The Eye
The farther they went, the more treacherous it became.
There was almost no light down here, save for some glowing mushrooms or their few remaining torches. It was easy to trip over uneven rock and impossible to tell the passage of time. They had been down here for… Hours? Days? It didn’t matter anymore.
So long as the vampires didn’t catch up to them.
Stalking Silhouette was tired, angry, and hungry. Her feet were aching and she could feel the stress catching up, with the eyes of her followers drilling into the back of her head. They were all thankfully quiet. Even Lovely had settled down, after wailing and sobbing for her mother for so long.
Honestly Silhouette wanted her here too, Eventide would know what to do better than anyone. Though it shouldn’t be too hard, she had left pretty basic instructions for the tunnel, it was what was on the other side that worried Silhouette more. The Crystal Mountains were cold and inhospitable. They would need to find a safe place and gather firewood first things first. Hunting for furs and such. Hopefully it would be fine weather, but beggars could not be choosers.
And hopefully the vampires would give up the chase by then.
Though that too was a fool’s dream and Silhouette knew it. The remaining Vampire Matriarch was ruthless and uncompromising. So long as there was a chance, she wouldn’t let up on her hunt. They were still in very real danger, even if they managed to cross the mountain range.
But how was that any different than before?
Silhouette shook the dark thoughts from her mind. There was no use for them now. This was the situation, they were as prepared as they were going to be. Whatever happens next was out of her hands, but she’d deal with it when it came. What else could she do?
A tiny hand grabbed her tunic hem, tugging harshly. Silhouette blinked and looked down, finding Lovely Twilight staring back blearily.
“How much longer?” She asked.
Silhouette bit back a groan, glancing behind her. All the villagers had their eyes on her expectedly.
Had they set Lovely up to this? Good gracious.
“I don’t know,” She said honestly. “Could be a day or so more, but don’t be too excited. A frozen tundra awaits us.”
“Snow?”
“...yes, snow.”
Lovely grinned widely. “I love snow! It’s fun to play in!”
Ah the naivety of youth.
“Yes, but it’s cold and we’ll need supplies, which will be hard to find. So we’ll ALL HAVE TO WORK HARD!” She whipped her head to glare over her shoulder. The villagers instantly looked away, a few starting to whistle.
Silhouette rolled her eyes.
“What can I do?” Lovely asked, tugging her tunic again.
“Well…” Silhouette stopped to think. “You were taught to sew right? I’m sure you can help with that.”
“Yeah!” Lovely jumped a bit. Then ran back to the crowd. “I’m gonna help sew!”
A few of the villagers murmured in enthusiasm to her.
Silhouette certainly hoped Lovely would make it far enough to sew anything. She was already expecting to lose a few people to just the elements, the children would be very susceptible to those. As cold as it was to think, Silhouette knew they’d need to outfit the adults with cold weather gear first though, or they may not last long enough to make any for the kids. Though losing any of the children to the cold could greatly damage morale and thus efficiency.
Silhouette sighed through her nose. One thing she knew for sure was that she wasn’t wearing a lick of cold weather clothes until every other villager was covered first.
They needed to make it out of the tunnels first anyway.
Though Silhouette doubted the light at the end would be very welcoming or bright.
~tisk~
Silhouette froze mid step, ears pricking. She could hear some of the civilians chatting softly behind her, but beyond that, she strained to hear… Thankfully everyone realized she had stopped moving and stalled as well, growing deathly silent. Then the tunnel was hummed with the horrible noise of strained quiet. The air stained with tension.
Silhouette turned to stare into the darkness behind them. There was no noise… She waved her hand forcefully and the people quickly moved behind her, noone daring to make a sound. They didn’t stop behind her either, heading deeper and deeper, leaving Silhouette in the shadows. Her hand went to her hilt, gripping the burning cold steel tightly.
Then, in the depths of the shadows pricked two, small red lights.
Silhouette had hardly a moment to thrust out her sword before a monster rushed her. Her weapon cutting smoothly through the beast’s neck, head flying off someplace behind her. The people murmured at the sight, but many kept moving back, only a few remaining to see if they could be any assistance.
More red lights blinked into existence before the vampires ran out, hissing and spitting. Silhouette cut them down as well. It was likely that the opening they managed to dig out was too small to send a large group at once, but Silhouette could also be looking at a large line of unending undead, stretching back the cave for days.
