Taboo

by Hooves Like Jagger

Chapter 15

15

"Now if Rocky Road has eight apples and he gives three to Raspberry Ripple, how many apples does Rocky Road have?" the teacher asked. "Does anypony know?" She scanned the room, but nopony moved to raise their hoof. It might've not been because they didn't know, but rather they just didn't want to be in the spotlight and let their classmates know they were smart. For whatever reason, all the hooves in the room stayed down.

Then a single hoof in the back went up.

"Yes?"

"Five?" Taboo wasn't quite sure, but it came up the same when she counted twice.

"Five what?"

"Five... apples."

"Close," the teacher said, turning back to the blackboard. "Five eyes."

Taboo turned towards where the window should've been. Instead of the outside of the schoolhouse, she saw her own reflection staring back at her with five slitted eyes. She watched in horror as her wings extended to five feet in each direction and her ears grew five times their normal size. She took five breaths every second in a panic as her transformation got five times worse at five times the speed.

"I guess the real monster comes out when you turn five," the teacher said, still writing on the blackboard. "School is no place for a monster like you."

Taboo called out for help, but all that came from her throat was a hideous roar that frightened everyone in the town away. She kept growing and expanding, crushing everything in the town until she was finally towering over it with her head in the clouds. One cloud in particular held a familiar house on top of it: her home. She looked into what used to be her room, where she lived before she knew she was a hideous freak. She could see her mother standing in the window, looking up at her. Her mouth was moving, and Taboo could swear she was saying something. She listened closer, and closer, and closer...

"Taboo! Get up or you're going to be late!"

Taboo opened up her eyes. She squinted at the light filtering in through her window onto her face. Although she recalled having some kind of dream, she was too sleepy to remember what it was. She rolled onto her belly, then back onto her back, and then rolled once more off of her bed and onto the floor. She stuck he landing, but continued to stare at the wall opposite of her. She was not a morning pony, and her grogginess was clear evidence of that. Not only did she not normally get up this early, but she had hardly slept last night because she was so nervous and excited all at once; however, it was mostly nervous.

"Knock knock." Rainbow Dash opened the door without actually knocking. "I hope you're ready to inhale breakfast because we've got to get going." Rainbow Dash ducked out of the room without waiting for a response, leaving the door slightly ajar. Taboo stared at where her mother had just been and just processed information for a moment.

"Riiight..." Taboo did her best to walk in a straight line, but she wasn't fully awake yet. She stumbled on out her door and into the hall. She took the stairs one at a time and tottered on into the kitchen. Before she knew it, she was sitting at the table eating cereal while her mother tried to put her bedhead in order. Rainbow Dash had never been one for mane combing, but she knew appearances would be important today. She did her best to get the tangles out and then put Taboo's hairband in.

"Alright, you're ready." She wasn't entirely sure that was true, but after the days and days of prepping for this day she couldn't let herself feel anymore doubt. Her bags were packed and her lunch was all made. All the material preparations were completed, so there was nothing left but to just get right down to it. "You excited for your first day of school?"

"Nnnnrrmmm..."

Rainbow Dash had no way of knowing if that was an affirmative or a negative. Either way, Rainbow Dash herself was anxious. Every single thing had been taken care of, but she was still nervous. Taboo was going to be off on her own in school. That scared her more than she cared to admit. All she could do was keep giving herself and Taboo pep talks.

"Everything is going to be fine." Rainbow Dash had every assurance that this would be true. The only thing she could do was keep repeating that line. "Now hurry up. If you're late, I'm gonna be late and I'm never late; it's just not my style."

Taboo snarfed down the rest of her breakfast and put on her saddlebags. She had checked and double checked that she had everything she needed yesterday. She had notebooks, paper, pencils, crayons, a ruler, and a fat pink eraser. The pack felt a bit heavier today, considering where she had to carry it. She took a deep breath and calmed herself. Her mother had told her over and over again that there was nothing to be afraid of.

"Ready to go?" Rainbow Dash asked, carrying her own bag on her back. She stood next to the front door and opened it on up. Taboo stepped up next to her and nodded.

"Ready."

"Wait."

Both ponies turned about. The sound of little hooves meandering towards them caught their attention as the approaching pony moved through the den. They could already see a head bobbing up and down in a leisurely approach, until the pony came into full view. Taboo and Rainbow Dash waited, albeit a bit impatiently, until the pony was right in front of them, smiling up with bright, blue eyes.

"Did you come to say good-bye?" Rainbow Dash asked. The little pony nodded, a rainbow main bobbing up and down. The bright green pony sauntered right up to Taboo and wrapped her in a little hug.

"Buh-bye. I love you."

"I'll see you after school, alright?" Taboo said, hugging the little filly back. As per usual, the filly didn't immediately let go or even just plain let go at all for that matter. She just continued to hug her sister, even after Taboo lowered her own hooves.

"Okay, that's enough for your sister," Rainbow Dash said, pulling the two apart. It took a great deal of effort, but she finally got one daughter free from the other; however, she then found the smaller one was now stuck to her.

"Buh-bye. I love you."

"I love you too, sunshine." Rainbow Dash gave the little filly a kiss on the forehead while she nuzzled her mother's hoof. "Be good while we're gone, okay? Remember to wake daddy up if you need anything."

"Okay." The filly still didn't let go.

"Aurora, let mommy go so she can leave," Rainbow Dash said just as sweetly as she could.

"No." Aurora continued to smile and nuzzle her hoof. Rainbow Dash rolled her eyes.

"... I think Tank is feeling left out. I think he needs a hug too."

"... Okay." Aurora buzzed her little wings and let her mother go, hovering a good two feet or so in the air. She looked around for Tank, floating off into the den as she took her eyes of her beloved mother and sister. Rainbow Dash and Taboo slipped out before Aurora could turn back around and latch back on, closing the door quietly and carefully.

"We can apologize later," Rainbow Dash said, walking over to the edge of the cloud. Taboo joined her right next to the drop onto terra firma, the wind whipping at their tails and manes. Even though the expressions they wore betrayed the daunting task before them, none of their inhibitions sprang from the open air before them. "School is a bit far off. Think you can make it with your bags?"

Taboo's response was the step off into the ether. She spread her wings and caught the breeze, lifting her above her porch and among the fluffy white clouds. The spring air was cool against the canvas of her wings as each rise and fall of the breeze passed over fully detected by the little filly. She'd been practicing, and she'd been doing it with the best.

"Alright, Ms. Confident, take it easy." Rainbow Dash kicked off the cloud, catching up to her daughter in the blink of an eye. To her surprise, Taboo beat her wings and pulled ahead immediately afterwards. Rainbow Dash was left to stare at her tail until Taboo took a curious look back, which was her last mistake. "Oh, I see how it is. You think you stand a chance against a Wonderbolt in a race?"

Taboo didn't waste time with talk, she just beat her wings and pulled even further ahead. There was no way in all of Equestria's blue sky that she could best her mother, but she had the sudden urge to compete. Rainbow Dash was never one to turn down a challenge, no matter who presented it. She decided giving Taboo a run for her money would be a good prewarm-up warm-up at the very least.

All Rainbow Dash had to do was push ever so slightly to get right behind Taboo. She swung to her left and then to her right, as if looking for an opportunity to pass. Taboo swept back and forth as well, boxing out her mother or at least pretending that was even possible. Rainbow Dash decided to make her move, picking up the pace to just a hair faster than Taboo. She ascended, casting her shadow down onto Taboo. As a cloud passed beneath them, Taboo could see her own shadow eclipsed. She picked up the pace, but she just couldn't get going any faster.

"You'll have to do better than that." Rainbow Dash turned over, gliding above her daughter upside-down. This was literally child's play for her, but she figured she'd been sporting enough. She decided to drop down in front of Taboo before the filly wore herself out. She began to descend into the lead position, but as soon as she got low enough for Taboo to see her the filly suddenly dove down beneath the clouds. Rainbow Dash couldn't see, since she'd put the filly behind her. She slowed down, confident that she'd won soundly. She didn't think to look behind her for another few seconds. "Aww, c'mon!"

Rainbow Dash's showing off had suddenly cost her, as she now had to dive after Taboo beneath the clouds. As green of a flier that Taboo was, she could turn and dive like it was nopony's business. Beneath the cloud, Taboo was busting her hams trying to gain a substantial lead. Rainbow Dash was right behind her and coming in hot, but the schoolyard was in view. The filly and the mare dove straight for their target, both of them dead serious about winning this competition. Taboo had a substantial lead, but Rainbow Dash was far faster than her even in a dive.

Wind whipping and scenery blurring, the ground got closer and closer. Both ponies spread their wings, ready to glide into the finish but unwilling to slow down even one bit at the risk of losing everything in the final second. Rainbow Dash managed to close the gap, forcing the race into a neck to neck situation; however, there was no sky left to race on. Taboo and Rainbow Dash touched down, both of them digging appropriately sized furrows as they slid to a halt in a dust cloud.

They both stood panting and smiling, worn out more from excitement than from effort. As the dust cleared, the schoolyard became visible. There were ponies all over the place. Some of them were chatting with each other while others were trotting into the schoolhouse, but most of them were staring at Rainbow Dash and Taboo. The smiles ran away from their faces, both of them suddenly curious as to why they had been so eager to get here.

"Alright... school... no big deal, right?" Rainbow Dash said, looking down at Taboo.

