebrow, "I heard that there was a great deal of excavation going on after the walls and ceilings were raised. Is there a reason for that."
"Um...well..." The mare was clearly at a loss for what to say and fighting to find some kind of explanation.
"We made a mistake," called a voice from the door. A dark green stallion stepped inside. As he met Shining's gaze, the Guard Captain recalled hearing about a stallion of his description from one of the reports from Red and Storm.
"Uncle Blenheim?" said Braeburn, who had been standing idly off in one corner. The older stallion glanced at him and that was the extent of the acknowledgement that Blenheim gave his nephew before turning his full attention back to Shining Armor.
"What kind of mistake?" asked Shining.
"The location's important here," said Blenheim, "But when we were layin' the foundation, we found that a lot of the rock underneath was mighty flimsy; old karst and the like. We had to dig it out and replace it with somethin' more solid."
"I see," said Shining, "I'm going to run a routine scanning spell across the place, just to check and make sure that everything's safe. You don't mind, do you?"
"'Course not," said Blenheim, who had clearly taken over the situation from the relieved mare, "Look as hard and as much as ya want."
"Alright then," said Shining, his eyes narrowing. His horn glowed, then began to blaze with rose-colored light, which washed outward from the tip and across the room, sweeping over it in waves before finally fading. There wasn't anything routine about this spell. Rather, it was one of the most powerful scanning and detection spells that Shining Armor knew, one that had been developed to detect secret compartments used by smugglers and magically adept criminals. If there were any secret doorways or passages that might indicate that something was being hidden beneath the floor, the spell would outline them for everypony to see.
However, as the spell faded away, there was no sign of any hidden door or passage. Shining frowned silently.
"Are ya satisfied?" asked Blenheim.
Shining wasn't satisfied in the slightest, but he had no means of investigating further at the time. "I suppose I am," he said. A thought occurred to him. "By the way, when is this place supposed to be finished? I'd love to see it when it's all decked out."
Blenheim thought Shining's question over for a moment. "Round mid-spring," he said finally, "It's takin' some extra time to get the tapestries in."
"I see," said Shining, "Thank you for your cooperation." He nodded to his subordinates and led them out. Braeburn took a confused look at his uncle before going out after Shining.
"Are ya done then?" asked Braeburn, falling into step beside Shining.
"Not quite," said the white stallion, "Our next stop is Town Hall. I need all the information the City Planning office has on the location of that temple." There was no doubt in his mind that Blenheim and his compatriots were hiding something. Shining Armor was determined to find out what.
However, he'd made one important discovery. When he'd received Arkenstone's letter though Spike, Shining had read about Arkenstone's concerns over the time limit. The cultists were trying to do something and it was important to know when that something would be done. Now Shining had an idea. Spring! Whatever they're up to is going to be ready by then.
Bleneheim watched his nephew join the Royal Guards as they made their way down the street. Closing the door, he took a moment to heave a relieved sigh. "Looks like things worked out alright," he said.
"I'm amazed it worked," gasped the mare behind him.
"'Course it did," snapped Blenheim, "The door was designed by the Supreme Pontiff himself. There ain't a pony in Equestria that could find it."
Blenheim walked up to the alter and examined its top. Pressing his forehooves against the stone, he pulled them apart, effectively splitting the top of the stone table in two. He then rotated the two stone plates ninety degrees and slid them back together. Bracing his shoulder against the altar, Blenheim pushed. The entire thing slid across the floor as though it weighed nothing, offering no resistance to the stallion. Now there was a gaping hole in the floor, through which ran a stairway that spiraled down. Looking down through it, Blenheim could make out the shape of the device below, which dangled from the ceiling, directly underneath the center of the floor of the temple like a twisting stalactite. It was different in shape and configuration from the one in the temple where the Supreme Pontiff dwelled, but was unquestionably forged from the same materials and operated on the same principles.
Spring, thought Blenheim, We've gotta hold on 'til then. Then Nightmare Moon will be a thing 'o the past and we can all breathe easy. Just a few more months and Equestria will be free.
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Wow, those teachers were jerks to Fluttershy, I'm glad Posey punched the headmistress in the face, she deserved it! At least her parents meant well. Well, though she probably deserved Posey doing worse, I'm glad she got her just desserts eventually. Dang it, Shining was so close! First comment!
5175783
And now the Board of Directors are all in prison... so hopefully things will change for the better in Cloudsdale...
When Blenheim realizes what those temples are really for... he and a lot of other members will be feeling like idiots at the end of day...
"She only made one real friend in that forsaken place."
I've been wondering, didn't you say Ditzy was there too?
"From the door, the floor was occupied by several rows of squat benches"
Sorry, I couldn't resist but think why are those even needed... To be honest, I've been wondering about a lot of things about pony standards in this series, ever since Scootaloo tapped her hind leg to the beat the first time she had seen Dawn going through the forms, I can't really imagine how it is to tap a hind leg to a beat. For humans yes, but for ponies - only forelegs are usable to that. As well, on mention of any benches or chairs I can't help but think of Lyra.
Maybe I do have a poor imagination though... Even if those benches aren't more then a hoof-high... wah, any height seems strange to me unless it's a pillow.