Thankfully she had enough stamina to last for days as well.
The more that came the bigger the pile of ash accumulated at her feet. Creatures howled deeper in the cave and Silhouette began to sweat a little. These were not some weak underlings. These were trained vampires. It seemed the queen was quite intent on catching them.
Suddenly something else caught her eye, flying out of the inky well towards her. Far too small to be a beast. She adjusted her weapon in the knick of time, deflecting the arrow to the floor. She then just managed to kill another vampire and dodge the arrow that followed it by centimeters.
The cowards!
“You fear facing me in combat, you pale faced Levereter!” Silhouette shouted, sidestepping an arrow as it whistled by. “Maybe you know when you're bested!”
That did it.
A whole gang of them charged her at once. Silhouette huffed, sword slicing through air. She was covered in blood now, the pile before her becoming a mountain of ash. She stabbed one final vampire right through the mouth when an arrow finally found its mark, burrowing into her shoulder. She grit her teeth, but could tell that her protective padding had softened the blow. It was in, but did not hit anything important. She would live.
The vampires were still coming, but were hesitant to get at her. Their dead comrades had turned to ash, spilling into the air and fogging their sight. It slowed them down. Silhouette smirked. Not only did the ash slow them down, it stopped the archers as well. Not only was she harder to see, the archers were risking hitting other vampires.
Now you have no choice, face me as an equal on the battlefield you beasts!
Ah but that was truly too much respect to expect.
There was a cry from above as the arrows rained down on her people, higher up in the tunnel. Silhouette cursed and began to back up, hoping to draw its attention again. “Get back! All of you back!” She shouted, sword raised. “They won’t think twice about firing, don’t think twice about fleeing!”
“What about you!” One of them called back. “We can’t just leave you beh-AHH!”
An arrow hit them and Silhouette spared a panicked look back over her shoulder before refocusing on the battle.
“I SAID GET THE HELL AWAY!” She screamed angrily.
Thankfully they listened, pulling their wounded with them. With them gone the shooters returned to Silhouette with a vengeance. She had a harder time deflecting with one arm partly out of commission, but she managed. Beyond the vale of shadows and flying arrows was an entire wall of red, hungry eyes.
Silhouette bristled. How the hell were they gonna get out of this one?
Maybe they wouldn’t…
Just as she was about the back farther into the cave, something whistled loudly. Silhouette tilted her sword and sent the arrow up into the roof of the tunnel, when there was a crusty rumble.
Slowly Silhouette looked up, seeing a large crack growing along the ceiling, the arrow right at the center. With a mighty roar of thunder rock and dirt fell like a tidal wave, filling the cavern in seconds. Something struck Silhouette on the head and everything went quiet…
……
…
.
By the time she regained consciousness hands were on her, pulling her from the destruction. She felt a flash of pain before lashing out wildly. If these beasts thought they could finish her off in a moment of weakness then-
WHAM!
“Ahh!” Something yelped when she connected. “Silhouette calm down!”
“Please, it’s us!” Another voice spoke, someone patting her shoulder.
Opening her eyes, she found the dark outlines of humans standing over her. A few people were dusting dirt and rocks off her body as others murmured nearby.
She looked around wearily. “Wh-where are the monsters?” She asked, coughing a bit in strain.
“On the other side of all… this!” One gestured to the rubble she had once been buried in. “I think the tunnels are unstable. It's been shaking a few minutes at a time.”
“You were only out twenty minutes or so,” A woman answered her unasked question, stroking her hair. “They haven’t dug through yet, doubt they will either. No support left for it now.”
Silhouette took in the information, a bit relieved to hear. If the creatures wanted to continue the chase, they’d have to dig a whole new tunnel, possibly feet away from the original and try to sync it back up to this side. It would be hard to do.
“Is everyone ok?” She asked.
“Yeah, I mean, mostly,” A villager sighed. “Red Wooly got caught with an arrow around the neck, he bled out quickly after… Adventure took one to the knee.”
“Doubt he’ll be doing much of that now,” Someone mumbled.
“Other than that, we’re ok. Somehow.”
Silhouette sighed and tried to sit up, about three pairs of hands helping her. Looking over her body she found the arrow embedded in her shoulder had the back snapped off, though there was enough left to pull it out later. Looking farther down she almost groaned.
Both legs were broken. One had bone sticking out, the other was almost mangled.