"... Right." Taboo had been excited about school at first. She only knew a few ponies her own age, so she wanted to meet new ponies and make new friends. The only reason she was scared now is that she could tell how scared her mother was. She couldn't pinpoint the cause of the anxiety, but she realized her fear was not altogether unusual for her. Her mother was always looking out for her in public, keeping between her and anypony they didn't know. It wasn't until recently that she began to wonder why. "Are... are the other kids going to like me?"

"Of course they will!" Rainbow Dash wasn't about to let that kind of doubt stand. "There is no reason they wouldn't like you. They don't even know you yet." Taboo didn't say anything in response. Rainbow Dash wanted so badly to say that she didn't have to go, but that would've been a lie. Taboo had to do this, and she had to do it without Rainbow Dash. This was an important milestone, without a doubt. Intervening would do more harm than good. Children must learn to get by on their own. Besides, Taboo wouldn't be completely alone.

"Taaaaaboooooooooooooo!"

Taboo was knocked out of her thoughts and off of her hooves as a streak of yellow and orange collided into her. She found herself in yet another inescapable hug, but this time it was Pumpkin Cake crushing her. Even though the fillies had just seen each other the next day, Pumpkin's greeting was more akin to a hiatus of several years. Her brother, who arrived right on her heels, wasn't quite so excited about seeing Taboo. He was still all smiles, excited about getting to go to school, but as per usual he couldn't match his sister's energy.

"Ready to go?" Pound asked, disregarding the fact that Taboo couldn't actually inhale any air with which to give him an answer.

"Well, good morning you two," Rainbow Dash said, glad to see the twins weren't at all apprehensive about school. Hopefully their optimism would rub off on Taboo. Rainbow Dash looked around a bit, not seeing Mr. or Mrs. Cake around. "Did you two walk here by yourselves?"

"We don't live far," Pound said. "And morning is a busy time at the bakery."

"Mom and Dad saw us off though," Pumpkin said, finally releasing Taboo before she blacked out. "They told us to make lots of new friends and learn a lot of new things!"

"I'm sure you will," Rainbow Dash said, skipping over the part where she was glad their parents weren't around. She knew they still weren't entirely if at all on board with Taboo. Today was going to be hectic enough without having to confront them, and as if to exemplify this a carriage suddenly rolled up right next to Taboo and the Cake twins. Pulled by two mean looking stallions, the black carriage looked big enough to carry five or six ponies comfortably; however, when the door swung open only a single unicorn filly stepped out onto the street. The only other occupant of the carriage was a withered looking older stallion, dressed in a slick tailcoat.

"Here we are, young miss, at your school."

"I know where we are," the filly said, snapping at her butler. The little pony rolled her eyes before looking at Taboo and shaking her head. "This guy is ridiculous. He acts like he's my butler even when we're back at the hive."

"... Venom?" Taboo asked, looking the filly up and down. "Why do you look like that?"

"My mom said I had to if I want to go to school. She says that if anypony knows I'm a changeling it would be very super bad." Unfortunately Venom was only paraphrasing what Chrysalis had told her, and Chrysalis had told her exactly what would happen. The others took note of the seriousness of her need to disguise herself. "Oh, and I'm not supposed to use my real name. You're supposed to call me Locusta."

"This isn't another one of those spy things, is it?" Pound asked. Venom glared at him for a few moments before sticking up her nose. "What?"

"I am a rich heiress. I don't have to associate with commoners like you."

"What?" Pound waited for a response from the filly without realizing he was never going to get it. "You talked to Taboo."

"Come Taboo, Pumpkin. Let us depart into the school," Venom said, starting towards the schoolhouse with her nose still upturned."

"I'm Pumpkin's twin! Why can you talk to her and not me?" Pound said, chasing after Venom and his sister. Taboo lingered behind with Rainbow Dash for a moment. The mother and daughter looked at one another, realizing it was finally time.

"Bye mom."

"Bye squirt," Rainbow Dash said. She reached out and gave Taboo a big hug, taking care not to crush the precious thing. "I love you."

"I love you too."

There wasn't anything else to say. Rainbow Dash released her daughter and Taboo backed away from her mother. With one final nod of resolve, Taboo trotted after her friends. She didn't turn back. There was an odd feeling of homesickness and heartbreak about her, but she fought it off. Today was supposed to be fun. Everypony had told her that. When she caught up to the others, they were already talking excitedly about what the day held.

"Who?"

"You've met her before, right?" Pumpkin said as the little ponies passed in the school's front doors. Taboo hung close to her friends, almost instinctively hiding behind them from any other eyes in the building. "I mean, have you?"

"Have I?"

"Did you?"

"I don't think she did," Pound said, clearing everything up. "She's really smart, or that's what everypony says. My mom said she would've liked to have her for a teacher herself."

"She might be smart, but does she command an army?" Venom asked in her naive manner. If anypony needed to go to school and learn, it was this unfortunate little changeling. "If she plans on taking us on by herself, she will find that I am very tricky!"

"What exactly do you think school is?" Pound asked the question on everypony's mind.

"Mom didn't explain it, really." Venom looked up at the ceiling and recalled the brief conversation she'd had concerning that matter. "She just said it was very dangerous."

"Nope, school is safe!" Pumpkin said, naive in her own little way. "Just wait until you meet the teacher, then you'll understand."

The group walked into the classroom. There were already colts and fillies sitting in desks and talking to one another, but there was one older mare in the room. She was busy writing her name in the chalkboard, but turned to see the group of four come in. She smiled as she recognized each of them, even one in disguise.

"You'd better take your seats," Twilight said. "Class is about to start."

---

"So Twilight is really teaching at the school?" Rarity put down her tea for a moment, her eyes constantly flickering over towards the playground. She did her best to give Pinkie and Fluttershy their due attention, but her perpetual concern over a certain little filly was demanding she split her time.

"Yessir, it seems that way!" Pinkie wasn't so concerned, neither with her own child playing by herself or with using the proper honorifics. "The city was having trouble finding new teachers in time for the school year to start, so Twilight decided to help out for the year. I think it's great! Now instead of staying in her stuffy library all day, she can stay in her stuffy classroom all day. Yaaay!"

"So Spike is really running the library on his own?" Fluttershy was only listening to her friends. She had purposefully picked a seat that allowed her a direct view of the playground, since she was twice as concerned as Rarity since she had twice the offspring running around. At the same time, she wasn't exactly sure what her plan of action should something bad happen was supposed to be considering she had a third in progress inside her body at the moment. She decided to just focus on conversation for a moment. "How's that going?"

"Last I checked the library is still empty, as usual," Pinkie said. "Spike doesn't seem to mind. Loafing around suits him, especially now that he can take up more space."

"He has hit a bit of a growth spurt, hasn't he?" Rarity said, referencing the formerly baby dragon's sudden increase in presence. His growth had alarmingly begun overnight, but it slowed to a crawl after a month which was a much needed relief. Now the dragon was roughly the size of a normal pony, but that was only when he was down on all fours. His new size had presented certain troubles as of late. "I hope he doesn't take the empty library personally."

"He'll be fine!" Pinkie broke what would've been a moment of reflective silence otherwise. "He's big and tough now! Nopony is gonna mess with him because they're all scared witless of him!"

"Forgive me for not celebrating." Rarity couldn't blame Pinkie for being so nonchalant about it, but due to the gravity of it all she did wish she'd take it a little more seriously. "Anyway, I do hope they hurry up and find some good teachers for the school. I want to make sure they can provide a top-notch education."

"Turner says that ponies have been talking about hiring teachers from Canterlot for the next year. The town is really serious about making the school better."

"As they should be," Rarity replied. "The foundation for success starts early."

"That's funny," Pinkie said, leaning across the table to get into Rarity's face. "Twilight said the same thing about why she agreed to teach! I think she's really super excited about it!"

"Yes, but Twilight is overqualified to teach little children." Rarity gently shoved Pinkie Pie back into her seat. "And on top of that it takes more than smarts to be a good teacher. You need to be able to get the children's respect."

"But Twilight is a princess," Fluttershy said, butting into the argument. "Everypony respects her... and loves her too, I suppose."

"Yes, but that only works up to a certain age," Rarity said, trying to revive her argument; however, Fluttershy had yet another point to bring up.

"But she's teaching the youngest age group."

"Yes... but she's got no experience with young ponies."

"But she raised Spike practically by herself."

"Her expectations are probably too unrealistic."

"She set reasonable goals when she was teaching your sister and her friends, didn't she?"

"... But she's not a good disciplinarian!"

"Now that just isn't true." Fluttershy had soundly defeated Rarity's argument, and she didn't even have to have that goal in mind when she did it. "I think Twilight really is cut out to be a teacher."

"But she's a princess!" Rarity said, getting to her real problem with the situation. "She should be doing princess-y things, not teaching school."

"Twilight's a great multitasker," Pinkie said. "She can handle it, just like me! I can have this conversation and watch Surprise on the seesaw at the same time!" Pinkie Pie held her breath as she grunted and strained. Fluttershy and Rarity watched in horror as one of her eyes drifted off in one direction until it was pointed directly at the playground. The other eye stayed fixed on her friends, and the two stayed in their separated position even as Pinkie allowed herself to breathe normally again.

"... Pinkie Pie, I would pay good bits to not have to see you do that ever again."

"Rarity, you really should be watching this."

"I did watch it, and I wish I could forget."

"Heads up!"

"Heads up what?" There wasn't enough time for Rarity to look up before a white blur fell from the sky and landed right on her lap. Grateful for the soft landing, the little pony with a bandage across her nose stood up and began brushing herself off. "D-dear me, Finesse?! What in Equestria is going on? Where did you come from?"

Finesse looked up at her mother for a moment before looking up at the sky.

