Chapter 11: Conversation in the Clouds
While Flurry Heart galloped down the hallway of the school, everything around her seemed to blend together. All that her distraught mind could perceive were her sobs and the sound of her hooves.
For a moment, Flurry Heart thought she had heard another set of hooves approaching her quickly from behind, but she didn't bother to turn around and check. All she could think about right now was what terrible event that just happened in the classroom minutes earlier. There was one thing that was clear as crystals to her in this moment:
Life as she knew it was over for her.
From now on, she would be known as the monster, the insufferable being, the threat that destroyed the Crystal Heart and that could do it anytime again; dooming the empire she lived in to become buried under tons of ice and snow. And she knew, with the truth revealed now, she would be hated. Over the days were the citizens of the empire smiled up to her at the window after her daily greeting of the sun, gone the moments of spending time with her best friend. All of this was in the past now and would never return.
Those thoughts circled around in Flurry Heart's mind as she raced down the hallway. As she had reached the entrance of the school, she slammed it open without even really looking at it and took flight, leaving a trail of tears in her wake.
“Hey, don't go alone! Take me with you!” a voice rang out behind her, but Flurry Heart didn't listen to the plea.
Harder and harder she flapped her wings as she soared higher and higher into the sky, until she had reached a familiar altitude. The sky looked different than on the day before, but nonetheless, it was not completely free of clouds, so Flurry Heart approached one of them.
As soon as she had landed on it, she let herself fall into the soft, white mass and buried her face into it. More tears streamed down her face now, soaking the cloud and getting mixed with the water that was stored in it, and her sobs were noticeably louder. For the glimpse of a moment the thought occurred to her that she was probably crying so loud now that, without a doubt, ponies passing by below her would stop in their tracks and curiously look around, puzzled about it where the cries came from. And just like somepony had read her mind, she suddenly felt the presence of another pony nearby her.
Flurry Heart felt hoofsteps coming closer, then a pony sitting down at her side. She twitched a little as a pair of hooves gently stroke over her right wing, but kept her head buried in the cloud, while more sobs rang out from her throat.
“You shouldn't have gone without me,” the voice she had heard at the entrance of the school sounded over to her.
Alarmed, Flurry Heart's ears finally perked up and she lifted her head and turned around, looking at the pony that had joined her.
At her side sat Magnolia, wearing a stupidly, sheepish smile that didn't seem to fit at all into the face of the usually so regal-looking filly. “You shouldn't have come here without me,” she repeated again. “You can't be alone right now.”
Flurry Heart sniffed, wiped over her nose, while still more tears soaked her cheeks, then she shot Magnolia a glare filled with hate and disgust. Her eyes didn't hide that this was definitely not the moment where she wanted to put up with the rich filly.
A shocked expression appeared in Magnolia's face. She gulped, yet she stretched out a hoof anyway, attempting to dry her former victim's tears. It didn't come far. In an instant, Flurry Heart pushed Magnolia's hoof out of the way, in a tempo and with an intensity that let Magnolia gasp in surprise.
Striking another blow, Flurry Heart let a hoof come down on Magnolia's chest, letting the other filly tumble backwards a little. “I didn't ask you to come! Do you really think I would like to see you now?!” The stress in Flurry's voice was impossible to miss.
“I-I just wanted–“ Magnolia began to stutter, but was cut off when Flurry Heart stretched out her hoof and pointed at her.
Shakingly, Flurry Heart got up on her other hooves, driven by an unexpected strength now. Forcefully, she did a step towards Magnolia. She was ready to bury Magnolia under a barrage of words; telling her how much she hated her, that she didn't trust her and that she should stay as far away from her as possible. But as she opened her mouth to let the words rain down on her opponent, another sting flashed through her heart and all of a sudden, she felt anemic again and no words left her mouth. Her hoof trembled for a moment, then she shut her mouth, only to open it again and let out another sob.
Her body erupted into another crying fit as an avalanche of grief washed over her and, now suddenly not paying attention to Magnolia anymore, she broke down again, right in front of the other filly's hooves, and was burying her face into her own, soaking them on the inside.
With a slow movement, that seemed even more unfitting to her than the smile from earlier, Magnolia let herself sink down on the cloud at Flurry's side and gently, she put a hoof around her body, pulling her slightly closer. Now more driven by her desperation than her anger, Flurry Heart reacted to the gesture and leaned her wet face against Magnolia's chest, where she kept crying without hesitation.
The hesitation she felt towards the filly who used to bully her, though, was not fully gone, so Flurry Heart still questioned the attempts of Magnolia after a few more sobs. “W-Why are you even d-doing this?” a question rang out between her whimpers.