God she hoped those could be fixed.
“Don’t worry, the healer is coming. They went with the children, deeper into the tunnels,” A villager said. “They found a natural series of caves, unearthed in the quakes. They seem more stable.”
“Good,” Silhouette said through gritted teeth, the pain beginning to come to her now.
“There is some bad news though…” A woman said. “The tunnel farther down, it caved in as well with all the shaking. I don’t think we can go through there now.”
“So we’re trapped underground?” Silhouette asked.
“I guess so. Thankfully it seems the natural cave system has a spring of fresh water, so we should be okay for a few days.”
It seemed the universe was not so cruel as to bury them alive this day.
Though given their track record, Silhouette wandered if the universe was really just saving them for a worse fate down the line.
That seemed most likely.
_______________________________________________________________
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Present Day.
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Thunder.
Twilight’s eyes darted from the linoleum on the floor to a nearby window. From what she could see with her broken glasses, the dark, threatening clouds from before were now pouring rain. The wind was thrashing the nearby trees, small objects a toss in the air.
Though Twilight was safe and warm inside, she couldn’t help but take it as a warning. Things were calm here, but just outside, waiting, was a storm…
Slowly she looked over to the door across the room, leading to Principal Cinch’s office.
Soon she’d be in the thick of a different storm alright.
Ms Trunchbull had marched the girls into the reception office with a lowly grumbled “SIT. WAIT HERE,” before going in to speak to the principal. That was twenty minutes ago. The longer the ‘talk’ they had, the worse it was going to be for them, Twilight just knew it.
At least she was not alone.
Sitting on some equally as uncomfortable plastic chairs as her own were the other girls from the fight. Kamikaze’s old crew, led by Nettlekiss, had seated themselves on the other side of the room, glowering at her or the floor respectively. At least they seemed to realize how much trouble they were already in. They didn’t seem keen on making it worse…
On either side of Twilight were Lemon Zest and Indigo Zap. Both lazing in their seats, wincing at their bruises and watching the door worriedly. Lemon was someone Twilight sort of understood being here. The girl had felt bad about not helping her before, she clearly didn’t want to feel like that again. Indigo though, Twilight had no idea why she had come to her aide. Indigo mostly ignored her thankfully, but she had never tried to help Twilight either. The change was a bit sudden, but thinking back Twilight had some theories.
While not friends with Twilight, Indigo was friends with Lemon. If she saw Lemon in the scrap, she likely came to help her. Or else she knew Lemon was feeling down about Twilight being hurt, maybe she stepped in before Lemon to try and ease her friends worries.
Didn’t work though, seeing as how Lemon was watching the Principal's door with the most fear out of all of them.
That left Moondancer, who was just looking at her phone boredly. She didn’t seem to care where she was at the moment, or what kind of trouble she had found herself in. That was pretty on point for her though. She knew Moondancer and her were close. Maybe not friends yet, but getting there. It seemed Twilight had passed a level somewhere in the last few months, for Moondancer to come help her, but she wasn’t sure when that happened...
No one said anything as time ticked on. Aside from Cinch’s secretary typing away on the computer, shooting them disapproving looks every few minutes. Twilight twiddled her hands a bit, not sure what was going to happen now.
Some things were to be expected. Punishment for one. It didn’t matter who started the fight, everyone involved would have some kind of punishment. It wasn’t fair, but it was school policy. Usually it was some kind of suspension, the reasoning that it gave students a chance apart to cool off and settle down. It didn’t look good on permanent records and left the students at the mercy of their parents. However Twilight could tell the school would have a punishment for them outside of that.
A big public brawl was not so good for ‘reputation’.
It was then the quiet was broken by Lemon giving a low, whimpering groan and shoving her face into her hands. Indigo seemed to rouse at this, her drifting gaze returning to her friend. The blue haired girl put a hand to Lemon’s back.
“It’s fine,” Indigo mumbled to her quietly.
“My dad’s gonna kill me,” Lemon hissed.
“It’s fine,” Indigo repeated.
“He’s got a show tonight! He might have to miss it for this- oh god!”
“Shhh, it’s fine.” Indigo whisper yelled, gaze flickering to the receptionist worriedly. The woman seemed to be watching them, but didn’t move to quiet them, likely to see if they could calm Lemon on their own first.