"But how did you get up there?"

"I told them not to!" Willow came running with her little sister and Surprise in tow. Surprise was the only little pony in the group that didn't look absolutely horrified. "Finesse said she could go higher in the air than Surprise, so Surprise helped her drop a big rock on the seesaw!"

"Oh my!" Fluttershy got to her hooves the best she could and went to her children. "You two aren't hurt, are you?"

"Wew owkay," Maple said, huddling up with her sister beneath her mother's wings. "Wew went owver dere." Maple pointed a little hoof at a tree no less than thirteen yards away from the playground. Fluttershy shot a glare at Rarity and Pinkie Pie, the latter of the two too busy chatting with her child about pastries to notice.

"W-what?" Rarity herself was busy brushing dirt out of Finesse's mane, which the little filly passively allowed to happen as she watched Pinkie and Surprise talking.

"Why does this always happen when we come to the park?" Fluttershy was acting uncharacteristically cross, but when it came to the well being of her children all bets were off. She fixed her icy stare at Rarity, demanding some acknowledgement of her plight.

"This doesn't always happen when we come to the park." Rarity never liked confronting Fluttershy when she got like this. "I mean... this particular thing doesn't always happen."

"Last week they all almost feel out of a tree, and the week before that they almost get run over by a carriage, and before that it was that thing with the bees! And that's just the ones I still remember!" Fluttershy had been purging such events from her memory, but she knew she'd written them down somewhere just in case. Rarity wanted to say something in her defense, but her ability to successfully argue a point hadn't really been present today. She doubted Fluttershy would even listen even if there was a good explanation. "Come on girls, we're going home." Fluttershy began to storm out of the park as fast as she could with her bulging belly while Willow followed right at her tail and Maple following right at Willow's tail. Rarity kept brushing while Pinkie Pie looked up to see Fluttershy and company receding into the distance.

"She's leaving early again? Fluttershy sure is busy!"

"Yes, she has her own business to worry about." Rarity was the one who had a child soaring through the air without so much as a single wing on her back. She looked down at Finesse, who from her expression didn't appear to realize all the trouble she'd caused. There was only one possible consolation for the whole debacle. "Did you win again?"

"Yes, I won." Finesse spoke slowly and quietly, which was her way of attempting to talk like a grown pony. The effect of maturity was somewhat diminished by how slow she chose to go, but her determination to get every word out like her mother or father was admirable. "Can we get ice cream?"

"Icy cweam? I lub icy cweam!" Suddenly Surprise was on Rarity's lap too. "Icy cweam! Icy cweam! Icy cweam!"

"W-well, you'll have to ask your mo-"

"Ice cream! Ice cream! Ice cream!" Pinkie was really pushing the limits of Rarity's lap space now.

"All this victory is going to make us fat..."

"Iwma not gonna be fyat ecause gwandpaw saiys I gots my mommy's mertaberism!" Surprise was the kind of child that was always heard but hardly even understood. At least her mother could keep up with and unravel her sentences.

"And you've got your papa's appetite!" Pinkie said, putting Surprise on her own lap while still sharing Rarity's lap with Finesse. "And his wings and his snoring, but that's not the point right now! The point is ice cream!"

"Icy cweam!"

"Please?" Finesse asked, looking up with her puppy-dog eyes. As soon as Rarity made the mistake of looking into them, she instantly changed her tune. As if under powerful hypnotism, she forgot all about her inhibitions as she cracked a huge smile and got all warm and fuzzy inside.

"How many scoops do you want?"

There were general cheers of approval.

---

The bright ringing of the school bell sounded through the halls of the schoolhouse.

"Well, that's recess. I'll see you all back here in thirty minutes."

The first half of the first day had gone by rather quickly for Taboo. Twilight had done a lot of talking, more than she usually does since nopony with the confidence to stop her was around. All the fillies and colts in her class immediately sprang up and started towards the door. Taboo hung back, choosing to stay in her seat in the back corner. Pumpkin and Pound were out the door with the others, leaving her alone with Venom as Twilight erased the blackboard. Their teacher glanced behind her for a moment, noticing the two fillies that hadn't run outside yet.

"Ve-Locusta, Taboo, what're you sitting around for?" Twilight said with a smile. She gestured towards the door. "Go out and get some exercise. It's important for little ponies like you to be active."

"I don't know what a recess is." Venom had learned all sorts of things today, the sort of things normal fillies would've known already. She came off as naive but charming to anyone who didn't know the changeling underneath her elegant facade.

"It means you can go outside and play." Twilight gave a frank answer, which appeared to ring true with Venom. The young changeling hopped up and made a break for the door before Twilight could change her mind.

"Make sure to come back after the next bell!" Twilight wasn't sure Venom heard her but figured she would figure it out eventually. She certainly had the right attitude for school, if not the practical skills for it. Twilight turned her attention to Taboo, who was still lingering at her desk. She put down her eraser and walked over to where she was, taking a seat next to her. "Anxious about making new friends?"

"... I don't think they like me." Taboo stared down at her desk, her ears drooping low. "They're always whispering and looking at me."

"Do you know what they're whispering about?"

"About me... I don't know, I was trying not to listen."

Twilight figured Taboo's excellent hearing was a potential double-edged sword in more than one regard. She could already see the cloud of doubt surrounding Taboo and all the questions that were starting to form in her mind. School wasn't the kind of environment that was going to let them dance around the issue for much longer, especially if the other children were openly hostile. Whispers were one thing, but Twilight considered keeping Taboo inside for recess for a brief moment when she thought about what else could happen.

She shook off that idea. Taboo didn't need anything else separating her from the others. If anything, she needed to get outside before they realized she wasn't around. Twilight had faith that at least some of the other fillies and colts would warm up to her, but she found it hard to get her hopes up too high. Sure enough, the first day revealed the mountain of work that needed to be done.

"Pumpkin, Pound, and Venom are all your friends. I'm sure they'll also help you make new ones." Twilight kind of wished those ponies were around to back her up, but there was no blaming them for just being kids. "I bet they're waiting for you outside right now. Go on ahead, alright?"

"... Alright." Taboo didn't feel very gung-ho about all of this. Of course she'd been nervous all along, but she was just a bit optimistic about maybe making some new friends. Now that she'd seen all the fillies and colts in her class, that optimism wasn't around. Twilight had done nothing to deny that her classmates might dislike her, and somehow she found that worrisome. There were questions forming in her mind, questions Twilight couldn't anticipate as Taboo walked out of the room.

Taboo shuffled towards the exit slowly; she wasn't in any kind of hurry to get outside. Her mother and father weren't there to protect her, and she wanted to know so badly what it was they had always been protecting her from. She knew the way other ponies always looked in their direction, the way strangers would speak in hushed tones whenever they were out in public. That was the unusual thing about her life, Taboo had come to believe. Now she had a point of reference, and she'd been keeping track of everything that happened in the past year. There was no two ways around it: Taboo was fundamentally different.

Taboo's own sister was such a different pony from her. She had wondered about why she appeared so different from the first time she saw the tiny filly, with her bright eyes and feathered wings. Taboo didn't have those things, and Taboo realized she was the only one who didn't have those things. She wanted to know why, but she was too afraid to ask. Actually, she was probably more afraid to know at all. She wasn't so young and naive that she couldn't have noticed how different she was, and perhaps she hadn't been for a while now. Her parents said nothing about it and all of her friends and loved ones said nothing about it, so she never had any reason to think it was terribly unusual.

Her classmates weren't so reserved with their comments, even if they kept them to hushed whisper. Taboo couldn't count the number of times she had heard the word "wings" whispered from across the room. She felt bad about lying to Twilight about it, but deep down inside she felt like she was being lied to as well. Nopony had told her she was different, not to her face. Nopony had explained if it was a good or bad thing. Nopony felt like the right pony to ask, but Taboo was reaching her breaking point. She'd held on to her curiosity in the face of starting school, but now that she'd arrived she felt like that was a mistake.

Her mother had said she would be going to school to learn, and she was indeed learning. As she stepped out into the schoolyard, she was graced with an interesting spectacle on the playground.

"Yeeeeeeeooowch!"

Some colt that Taboo recognized from class was crying out in pain, and the truly remarkable thing about the source of his pain was that it appeared to be that Venom was biting his leg. She was still in her disguise, but nonetheless she had her little teeth clasped firmly around the colt's foreleg just beneath the knee. It looked painful.

More than that, there was a crowd of ponies gathered around the two. Pumpkin and Pound were there too, standing just a few inches behind Venom. Taboo realized she'd arrived right at the climax of events. As Venom released the crying colt from her jaws, Taboo got a sinking feeling about what was coming next.

"You bit me!" the colt yelled between his tears. His panic didn't merit a particularly articulate response, but there was one more pony who was even less interested in using words to effectively communicate their feelings.

"Raaah!" Venom lunged forward as if to bite him again, but luckily Pound and Pumpkin bounded forward and caught her just in time. Taboo would've been lying if she said she'd never seen Venom so worked up, but this was the first time she'd ever attacked somepony like this. Concerned for her friend, Taboo found herself flying down onto the playground. "Lemme at him! Lemme at him!"

"You're crazy!" The bitten colt retreated backwards into the crowd, which in turn retreated away from him lest they be attacked out of association.

"Take it back!" Venom yelled. Nopony noticed Taboo touching down just on the outskirts of the argument. "Take it back or I'll bite you again!"

The colt did not take it back. He made a break for it out of the crowd, at which point the crowd also began to dash off in different directions. Venom struggled harder to get free and make good on her promise to enact more violence upon the colt, but she was outnumbered by the twins. When the dust settled, the only other pony remaining was Taboo.