The device is made of that eitherial exo dimensional matter... Wasn't Tia big concern that it could be used as a Weapon of Mass Destruction? If this Exo Matter has it's own rules then really it could do anything from reducing Equeastria to molten glass, or stripping away the magic for a pony. Hell it might even be able to allow Morning Star to tamper with the meridians in a ponies body and super charge their magic, or negate it all together. But wat ever his end game is it clearly has nothing to do with what the Cultists want.
You know.... I have my own theories on the Temples:
- Beacons nationwide for magic to be performed by Morning Star himself, which will 'reconstruct Equestria' to his own liking*
- A weapon to use against Celestia, Luna and all those who oppose him
- Open a gate to another world
*Reference to the Nationwide Transmutation Circle in Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood
img4.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140828183726/fma/images/5/5c/Amestris-nationwide-circle.png
Well... that explains some things about Silverlight. Hmm... I think it should just be Dawn, Caramel, and Silverlight that goes camping.
When you search a building and find nothing, even with a powerful detection spell, that tells you something is well hidden. What he should have done is searched for any magical traces or enchantments. I doubt they'd be able to hide the traces of such a powerful spell.
Bleneheim made a mistake; he gave Shining Armor a time frame. Hopefully this comes beck to bite him, and the cult(Morning Star), in the ass. Now that SA has done a magical scan, why not have Arkenstone visit it? I highly doubt Morning Star's magic could prevent him from noticing that all that earth is just not there.
This is an awesome story right now, we need more stories like this
Nice backstory for Fluttershy.
Fluttershy's school life was really unpleasant... Nothing too major like some like to make it (abuse, physical and mental comes to mind) but still pretty serious.
Good thing Dawn pointed to his grandpa the error of his treatment of Caramel. Maybe now the older stallion will try to actually get to know his daughter's coltfriend instead constantly interrogating and intimidating him. Who knows, they might as well go to the bar for their 'talk'?
5175969
I had the same thought about it. In one of the previous stories the Supreme Pontiff pointed out that the location of the temples/shrines was very important, which was why Blanheim met him in one of those in the middle of nowhere. As for their function, I believe that Morning Star still wants to make his dream come true and 'see the blueprints of the world'.
Do you also have the image of Father from FMAB in your mind whenever something about those temples and their fuction is mentioned? Because I do!
Foolish fatalists. Princess Luna isn't the only target.
I relly cant wait untill those cultest get cast down, hopefully by the very being the worship. Nothing and I mean NOTHING makes me smile more than when a zelot or selfrightious biggot gets their views shattered.
5176698
The plans Remind me of Revan's Battledroids from The Old Republic. Targets anyone with Sith Ancestry...97% of the Empire. Easily billions of people.
Also, it reminds me of the Babylon Five episode "Infected." In it, an alien species, after being invaded multiple times, created hyperadvanced bio-organic armor which could protect their 'pure' species. Shame it was programmed by political hardliners, military extremists, and religious fanatics, since none of that species fit the criteria, and they ended up being wiped out by these same weapons.
Morning Star reminds me too much of Davros for my liking, in that he will succeed, or burn it to deny his failure.
Didn't Fluttershy and Rainbow Dash have their cutie marks during the "Hurricane Fluttershy" flashback which would mean she went back there?
5177070
Well technically this series is more of an AU, than part of the main shows timeline. So it's more than possible it's another temporal discrepancy from the MainVerse. But yes in Hurricane Fluttershy they did go back, and the teasing only increase her pain to the point of suffering a mild case of Schizophrenia [or at the very least, very intense auditory-visual hallucinations.]
would absolutely love to see them activate this device ( if only to see it blow up in their faces (not literally (though that would bring more reason for celestia to banish them)) and them freak out when it does absolutely nothing!
I ain't to worried about the temple . Shining knows there something up.
5178075 Oh now that's just lovely. Great.
So essentially at this point, there are pretty much four (maybe five) problems to contend with. This just gets better and better. This just makes me think of Inquisition.
As someone else said, an excellent back story for Fluttershy, if AU (but then, this series was begun before Twilight became an alicorn, so it has to be AU, and nothing whatsoever wrong with that). I had forgotten about Fluttershy still attending the Academy after getting her cutie mark. Otherwise I would have said this would make excellent fanon or even canon for Flutters.
You're also doing a magnificent job flushing out Equestria and providing it with neighbors, history, etc. Good job all around.
Sometimes doing what parents believe is best for their children is not always best for children
5175969 Ding Ding Ding!!! You win!
Teachers like that should not be allowed near children.
I feel like laughing a broken laugh at how screwed he is screwing himself.
5221489
I ranted at the state of America's education program in one of the earlier stories connected to this one.
no big surprise. PE teachers don't just act evil.
5175845
I'd hazard instead of Luna he's gunning for celestia.
Makes me glad I was home-schooled.
I'm not saying my limited public school experience was horrible, I remember a lot of very nice teachers and only one bad incident that was young kids being dumb and not 100% bullies per se, but I'm just really relived I dodged a lot of potential bullets.
Of course, that made going to college a pinch harder since I had to get used to interacting with people on a daily basis for the first time in years, but that was going to be hard for me either way, what with my being a introvert.
Overall, it's been 88% good I've been home-schooled and 12% bad-ish.
5175969
My guess is similar to your first guess but most likely it's the spell Celestia stopped back when he was her student
Poor Blenheim, being manipulated into ‘belief’ like that.
Yeah, free of life, when Celestia personally burns it to the ground starting with your temples...