“I..... It's because.....” Magnolia began, but had to stop in her sentence. She bit her lip, nervousness in her eyes now, then she continued. “I-It's just the least I can do after what I c-caused you, right?” The sheepish smile returned into her face, which Flurry Heart couldn't see. “A-And.....” Magnolia trailed off again and breathed in deeply. A feeling told her that Flurry Heart already knew why she had decided to follow her up here. “And it's true, I'm just using the opportunity right now.” Suddenly, her voice sounded guilty. “I thought if I follow you and be there for you while you are so distraught, you can finally forgive me for what I did.” Seemingly lost in thoughts, she stroke over Flurry Heart's wings.
The sudden amount of honesty washed over Flurry Heart like a cold wave. “I-It's Sunny who should be here, not you,” she stuttered.
“Well,” Magnolia replied, “you know she can't get up here. And–“ She hesitated to continue. “And even if she could fly, I'm not sure if she would come here. She looked very angry when I left the classroom to follow you.”
Now Flurry Heart's eyes shot open and she abruptly lifted her head, looking at Magnolia with tear-filled eyes. “Sunny is hating me now?” she said and choked.
Magnolia shrugged. “I don't know. She just didn't look very happy when I left.” She stroke over Flurry's wings some more. Noticing Flurry Heart's face breaking even more now, she added “But I'm here! At least..... And I won't leave. I mean, if you even want me to stay.....”
Flurry Heart had her answer on her tongue already, as another wave of desperation went through her, so all the answer Magnolia got was that Flurry Heart wrapped her into a hug as she was overwhelmed by her emotions once again.
Magnolia felt Flurry Heart's head moving at her neck and, unable to tell if it was a nod, she just answered the hug, holding the sobbing alicorn filly tightly in her grasp.
Eventually, Flurry Heart stopped crying and both fillies parted, now sitting side by side on the cloud, Magnolia's hoof stretched over Flurry Heart's back and wings.
Flurry Heart wiped away the last of her tears, then she looked Magnolia into the eyes. “Why did you do it?” she asked.
Magnolia repeated the look, a slight surprise in her face. “Why I came up here? I already told you, I–“
Flurry Heart cut her off. “No,” she said. “I mean, why did you do all of this to me? Why did you bully me and why did you take one of my feathers?”
Now Magnolia's ears dropped and her hoof that was around Flurry Heart's back sank slightly. “Oh..... I-I don't know. I can't really tell why. Ever since I saw you for the first time, I felt so angry when I looked at your wings. I guess, maybe..... I was just jealous of them all the time?” She took a look at Flurry Heart's wings, then winced. “And I guess I still am.....”
Flurry Heart inched away a little, but Magnolia continued quickly. “But I..... I felt afraid of myself suddenly. I.....” Now she avoided eye contact with Flurry Heart and looked down on the landscape underneath them. “I-I never lost control like that before..... Not once! I-It wasn't regal and..... not nice either, I guess.”
This was something Flurry Heart could only confirm. “No, no it wasn't,” she said. She already wanted to begin to go into more detail about the events and to tell Magnolia how exactly she felt about everything, as she saw some tears dropping out of the former bully's eyes. Flurry Heart sighed at the sight. “Will you do this ever again?” she asked, her voice strict.
Magnolia's head shot up. “No! I wouldn't! I promise, no, I swear I won't do something like this again!” The stress and nervousness were written all over Magnolia's face.
Instead of giving another answer, Flurry Heart just gave a nod, a silent sign for it that she was satisfied with the promise and would let the past slide. In response to it, Magnolia's ears returned to their former position and her hoof got moved up on Flurry Heart's back again.
For a while, the two fillies just sat there, both visibly exhausted, both of them for different reasons, until Magnolia spoke up again. It was something Flurry Heart did not expect to hear.
“I-I don't like Mr. Know. Not at all.”
Gasping, Flurry Heart looked at Magnolia. “You don't? But you always seem like you do. You always seem so happy when he praises you.”
Magnolia nodded. “I am. I mean, I like it when he does that. It feels good and..... I like it to get respected and when other ponies look up to me. Is this wrong?”
Flurry Heart shook her head. “No. At least as long as you're not so smug about it all the time.”
Now Magnolia blushed. “You're right. But sometimes I can't help it.....” She stopped for a moment, then she continued in a more serious tone. “I like it when he does that, but I really don't like him. He..... He is a real dick all the time.”
Flurry Heart's eyeballs shrunk and her mouth gaped open. She held a hoof at it. Almost unable to comprehend what unexpected word she just heard out of the noble filly's mouth, she was speechless.
Magnolia blushed brighter now. “I'm sorry. I guess Dope and Dork are rubbing off on me, they always talk like this. I probably spend too much time around them.”
This admission gave Flurry Heart opportunity to ask another question.
“You don't really like them, do you? Not any of them?”
Magnolia shook her head. “No, I don't. I just wanted to have them around because they are useful sometimes. So I led them to believe that I would choose one of them as my coltfriend one day if they do everything I want..... That's not nice either, is it?”
Flurry Heart shook her head. “No. No, it isn't.”