"Taboo?" Pumpkin released Venom, causing the filly to fall flat on her face and take Pound with her to the ground. "How long have you been there?"

"I... I just saw Venom bite that colt."

"So you didn't hear what he said?" Venom was up on her hooves without skipping a beat. Taboo noticed that she looked a little more dusted up than one little tumble would cause. Apparently there was more to the struggle than just the bite. "Don't listen to him! He's a big jerk!"

"Venom..."

"And I told him to stop saying those things, but he didn't listen! "

"Venom."

"So I bit him on the leg to make him shut up and I w-"

"Venom!" Pound finally got the changeling's attention. She glared at him for a moment, but immediately remembered the situation. Her head drooped low, realizing she'd just made a bigger mess than before. Pound could tell she felt bad enough right now, so he turned his attention to Taboo. "Don't listen to her. She just can't take a joke is all."

"... What did he say?" Taboo wasn't really sure she wanted to know; however, she just wanted a little confirmation. She wanted to know one way or the other. Nopony spoke up. Pound refused to look her in the eye. Pumpkin looked like she was ready to start crying. Venom didn't lift her head. That was more than enough for Taboo to put the pieces together. She took a hard seat on the ground. "So it's true... I'm some kind of monster..."

"No!" Venom sprang back to life. "It's not true! Monsters are big and scary, but you're not! You're my best friend and not a monster and you're a pony like the rest of the ponies are ponies! I know you are!" Without a bit of warning, Venom ditched her disguise and transformed into Taboo.

"V-Venom?!" Pumpkin and Pound did their best to make sure nopony around would see, but luckily nopony was really looking in their direction anymore. "What are you doing? Change back!"

"See! I can't turn into monsters! I can only turn into ponies! You're just a pony and that colt was stupid for saying those things and he's a jerk and and and..." Venom began to cry, warbling the rest of what she was trying to get out. Taboo had never seen Venom cry, and she had certainly never seen herself cry. She couldn't help but think she looked pathetic, and it only took that much to get her to start crying as well. Venom was crying because of all the terrible things that colt had said and Taboo was crying because she was confused. Pound and Pumpkin were crying a bit too, but they still managed to talk Venom into transforming back before a teacher came out of the school building. Regardless of why they were crying, that's what they were all doing as the teacher galloped over.

---

"This isn't your grandpa's house, you tapeless excuse for a half-eaten sugar glider's mother! You look like a pumpkin on the back of a wagon out there! I wanna see some dogs turning their squirrels over! Hussle pony, hussle!"

"I gotta say, Chevron is in rare form today," Cloudchaser said, a towel draped over her sweaty shoulders and a cold bottle of water in her hoof. Rainbow Dash was seated next to her in a similar manner as both of them watched Snowflake struggle to finish his laps while an elderly pegasus shouted at him from the side of the track. "You think he's off his meds?"

"This isn't amateur hour at the oyster shucking derby, front nose! Put yer higgery diggery into it!"

"You think he was ever on them?" Rainbow Dash's question was a valid once. Nopony could understand what Chevron was on about even on a good day, which today might qualify as in all actuality. Aside from Snowflake who always lagged behind during laps, everypony else in Dash's squad was in tip-top shape. With the summer show circuit just on the horizon, they were in a good position to secure some substantial stage time with the rest of the team. Even a year after their Spring Training as Wonderbolt hopefuls, that novelty feeling of being new recruits was starting to wear off with the notion that just a little ways away there's a group of ponies going through what they all went through last year. Compared to Spring Training, getting yelled at by Chevron was nothing.

"Didn't your mother ever teach you the difference between the bread on your plate and the Celestia loving shine of the sun off the pole in your rump? Why I oughta..."

"Is it just me, or is Chevron especially non-sequitur today?" Thunderlane said as he came up behind his two female comrades. "It's like he's so angry, he can't remember what he's trying to say."

"My heart goes out to Snowflake on days like these," Cloudchaser said, waving her towel at the muscular stallion as he whizzed by. "Don't take what he's saying to heart!"

"How could somepony?" Rainbow Dash asked. "He never says anything that makes sense."

"He once told me watching me flap my wings was like staring into the face of a single mother of two in the canned food isle on a Thursday. I dunno why, but I actually still feel kind of bad about that." Thunderlane hadn't even been flying at the time when Chevron had said so. In fact, they weren't even at practice. Thunderlane had been waiting outside of Spitfire's office to report in on daily exercises when Chevron just passed by and said it. There had been no prompting of any kind, not even brief eye contact. There wasn't even any evidence that the statement had been derogatory, but Thunderlane felt it all the same.

"Sometimes I think he's hitting on me, but then starts talking like he's my father or something but kind of still like he's hitting on me."

"Not into old guys?" Rainbow Dash snickered a bit to herself, even if the image did make her wanna throw up a little.

"Maybe one day." Sometimes Cloudchaser said things that were just too alarming. Before either Thunderlane or Rainbow Dash could point out just how wrong that sounded, she got up and starting towards the lockers. "I'm gonna get a refill on this before Snowflake finishes."

"Good luck." Rainbow Dash watched her go, waiting until she was out of earshot for sure before turning to Thunderlane. "Just do me one favor and never ever sleep with her."

"I don't even wanna sleep near her," Thunderlane said, having sworn off anything even remotely romantic where Cloudchaser was concerned. He knew her too well for that. "At least she seems to have fun."

"I guess somepony on the squad has to be the object of desire."

"Still sore about those magazine folks?" Thunderlane asked, referencing an event that happened only a couple of weeks prior. In summary, Rainbow Dash wasn't too keen on having her picture taken from certain angles. Spitfire had tried to punish Rainbow Dash by threatening to take away anymore magazine interviews, but Rainbow Dash had been so steamed over the whole thing that she took the offer before Spitfire could renegotiate. In the end, Rainbow Dash still had to do interviews and the photographers had to be warned to mind the boundaries. "You're a rising star, Dash. Ponies are gonna be interested in the kind of stuff."

"You sound disappointed..."

"Hu-wh-no! C'mon, don't turn this on me!"

"Your romantic life has been kind of drab. Maybe you've got a secret crush on me?"

"You sound like my mom..."

"Your mom asks you if you have a crush on her?" Rainbow Dash snickered, since she knew full well what he really meant. She let Thunderhead glare at her, sensing she'd managed to strike a chord. "You gotta remember, I am a mom."

"Fame has done nothing for my love life. Actually, it might've hurt it. I'm too famous for the ponies I already know and not famous enough for the ones who don't."

"Well, whatever." Rainbow Dash wasn't one for doling out advice on that kind of topic. "If you want 'em, go get 'em I guess. Don't let fame get in your way."

"Excuse me, Rainbow Dash?" The conversation came to a halt as one of the ponies from the front desk approached the pair from behind. The mare looked somewhat frazzled, glancing awkwardly back and forth between the ground and Rainbow Dash. "It's... well, Ms. Scootaloo is here."

"Didn't I tell you all to just send her home when she shows up like this?"

"Yes, but... the thing is, Mrs. Dash." She seemed to be having trouble getting the words out. "She said something about the schoolhouse... and, uh... a riot?"

"A what?!" Rainbow Dash shot up from her seat, her towel and water bottle flying in different directions. She rushed the stammering mare and began shaking her. "Why? Why why why?!"

"S-s-something a-a-about T-t-taboo?"

Faster than anypony could bat an eye, Rainbow Dash was gone from the arena. It didn't matter how tired she was from practice; there was something important to attend to, incredibly important.

---

There was a general uproar in Twilight's classroom, or rather there was still a general uproar in the classroom. Despite her best efforts, she had been unsuccessful in quieting the mass of concerned parents gathered where her students were supposed to be. Today's events would've been considered a failure even if it wasn't the first day, and even by first day standards this was a complete debacle. Almost immediately after the incident on the playground, concerned parents from all over Ponyville had flooded in to protect their offspring. Although the official story of Locusta, played by Venom of course, biting the young colt had been related to everypony, they had picked another student in the class to direct their anger towards.

"I knew it was a bad idea to let that freak into school!"

"How could anypony let this happen?"

"We should've anticipated this from the start!"

"Monsters don't belong with the rest of civilized society. It's just not right!"

"Please, everypony, settle down!" Twilight was trying her darndest to take back control, but so far all she'd managed to do was prevent the disgruntled crowd from ranking up to an angry mob. She was the only level head in the room, as even some of the children were starting to add to the shouting uproar. Twilight had to have Scootaloo take Taboo off school grounds before heading out to retrieve Rainbow Dash. It was for Taboo's own good, but Twilight knew there was going to be one party bound to be considerably displeased to find Taboo was not in the school. Twilight had done the math, and the pony's arrival that she'd been equally hoping for and dreading came with an earsplitting bang as the door flung open and a rainbow streak gusted into the room. Silence followed in her wake, and only Rainbow Dash's heavy breathing could be heard. Twilight didn't need to be sitting in the audience to see that she was beyond pissed.

"... So, what'd I miss?" Casual as ever, Rainbow Dash took an offensive stance at the head of the classroom. As she had anticipated the worst, she had already counted on being up against the entire class of angry parents. The crowd wasn't so shocked by her entrance that they were hesitant to answer her question.

"Your pet monster attacked my son!" The mother of the bitten colt spoke up, unimpressed by Rainbow Dash's entrance. When word got out that the colt had been bitten, it had been this mare that had spread the word. She was to blame for the gathering Rainbow Dash saw before her. "We want her out of this school!"

"Is that so?" Rainbow Dash looked over at Twilight. The Princess shook her head, letting Rainbow Dash know that the mare's story didn't hold water. "He says Taboo bit him?"

"Are you calling my son a liar?"

"Hey, you're the one calling my daughter a monster!"

"Stop pretending that thing is your daughter," a father in the audience said. "It's disgusting."

"How's about speaking when spoken to, buddy?"

"Dash, we're not going to get anywhere if you don't cool your temper." Twilight tried to get her friend to simmer down a little, but Rainbow Dash was the dictionary definition of hotheaded. The pegasus shot her a look that indicated she wasn't going to hesitate turning on her if she got it in her head. Twilight realized calling Rainbow Dash in was, although morally the right thing to do, a huge mistake. Rainbow Dash was ready to match the crowd's anger, and that was not at all what this situation needed.

"This is pointless! That freak should be expelled!"

"Hey, you still haven't proved that Taboo did anything wrong!" Rainbow Dash shot back at the crowd.

"We know she did it!"

"You don't know bupkis!"

Just like that the room was in an uproar again. The only difference was this time there was somepony yelling back at the crowd and egging them on, which was exactly what Twilight had tried so hard to prevent. She couldn't battle the crowd and calm down Rainbow Dash at the same time, not without a miracle; however, Twilight was just desperate and angry enough herself to make a miracle happen. Nopony saw her horn light up, but after the resulting flash they immediately noticed the effect. They tried to yell at Twilight in protest, but that was now impossible with their newly muted voices. Twilight knew she'd just put a little band-aid on a deep wound, but the silence was very nice.

"Well, it would seem diplomacy is out of the question," Twilight said, being the only one who could say anything. Rainbow Dash was still attempting to yell at her, but the rest of the crowd had simply resigned to listen to the Princess. "I know you're all concerned, but the official story is the colt was bitten by Locusta, not Taboo. Now, if anypony would like to comment on that one at a time, you can have your voices back." Twilight scanned the crowd, looking out over the sea of frustrated parents. They looked ready to speak like adults again, so Twilight returned their voices with her magic.

"Look, does it really matter who did the biting?" A father in the front row was the first to speak up after the parents had confirmed their voices were back. "We all know it was her fault anyway."

Rainbow Dash attempted to shout at the stallion, but found Twilight hadn't returned her voice.

"According to the children we initially asked the bite came about after an argument about Taboo got physical, but that is the only capacity in which Taboo was involved. Taboo was still in the classroom when the argument in question took place." Twilight now had the crowd at a loss for what to say next, so she proceeded with the finishing blow. "Locusta will be appropriately punished for her actions while our class takes steps to make sure something like this never happens again, and that is the end result of this incident. It will not be used as a podium from which to smear Taboo. If you have a problem with your child being in the same class as her, you may see the principal at a different time about transferring your student to another class."

"That will not be necessary, Ms. Sparkle." Every head in the room turned towards the door. A staunch looking unicorn stallion with a navy blue tie marched into the room, all the while scowling at everypony as he made his way to the front of the room.

"Principal Walnut?" The Principal didn't seem concerned with Twilight, or the silent Rainbow Dash, but rather chose to immediately turn his attention to the crowd.

"In all my years as an educator, I have never had a more appalling start to the school year. Schoolyard scuffles on the first day are not uncommon, but outrage of this size is completely unheard of. I will not have this school made into a spectacle. I only wanted the parents of the two ponies involved in this incident to sort this out, but I see you all took the first opportunity you could to turn this into a circus.

"Well, this witch trial is over. I will have no further discussion of Mrs. Dash and her child's involvement in this incident. Locusta will be punished, and as for an apology..." Walnut turned towards the door. "You may come in, Mrs. Martina."

"Oh, thank you good sir!" Yet another unicorn walked into the room, but this time it was a female in a gaudy dress that would've been over the top even in Canterlot. Neither Twilight or Rainbow Dash had any idea who this pony was supposed to be. "I was quite shocked to hear the news that my little Locusta did something so horrid."

"You're Locusta's mother?" Twilight spoke up without thinking, but only because she knew who Locusta really was. If Martina was claiming to be her mother, then her true identity could only be Queen Chrysalis. Martina glanced over at Twilight and Rainbow Dash briefly, giving them a sickening little smile as if to confirm their suspicions.

"Oh, she is such a delicate little flower, my Locusta!" Chrysalis was a pretty good actor, or she was at least winning over the crowd of previously enraged parents. It appeared they responded well to anypony who looked like they came from a respectable family. "Being flung so suddenly into public life must've been such a trail for her! But, she must learn that actions taken in fear have consequences. I'm terribly sorry we caused such an uproar, but I do hope the rest of the school year will pass without incident."

"Does anypony have any complaints?" Walnut asked, but the crowd just shook their heads. They weren't so quick to condemn somepony they saw as one of their own, but the irony was not lost on Rainbow Dash and Twilight. "Very well then. You should all return home and make sure you think about how we can make the second day of school nothing short of a success." As per the principal's request, parents and children filed out of the room one by one until only the principal, Martina, Twilight, and Rainbow Dash were left. While Twilight restored Rainbow Dash's voice, Walnut closed the door and heaved a sigh.

"I think you handled that well, sir," Twilight said, misreading why the principal was sighing.

"Miss Chrysalis, you may drop the act now if you like."

"Ugh, fiiine." Chrysalis dropped her disguise, dress and all. "I gotta say, this has turned out to be a more exciting day than I anticipated."

"P-principal Walnut? You know tha-"

"I know everything, Ms. Sparkle," Walnut said. "I observed the whole incident from my office, including Locusta transforming into Taboo in broad daylight."

"She did what?" Twilight knew Venom wasn't too bright, but she did have a good amount of common sense. Perhaps the whole incident was a bit more traumatic for everypony than she thought. "Why did she do that?"

"A question for the filly herself." Principal Walnut took a deep breath in and then sighed it back out. "If it weren't for Locusta's butler, I would've been unable to get Queen Chrysalis to come here and settle things. I wouldn't call our situation fortunate, but it could honestly be much, much worse."

"Thanks for sticking up for us," Rainbow Dash said, extending her hoof to shake with Walnut. "I didn't realize we had an ally up at the top."

"Every colt and filly deserves an education," Walnut said whilst exchanging the hoofshake with Dash. "The real monster, Mrs. Dash, is ignorance."

"Hmph, as touching as this is I really must retrieve my spawn and get going," Chrysalis said, breaking up the party.

"That's it then? You're just gonna make one appearance and buzz off?" Rainbow Dash asked, noticing that Chrysalis appeared to take offense to her turn of phrase. "I know we were enemies in the past, but now that our daughters are friends-"

"A trifling detail, really." Chrysalis was about as uninterested in whatever Rainbow Dash wanted to propose as a changeling could be. "All I will say is this: I am grateful, if not confused, for your tolerance of my daughter despite knowing what she is; however, ponies are not supposed to know when changelings are about. This is a simple rule and Venom broke it, and she will be punished for this."

"You're not going to take her out of school, are you?" Rainbow Dash wasn't about to let Taboo lose any of what precious little friends she had in her class.

"Ugh, you reek of genuine concern," Chrysalis said with a dramatic roll of her eyes. "No, I will not be taking her out of school. In actuality punishment for being discovered by ponies should work itself out naturally, but since Venom lucked out and did not suffer that fate it just feels troublesome for me to punish her for it..."

"Talk about 'genuine concern.'"

"So, I will settle for just punishing her for biting that colt on the playground. That punishment will be left for the school to decide upon." Chrysalis transformed back into her disguise and turned towards the door. "So, Mr. Walnut, I would be grateful if you would outline the punishment for my little Locusta as you accompany me out."

"Very well, Mrs. Martina." Walnut started out with her, but turned around to deliver one last message to Rainbow Dash and Twilight. "I may be an unprejudiced individual, but I am this school's principal first. If all of this becomes too much of a distraction, my options will be limited." With that he proceeded out the door, leaving the two mares behind to meditate on his promise.

"... Well, at least he's realistic." Rainbow Dash wasn't sure what else she could say. He was just playing by the rules as well as he could in his awkward position, so she couldn't fault him. "I wonder what his story is..."

"I don't think now is the time to get into that," Twilight said, bringing a very important matter to light for Rainbow Dash.

---

There was a knock on Fluttershy's cottage door, one she'd been expecting for a while now. Much to Rainbow Dash's surprise, is was Fluttershy herself who opened up the door. Instead of inviting her in, she stepped out and closed the door behind her. Based on the look on her face, she didn't have any good news.

"She's around back." Fluttershy slowly led the way around the back of the cottage. There, in the shade of a tree, Taboo sat looking out towards the Everfree. Rainbow Dash really didn't want to think about what she might be thinking about, but in a far greater capacity she needed to know in order to comfort her daughter. She thanked Fluttershy and left her behind to wing her way over to Taboo. The little filly had heard her coming, having heard her knock on Fluttershy's door. When it was quiet and she had time to concentrate, there wasn't much she couldn't hear. Even sitting so far from it, she could hear things rustling and moving in the Everfree.

"... Hey squirt." Rainbow Dash took a seat next to her. "Looks like we need to talk."

"... Mom?"

"Yeah?"

"Am... I a monster?"

"Of course not." Rainbow Dash struggled to remain calm, afraid that getting to excited might upset Taboo. Still, she couldn't help but put a hoof around her and pull her close to wrap her wing around her. Taboo leaned into her and embraced her as well. Even without being so close, she could hear how quickly her mother's heart was pounding. It was clear to Taboo that she was upset as well, even if she wasn't showing it.