Magnolia nodded. “Mhm. I guess I should have a talk with them later.”
Flurry Heart nodded as well now, a smile on her face. A moment later, though, it turned into grief, as the memories on the events from earlier this morning entered her mind again. She looked down.
“I wish I could just stay here on this cloud for all times,” she quietly began. “Now I don't have anything to lose down there anymore..... I know that everypony is hating me now. And Sunny too.....”
Comfortingly, Magnolia increased her embrace around Flurry Heart's back. “I don't think so,” she began.
Flurry Heart looked at her unbelievingly.
“I don't know about other ponies, but I know that Sunny won't hate you now. After all, I did much worse things than you and you don't hate me now, is it?”
It did nothing to stop Flurry Heart's disbelief. “But I destroyed the Crystal Heart!” she suddenly yelled. “How could this not be worse than anything that any pony could ever do?!” A few tears trickled out of her eyes again, but Magnolia wiped them away, not without a bit of hesitation.
“Because you didn't do it on purpose. You were too young and you couldn't control your magic. But I did everything on purpose. I hurt you and I wanted to do it. That is worse than what you did.” After a short pause, she continued. “And now you can control your magic, right? You won't destroy the Crystal Heart again by accident and you can just tell her that.” She gave Flurry Heart an assuring smile.
But Flurry Heart shook her head. “I don't know. I don't know if I have my magic under control. Maybe it could happen again.....” Flurry Heart looked away. Then, hit by a sudden realization, she added “And my parents always remind to be careful with my magic and they don't let me use sharp objects like other foals do..... I don't think I can control it enough yet.”
Magnolia's face became dark, but a bit of confidence remained. “But you still didn't do it on purpose. I know that you and Sunny are friends for a long time now. I'm sure she will forgive you.”
The rest of the words Flurry Heart could produce came out as a mere whisper. “I hope you're right.”
Magnolia tightened the grip around Flurry Heart even more. Flurry Heart's wings twitched slightly and as Magnolia noticed, an eager expression appeared in her eyes. “C-Can you put a wing around me again? Like yesterday?”
While expecting a strict no, what Magnolia instead received was a giggle. “Fine,” Flurry Heart said. “I guess you really like them way too much,” she teased, but her voice had something playful. Slowly, she enfolded her right wing and put it around the pegasus filly.
A smile appeared on Magnolia's face. “Thank you,” she expressed her gratitude. “I would do the same, but I can't do anything with those stupid, little things.”
“It's okay,” Flurry Heart answered. “Maybe one day.”
For a few minutes, the two fillies just stared down on the ground.
“Should we just stay up here until school is over?” Magnolia suddenly asked then.
Silently, Flurry Heart nodded, then she giggled a little again. “It's not like I could get into worse trouble than I already have when I skip the rest of school today.....”
One word in here that let me consider to switch the fic to "Teen" for a moment, cause it's not something a foal should say. But then I thought, it's just one word, and that would be kinda silly, to increase the rating for just one word, so the rating still remains "Everyone". 
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Well I think I can start to move towards forgiving Magnolia, but I will be taking John F. Kennedy's advice on the matter.
Her continued focusing on her wings, and what might possibly be construed as an attempt to make it seem Sunny might be more angry than she actually is.
Either way there is still not enough information to go one way or the other. So lets see where this goes.
I wonder if something happened to Sunny's parents or a sibling when Flurry broke the crystal heart and the storm was unleashed, and that's why she's upset. I don't remember the first chapters to clearly, but I don't think there was much about Sunny's family.
Also, I believe that Magnolia wants to make amends, but I don't believe that she's being totally honest. Seems like there might be another reason why she hated Flurry so much.
One last thing. I hope Flurry's teacher's family shuns him for being a huge dick, and on their deathbeds they tell him they hate him, and he ends up living in a box and eating out of dumpsters. Then dies. Horribly.
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As always, I appreciate your analytical approach. Thanks for reading and commenting!
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There was something not too long ago, in Chapter 10, and it was mentioned again in Chapter 11. It has nothing to do with the destruction of the Crystal Heart, though.
I'd like for the guards to inform Shining and Cadence about what happened.
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The guards don't know, yet. But Shining Armor and Cadance will find out about it soon enough.....
7539917 And They'll have Mr. Knowledge punished for defying them.
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You'll have to wait and see what happens.
7542168 I'm so nervoucited!!!!!
Okay, you're making Magnolia very cute. I forgive her
For real though, her focus on Flurry's wings is still suspicious. Anyway, this was a nice, heartwarming chapter. Definitely a welcome change after the extreme previous chapter
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Little, rich fillies using filthy words are cute? That's good to know.
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Fun Fact: I only realized the balancing value after I wrote it. Which is something that happens quite often with my writing.^^
7559973 No, I'm not talking about the D word! Magnolia's interaction with Flurry was the cute thing I talked about
OMG MAGGIE WHAT YOU DIRTY BASTARD