"Then why am I so different from everypony?"

"Everypony is different from everypony else." It was a lackluster response, even if it was true. "Some ponies are unicorns, others are pegasi or earth ponies. Someponies have blue manes, some ponies don't. Everypony is different."

"But.. why?" Taboo wasn't satisfied yet. "Was I always like this?"

"You've always been you."

"Since I was born?"

"... Yeah, ever since you were born." Rainbow Dash realized that even if her statement was probably true, it lacked one vital detail; however, she decided that Taboo didn't need to know about that quite yet. "Everypony has to be someway, squirt."

"But..."

"But what?" Rainbow Dash asked, but she could already feel Taboo fidgeting with her wings. "So your wings are different."

"And my ears..."

"And your ears."

"And my eyes..."

"And your eyes."

"And I can-"

"Taboo, you can't focus on all the differences." Rainbow Dash certainly didn't want to. "You're not a monster just because you're a pony that's a little more different than the rest. Differences are important, Taboo. If everypony was exactly the same the world would be pretty boring, don't you think?"

"But that's why all the other ponies are always whispering about me, aren't they? Because I look different."

"Taboo, you're a little young to have realized it yet, but how you look doesn't really count for much." That was really all there was to say on the matter. What it all boiled down to was that ponies should not judge a book by its cover. It was beyond Rainbow Dash to teach the entire town this lesson at this juncture, but there was one pony who was willing to listen. "But you should know better than anypony that it's not what you see on the outside that matters, but what you're like on the inside. I mean, you're friends with Venom, right? She can look like any pony she wants to, but no matter what she looks like she's still your friend. Not many ponies have the kind of friend that would start a fight with somepony who was talking poorly of their friend. No matter what she looks like she's your good friend because she sees you for who you really are: somepony special."

"Somepony special?" Taboo perked up just a little as things began to make sense to her.

"Did you ever stop to consider how awesome it is that you're so different?" Rainbow Dash gave Taboo a little noogie. "Some ponies try their whole lives to stand out and be different from everypony else, but you stand out just because you're you. For better or worse, ponies are gonna notice. You've just gotta be tough, but if today proved anything it's that you're not alone in this. You've still got ponies who love you no matter what. You know that, right?"

"I know that... but... I was hoping to make new friends." Maybe it was selfish of her, but she still wanted everypony else to like her.

"That's the funny thing about friendship, squirt," Rainbow Dash said. "If somepony doesn't want to be your friend, that's their loss. If you just keep trying, you'll get there one day. For now, you've already got some friends worth having. One day everypony will learn to see in you what they do."

"You think so?"

"I know so," Rainbow Dash said, hugging Taboo closer. "Now how about we get home? It'll be dark soon, and believe it or you've still got to go to school tomorrow."

"I wish we could do the first day over again..."

"Life doesn't usually give you do-overs, squirt. You can't make tomorrow better by wishing yesterday was different."

The pair sat in silence for a little while longer. They both realized how happy they were to see today come to a close, even the only result was that tomorrow was going to be another challenge. Taboo was that much more prepared, having heard from her mother that there was nothing to gain from worrying what she looked like. She appeared as she did, and in her mother's eyes that was all there was to appearances. When she really thought about it, there were plenty of ponies who had been her friends even before she realized how different she was. In the end, being so different hardly seemed like such a big deal after all. Just as her mother had said, she started to feel a bit of pride in the wings on her back. There was no denying how different she was, but in a strange turn of events she no longer wished to deny it.

She realized she had always loved those differences, even before she realized them. When she saw how other ponies reacted to those differences, she had let doubt cloud those feelings. It had taken the kindness of the ponies near her to remind her that a true friend will be by your side no matter what you look like, and now her only regret was having forgotten something so basic. She shouldn't put too much stock in what ponies who can only see what's on the outside. If that was all they could see, then she didn't need them.

The flight back home passed quickly and silently. By the time Rainbow Dash and Taboo arrived back at the house, the sun was already dipping behind the horizon. It was much later than both of them should've been coming home, so of course when they opened the door they caught Thunderhead pacing back and forth in the den.

"We're back!"

"You two okay?" Thunderhead wasn't much in the mood for joking around. He had heard about what had happened from Scootaloo after she managed to come back from Cloudsdale. He had wanted to storm down to the schoolhouse himself, but he figured Rainbow Dash could be enough of a hothead for the both of them. More than that, he couldn't leave Aurora alone at home. "What ended up happening?"

"Everything is fine now," Rainbow Dash said, giving him a peck on the cheek before walking past him. "Don't you have to get to work?"

"You really think I believe nothing happened?"

"There was a lot of angry parents, then Chrysalis and the Principal calmed them down, and then me and Taboo had a little chat," Rainbow Dash said, giving him an abridged account of things. Unfortunately, this only served to confuse him even further. Seeing as he wasn't going to get anywhere with his wife, he instead turned to Taboo.

"Are you really okay?" Even if he wasn't clear on the details, as long as Taboo was okay he could at least relax a little bit. He just needed to hear it from her that she was going to be okay.

"Yes, I'll be okay," Taboo said, and she meant it. Even if she was still a little nervous about going back to school, part of her couldn't help but think things would be better tomorrow. After the day she just had, she couldn't even think about how it could possibly be worse. "I just feel bad that Venom got in trouble because of me."

"Well, you shouldn't bite people no matter what they s-" Thunderhead stopped in the middle of his sentence. He just looked down at Taboo with wide eyes. Neither Rainbow Dash nor Taboo could figure out what had him so perplexed, that is until Rainbow Dash turned around and took a good look at Taboo for herself.

"Oh my gosh?! Ah, uh, Taboo!" It was hard for her to put her thoughts into words. Instead, she just opted to point. Of course, to Taboo it just like her mother was pointing right at her.

"W-what is it?"

"Sister, you have it!" Aurora fluttered down from what could've only been somewhere up near the ceiling and landed neatly on top of Taboo's back. "You have it now!"

"Have what?" Taboo had to see herself for herself, but she didn't know what she was looking for. She didn't feel any different, and from what she could tell she didn't look any different than normal either. "What's going on?"

"When did it happen?" Thunderhead asked.

"Must've been after we talked because she certainly didn't have it when I first showed up," Rainbow Dash replied; however, Taboo still had no clue what they were going on about. "And to think, we almost missed it!"

"I'm missing it!" Taboo shouted at them, not that they seemed to be listening.

"No, you have it, sister." Aurora jumped down from her sister. "It's pretty." The little filly suddenly poked her butt which was a significant surprise for Taboo. Aurora usually didn't observe socially acceptable physical boundaries, but butt-touching was not her normal MO.

"Hey! Cut that out! What are you..." Taboo found herself staring at her own rear end. Something that was not there before could be seen, and it explained everypony's behavior. "... A cutie mark?!" She realized her mother was absolutely right about when she must've gotten it, meaning she had regrettably missed the exact moment it appeared; however, given today's events and the mark's appearance it wasn't hard to figure out why.

Now Taboo was marked with a crimson heart with a pair of bat wings folded in front of it. It was simple, but the message was unmistakable. She felt all giddy inside, even though she hadn't even not had a cutie mark long enough to even want one all that bad. It didn't diminish the excitement of the moment and actually served to make her feel much more proud about it. There wasn't anypony else in her entire class with a cutie mark yet, which meant she had won the race to get a cutie mark by an indisputable margin.

"Cutie mark, cutie mark, cutie mark!" Taboo began to frolic in a little circle, achieving a simultaneous admiring of her mark and getting the ants out of her pants. Aurora joined in the chant and pranced right behind her.

"Alright, now I have to know everything that happened today," Thunderhead said, turning to his wife again. "I am pleased to see everything has ended well, though."

"You must've also realized that today was a long day," Rainbow Dash said. "So could it please wait until tomorrow?"

---

"Taboo! Wake up or you're gonna be late!"

Taboo's eyes shot open. A shock ran up her spine as she literally jumped from her bed and into the air. She realized she'd willingly let herself go back to sleep at least four times now, which meant there was almost no time left for her to get down to school. With a flap of her wings, she zoomed over to her mirror. Sure enough, her bedhead was out of control. She brushed it furiously into submission before putting her hairband in. The next step was to check her tail, which was also looking like a rat's nest. After a vigorous brushing her tail too looked nice and smooth. Not wasting a second, she dropped her hairbrush and flew out of her room. She zipped through the hallway and then turned towards the bathroom.

*wham*

There was a door in her way. With one hoof holding her nose she knocked a frantic rhythm onto the door.

"Aurora! Hurry up! I'm going to be late!"

There was a brief silence before she heard the toilet flush. Taboo danced in place for a second, impatiently waiting for her sister to open up the door. It was another full two minutes before the knob finally turned an the little filly emerged.

"Good morning!" Of course, she was all smiles.

"Geez, what took you so long?" Taboo went right past her and right to the bathroom counter. She set to brushing her teeth with unprecedented urgency. Aurora followed her back into the bathroom and flew up next to her. She too began to brush her teeth, but at a much more reasonable pace. Taboo rolled her eyes and spit into the sink. "Must be nice not having to go to school."

"Awha go wiwoo doe."

"Huh?"

Aurora spit into the sink. "I wanna go with you though!"

"Why would you want to do that?"

"Because I love you!"

"Ugh! I don't have time for this," Taboo said as she flew out of the bathroom. "I'm going to be late!"

"Buh-bye!" Aurora waved her off before resuming her teeth brushing. Taboo winged her way down the stairs, through the den, past Tank, and into the kitchen. She landed in one of the unoccupied seats with a bowl of cereal set out before it. Without so much as a good morning to either her mother or father seated on either side of her, she set to work wolfing down her meal.

"You're going to have to get used to getting up this early," Rainbow Dash said with a mouthful of toast in her mouth. "It's already summer, but I'm still shaking you down just to get a reaction out of you. You're less of a morning pony than your father, honestly."

"Not that you wake up all that easy," Thunderhead said with a yawn. Unlike the rest of his family, he was preparing to go to bed for the morning. "Just wait until my new assignment kicks in and then we can see who really is the best morning pony."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Rainbow Dash rose from the table and headed towards the door. "Remember that I'm in today's show, so I won't be home until later, Taboo. Remember to do your homework and make sure Aurora doesn't give all of her dinner to Tank."

"Okay!"

"And babe, please don't fall asleep until you've taken Aurora to her playdate."

"I'll get it done."

"Awesome," Rainbow Dash said as she threw her saddlebags on. "Then I'll see you all later!" With that, she turned into a rainbow streak out the door. Taboo figured that if she were as fast as her mother, she'd never be late for anything. Then again, she figured if she was that fast it'd just give the kids at school another reason to gawk at her. She turned her bowl up and drank all the milk out of it.

"Alright! I'm going!" She flew straight from the table to the door, picking up her own saddlebags on the way out. "Bye dad! I'll see you tonight!"

"Have a good day, kiddo."

"Good-bye Aurora!" Taboo yelled up the stairs.

"Wait!" The tiny pegasi emerged from the stairway, flapping her wings and making a reckless beeline for the door. "I love you!"

Taboo quickly ducked behind the front door and closed it behind her. A tiny thump shook the door. Taboo smirked a little, even if she felt just a tiny bit bad; however, she defended herself by thinking it was just a little payback. With no more business at her house, she stepped off the cloud and took to the cool morning air. She headed straight for town, dropping far beneath the clouds to fly just above the town's streets. There was plenty of movement in the early morning in Ponyville proper, just as there was everyday. Just as she expected, Taboo saw a few familiar faces as she approached the path by the fountain.

"Good morning!" she called down, stopping in midair to wave to the group of ponies below.

"Oh, good morning Taboo!" Time Turner called back up to her. Willow and Maple walked right behind him in single file, and also looked up to greet Taboo right behind their father. "You're a bit later than usual today! They say punctuality is the king of virtues, you know." His daughters nodded in agreement.

"Uh, sure?" Taboo wasn't exactly sure anypony said that, but it certainly sounded like the kind of thing he would say. Instead of mulling that over, Taboo turned her attention to the two stragglers in the group. "Good morning, Fluttershy!"

Fluttershy's ears perked up as she looked right and left a few times before realizing the voice had come from above. When she looked up, Taboo could see beneath her disheveled mane at those usual dark circles under her eyes.

"Oh, hello Taboo." Fluttershy managed a smile, which immediately ran away as the foal she was holding began to cry loudly. Despite her obvious fatigue, Fluttershy snapped into action without a second lapse. "There, there Soulmerry. Is my little lady cranky again this morning?" The foal's little pink face was wet with tears beneath her blonde mane, but that was hardly unusual. Unlike when dealing with her sisters, Fluttershy was having quite a bit of trouble with her latest child. She was no less doting and affectionate, but there was a very apparent lack of sleep and lack of any kind of rest really. It had been that way ever since Soulmerry came into the world, and Rainbow Dash often joked that the filly had not stopped crying since.

Taboo flew onwards, past the library and onto Sugarcube Corner where the path forked. From there it was a straight shot to the North Path, which was her destination for the moment. She took a hard left around the bakery and saw the road stretch before her. In the next moment, she couldn't see anything and felt a lot heavier.

"Ahh?! What?!" Taboo was going down, and she couldn't see why that was the case or where she was going to end up. There was certainly something latched onto her face, so she grabbed it to forced it off of her face. "F-Finesse?"

"Good morning." The filly was calm as ever.

"What are you-how did you?"

"We are crashing."

"Huh?! Aaah!" Taboo and Finesse flew straight into a bush. It wasn't the softest landing ever, but it was better than hitting the pavement head on. "Ooow..."

"You were late today," Finesse said. She seemed perfectly fine, having used Taboo to break her fall. She hopped out of the bush and brushed herself off. Taboo did her best to crawl out while to more ponies came running to the scene of the crime.

"Oh, darling! Are you okay?" Rarity said, sweeping Finesse up into her embrace. "Oh goodness, don't ever scare me like that again!"

"I wasn't scared! That was so cool!" Pinkie exclaimed. Her own daughter was posted up on her back, smiling just as wide as her mother. "She timed that perfectly! That was sooooo coooooool!"

"Kooooool!" Surprise couldn't argue with her mother's logic. "She e-flew ike daddy did!"

"My apologies, Taboo," Rarity said as she helped Taboo out of the bush. "I suppose she was waiting for you to fly by, since she was watching the window... and then she ran to the other one and before I could ask what was up she just jumped out!"

"That's... pretty gutsy." Taboo wasn't sure what else she could possibly say.

"Hey, aren't you kinda late?" Pinkie asked out of the blue. "Pound and Pumpkin left for the North Path, like, five minutes ago."

"Huh?! I'm that late?" Taboo didn't wait for a "yes" or a "no." She was back in the air and flying at full tilt towards the path's head. Sure enough, she could see Pound and Pumpkin waiting there for her. She kicked it into high gear and boosted forward right into an enormous red apple. Before she could even register what had even happened, Taboo found herself forced onto the ground for the third time this morning.

"What in tarnation?" Applejack was standing over her in the very next second. "You okay there, sugarcube?"

"Uugh... I'm sorry for hurting Aurora mommy... she's an innocent angel who wouldn't harm a fly..."

"What're ya talkin' about? I think she's a bit loopy."

"Eeyup..."

"... Ah... ah waaaah!" Applerose, who was sitting astride the shop cart began bawling uncontrollably. "T-Taboo got hurt!"

"For land's sake! You don't have to cry when other ponies get hurt!" Applejack wished her brother would scold his daughter every once and a while because having to do it herself made her feel like the villain. Perhaps if either of her parents were willing to be cross with their kid she wouldn't be such a crybaby. Of course, having Applejack yell at her only made Applerose cry even more.

Attracted by the sound of crying and the sight of their friend flying headlong into the bright red sign, Pound and Pumpkin rounded the cart to find their friend lying face up in a daze. Pound snickered a little, but Pumpkin dropped her bags and rushed to her side.

"Taboo! Are you alright?" Pumpkin picked up Taboo's shoulders and began shaking her. "Say something!"

"S-s-somethi-i-ing!" Taboo managed to say as her consciousness rattled back in. Fortunately Pumpkin stopped shaking her when she heard this, but unfortunately she also dropped Taboo back onto the hard street. "... Oooow..."

"Oops. Sorry!"

"I think you need glasses," Pound said. Even if he had a point, Taboo wasn't about to have it. She got up and tried to give him a piece of her mind, but then he said something that reminded her of something very important. "We're gonna be late." The group put off injuring Taboo, teasing Taboo, or getting an earful from Taboo in order to dash up the North Path towards the schoolyard.

The whole idea behind meeting up at the North Path was so Taboo and the twins could walk together, but since Taboo rarely ever showed up on time they usually just ended up galloping together. At the very least it was good exercise. Time was a kind mistress this morning, allowing the gang to arrive in the schoolyard before the bell. The three arrived panting and sweating at the fence, where the fourth member of the crew was waiting for them.

"Hey, you guys made it!" Venom gave them a wave and a smile, even if it was lost on her friends. They all wished she would stop acting so surprised when they finally showed up, but hoping for something like that was pointless. Even if she was hiding behind somepony else's face, it was always the same blockheaded changeling underneath. "Did Taboo hold you all up again?" At least she knew exactly who was to blame.

"You might say she ran into a little trouble." Pound laughed a little and Taboo's expense. She didn't let that get to her, but when she saw even Pumpkin was snickering a little she couldn't help but feel defeated. At least Venom was, as per usual, completely oblivious. "Alright, everypony ready to go inside?" A small silence fell over the group. With stern expressions, they all nodded their agreement.

Even as they headed up to the schoolhouse, there was a visibly notable shift in the atmosphere. They headed straight for the door, and as they got closer anypony who was in their way reluctantly got out of it. They moved for a reason that wasn't a secret to anypony, and they moved for the most obvious reason of all. It was the same story inside the school. Even if they were just a group of five year old ponies, even the older students begrudgingly made way. To the untrained ear the bystanders moved quietly, but Taboo didn't even have to perk up her ears to hear them.

"Don't look at her or you'll be cursed with bad luck..."

"Notice how cloudy it got when she showed up?"

"Why is she still here?"

"Taboo, you aren't listening to them, are you?"

"Huh?" Taboo realized the last voice came from nearby. She looked over at Pumpkin, who could tell by the confused look on Taboo's face that she'd been doing just that. "Uh, no."

"You shouldn't listen to them." Pumpkin was adamant on this point, and she was hardly ever the serious one. "They never say anything nice."

"Ah, well... I'm not listening for the compliments." Taboo decided not to mention that she really couldn't help but overhear anyway. Truth be told, she did have one odd curiosity that drove her to listen in a little. "I just want to know what rumors are going around. Wouldn't you want to know what they're saying about you?"

"We hang out with you, so we know what they're saying about us. You don't have to listen in to figure out what they're saying," Pound said addressing Taboo. He turned to his sister next. "And you should just let Taboo listen in if she wants to. If it really bugged her, she wouldn't be doing it."

"But-!"

"Hey, what're they saying about me?" Venom asked out of the blue.

"Oh... uh, you really want to know?" Taboo asked, but Venom looked absolutely certain. She really didn't want to tell her the truth, but Taboo couldn't think up a believable lie fast enough. "W-well, they all think you're pretty-"

"They think I'm pretty?!"

"-violent and crazy."

"... WHAT?!" Locusta, whoever she really was, happened to actually be a rather cute little filly, so it was kind of a shame Venom was always using her visage to make all kinds of scary expressions. "Who said that about me? Was it that guy? I'll kill him!"

"N-nopony is saying that right now!" Taboo lied, seeing as since Venom was yelling and making one of her faces again right in the middle of the hallway.

"Right, cuz they know better than to mess with me." Venom turned and spat on the floor next to a group of older colts, which just about scared the poor fellows right out of their hides.

"Locusta, no spitting in the hallway."

"Why dontcha shaddup and clean it up yourself?" Venom turned and attempted to stare down the pony who turned out to be Principal Walnut. Venom had a weird feeling that he wasn't entirely pleased with her response based on how he grabbed her by the saddlebags and started dragging her off.

"Make sure to tell Ms. Twilight that Locusta will be late."

"No! Wait! I was just kidding! Can't you take a joke? Save me guys! Save meeee!"

"Oh, poor Venom," Pumpkin said, ever sympathetic.

"It's hard to feel sorry for her when she acts like that." Pound did not share his sister's sentiment.

"I knew I shouldn't have told her anything." Taboo felt at least partially responsible, even if she realized that Venom kind of had it coming given her attitude.

"She asked for it." Pound reminded her of what started it all, but it didn't help lift Taboo's guilt or Pumpkin's empathy. "Ugh, let's just get to class or all of us will be in trouble. We seriously can't spend so much time moping around in the morning." Pound continued on, leaving his sister and Taboo behind.

"W-wait for us, Pound!" Pumpkin started after him. "Come on, Taboo!"

"Right behind you!" Every morning had gone about this way since Taboo started school. Taboo knew it wasn't exactly the standard school experience, but she felt safe at school now. Her circle of friends hadn't expanded at all, but she wasn't interested in being friends with ponies who didn't understand her. Maybe one day they could all get along, but until then Taboo walked the hall with her head held high and her ears perked up.

She'd never listened so closely to the other ponies before. Before she'd simply ignored it and kept herself from listening, but deep down inside she wanted to know what it was they were all so afraid of. The more she listened, the sadder it made her. It was certainly due in part to the disparaging things they would say, but there was also the way that they just repeated the same old lines day in and day out. None of them sounded eager to give their bias a second thought. She told herself it was far too early to hope for any kind of change, and just kept on walking.

All things considered, she found herself enjoying school somehow. She got to spend all day with her friends and learning things from Twilight was actually a lot of fun. She managed to focus on school even while on edge of the other children. She just stayed away from them in the back, surrounded by her friends. Despite being so far away, Taboo had no trouble at all hearing what Twilight was saying with her remarkable sense of hearing.

She had begun believing in her heart that she could truly carry on in this manner, and that became the first vital step in living what at least resembled a normal life. Even if it wasn't normal, Taboo was able to carry on happily. She laughed and played like anypony her age should, even if the whispers persisted throughout the days. For the time being, it was enough that Taboo was learning her way around the world and her own reality. She was still naive enough to keep the blinders on and focus her experience in on the positives, something she'd picked up from her family. It wasn't any kind of crime, and perhaps even an excusable shortcut considering that she'd managed to overcome one of her biggest hurdles yet.

There was plenty of time for next steps. There was still plenty of time for maturity to set in. There was still plenty of time to play with the dynamics; however, it would all have to wait until Taboo had done a little more growing up...

---

---

---

Spring sprung anew in Ponyville. The season for hibernation came to a close for half of all living things while the season for estivation drew close for the other half. Green or white, it could be a season of either sleep or restlessness. For ponies, each season was full of restlessness. For the children of Ponyville, a new school year was beginning. For some this was the beginning of a new cycle, but for others it was simply another spin on the wheel. It was neither inherently good nor inherently bad, but each face greeted it with their own level of enthusiasm.

One bespectacled pegasus was flying towards the schoolhouse by herself. She glided easily along the sky, her long mane fluttering behind her. Even though she was nowhere near school, she touched down casually and began to trot along the ground. She knew this street would be empty at this hour of the morning, and so she decided to once again enjoy the quiet held in place by the brisk air. She was dilly-dallying again, something one would expect somepony who lived inside a whirlwind to do every so often.

She found a certain joy in being blissful and unseen. If nopony was around to see her, then she knew she truly wasn't pretending to be happy. She was too tough to really know for certain at times, but morning strolls like these cleared up her cumulative doubts. She didn't have as many these days, but it didn't make her enjoy the sunshine any less.

"Morning."

She turns sharply at the sound of the unexpected sound of somepony's voice. She'd been so engrossed in her own thoughts that she'd neglected to hear the pony coming, but now she wasn't alone anymore. She sighed, sad that such moments were always so short lived.

"Morning," she says, returning the greeting three times as chipper. The stallion she sees is not a stranger, but not really a friend either. He is just somepony she knows through her mother. This character is not unkind, but still just a touch cold. "Out early?"

"Early practice," Thunderlane says. He does not usually go this way, and he doesn't have a real reason beyond how his hooves moved today for being there. "Doesn't school start in five minutes?"

"I'm always late." It wasn't an excuse so much as an observation of the truth. "If I start showing up on time on the first day, I'd be expected to do it for the rest of the year."

"Well, don't take it too easy." Thunderlane heads off in the opposite direction. He himself does not want to be late.

She continues on her way too without any parting words. Truth be told she at least wanted to be on time to meet her friends before school. She flies away with just a bit of haste under her wings. Taboo goes unburdened into the blue sky, and unafraid into the eighth year of her life.

Comments

[themadkossak]

Huzzah! Early morning updates! Huzzah for the story! Huzzah for the fact my phone auto completes the word Huzzah! Huzzah For everything!

[ThatMetalCoreBrony]

Man, Rainbow really controls herself here. If someone said something like that about my kid, especially along the lines of what they said, I wouldn't say anything, I would just walk up to whoever said that and bust their nose.

[DominiusTWD]

cmon twilight, time to grow a pair when dealing with irrational parents.

[Ulrezaj]

*Sniff* They grow up so fast.

[Hellpony]

Taboo was bitten by Locusta, not Taboo

Something is off here...

[Hooves Like Jagger]

6523978

Recommended Reading: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_judge_a_book_by_its_cover

[Hooves Like Jagger]

6524360

Hey man, if you make jokes and don't expect me to make jokes back it's gonna put a real strain on our relationship.

[Mocha Star]

So, I'm about to start but I'm hesitating... Why so long between chapters? Half a year on some, less on others, but if I get into this I can't just wait around or I'll lose interest if I have to wait until 2016 for the next chapter...

[Latisha McPeanuts]

Another great one, can't wait for more :)

[ToaofTwilightZ]

Hah, like mother like daughter: The first in her class to get a cutie mark!

Your OC foals are so adorable! I think my favorites are Locusta(Venom) and Finesse are my favorite. Is Finesse gonna be an acrobat when she gets he cutie mark? Or maybe a skydiver?

There are some pretty significant timeskips in this chapter. I can't wait to see how Taboo handles her first crush!

[Hooves Like Jagger]

6528370

Command Gold is for earners, Phillip.

[Aceman67]

6528370
That would be true if the character being referenced was in The Original Series where the Red Shirts died every away missions, which isn't the case.

In The Next Generation, where Q was introduced, they did away with the 'red shirt curse' and everyone was fair game. Case in point, the first Trek Character to be killed outright (outside of the films) was Tasha Yar, who wore a Gold uniform, which replaced the red shirts (Command Gold became Red, Security/Engineering Red Became Gold, and Medical/Sciences Blue stayed the same).

There is no Red Shirt curse anymore. From TNG onwards, deaths of officers from every division were pretty much equal.

[cyberlord4444]

6529122 Then he should have worn a Next Gen and not get jinxed.

[LanceCriminal]

So what does Aurora look like? So far all we've gotten is that she's green.

[Hooves Like Jagger]

6535467

Are you absolutely positive about that?

[Aziraphael]

6528915
And to be fair, though a lot of red shirts died in the original series, the actual percentages came out such that you were actually more likely to die in command than as a red shirt.

"Although Enterprise crew members in redshirts suffer many more casualties than crew members in other uniforms, they suffer fewer casualties than crew members in gold uniforms when the entire population size is considered," Barsalou writes. "Only 10 percent of the entire redshirt population was lost during the three year run of Star Trek. This is less than the 13.4 percent of goldshirts, but more than the 5.1 percent of blueshirts."
--Matthew Barsalou, Significance Magazine

[Alondro]

6528915 After that Borg battle, the death toll was so friggin' high they just lost count.

[Phoenix Nebula]

6575014

That would be hilarious! But seriously that was my OC's signature dance move.

[videogamehunter]

Yes I'm bit late reading this chapter but I love it. Can't wait to see what happens next.

[StarzGecko]

Hey I found your story yesterday and love it!

When is the next chapter coming?

Also is Applejack ever going to find love and children?

Is Twilight going to marry Flash?

[Alondro]

6929780I just realized: Sluttershy...

New meme acquired.