“I already texted my parents,” Moondancer said in a normal speaking voice, making them all look up. “Less of an unpleasant surprise that way.” She side eyed them. “My step father says to keep our mouths shut until we figure out how bad this really is.”
“Miss Moondancer,” The receptionist said curtly, putting a finger to her mouth.
“Trust me, already on it,” Moondancer snorted.
The receptionist rolled her eyes but Twilight found herself following Moondancer’s advice. Her step father, Loop Hole, was a high ranking civil rights lawyer. He likely knew what he was talking about.
It looked like Lemon was close to a panic attack when the principal’s door finally opened. They all looked up wearily as Ms Trenchbull came out. The muscular woman rolled her neck, making a loud pop as it usually did, before jerking her head to the side, indicating for them to come inside. She still looked angry, so Twilight could only guess how the pregame chat went behind the closed door.
They stood, going into the room one at a time. Twilight shrinking under Ms Trenchbull’s glare and twitching when, as she went past her through the door, she felt the woman give an angry huff of air and breathed out her nose forcefully.
The room was even darker with the rain outside than it had been last Friday. The light still hung ominously over Ms Cinch’s desk, but it seemed the Principal was in no mood for dramatics today. She was facing them fully, head leaning against her fist, pressed against her mouth. She glared at each of them as they came in, eye twitching a bit in irritation.
Once they had lined up Principal Cinch shut her eyes and took a deep breath. Nothing moved for a few seconds and Twilight felt some sweat trickle down the back of her neck.
Cinch slowly straightened back up. She took some loose papers on her desk and tapped them into order. She then put them in her drawer and turned fully back to them.
“So,” She started.
No one responded.
She shifted in her seat. “Had a bit of an altercation did we?” She asked, voice pitching a bit higher, as if she were speaking to very small children.
Then again, given their behavior earlier, maybe it was warranted.
Principal Cinch gave a short, unamused laugh. She stood and circled around her desk slowly. She paused at the trophy case and straightened a group photo there. “I wonder,” She began. “If you can answer a question for me.”
Some of the girl’s glanced at the others out of the corner of their eyes.
“What is it-” She turned and began to pace in front of them carefully. “-that separates a self aware being from an animal?”
She paused in front of Nettle Kiss at the other end of the line. Principal Cinch stood there until Nettlekiss blinked, realizing she actually wanted an answer. “Uhhhh…” The girl seemed to think. “Education?”
Ms Cinch moved onto the next girl, who looked up at her owlishly. “Industry?”
“Uh, Capitalism?” The next offered.
“Clothes?” Indigo Zap offered when Ms Cinch looked at her.
Lemon practically jumped at the bit to answer, likely trying to appease the woman. “The art- um, invitation! No- creation!-”
“Thank you Miss Zest,” Ms Cinch said cooly, making the nervous girl wince. When the principal's eyes fell on Moondancer, the girl just offered her principal a moody shrug. Ms Cinch narrowed her gaze before grumpily glowering and moving to Twilight, who withered.
Think Sparkle! Think!
“Uhhhhh… Reputation?” Twilight offered lamely, grimacing halfway through her answer.
Principal Cinch sighed and turned back to her desk.
Dammit.
She leaned against her desk, glaring at each student darkly. “WHAT it is that separates us from the animals, girls, is CONTROL.” She grit her teeth. “Specifically, I mean self control.”
They lowered their heads.
“I don’t think you quite grasp the seriousness of the situation,” Cinch huffed, returning to her seat. “When our founder, Crystal Heart was but a young girl, human kind had just managed to claw its rights from the grasp of monsters by prying their hands open, one finger at a time. Crystal herself was raised partly in the city of Underlot, doing so because living on the surface meant being hunted, killed-” She grunted. “OR WORSE.”
Twilight swallowed tightly.
“We were ANIMALS up until two hundred years ago,” Ms Cinch said shortly. “ We were seen as nothing more than property and food, maybe a pet if you were lucky, or unlucky enough depending. It took decades of hard work, even after our rights were given, for us to shake such losome connections.” She gestured around the room. “Building fine education establishments, learning manners and etiquette, exploring the arts, developing the sciences and even- “ She picked up a nearby trophy. “Beating monsters at their own games.”
She put that back down. “There are NOT many humans in this area. Most who do live here send their children to Crystal Prep. Everyone you see here in the halls may be the entire, next generation of humans in Canterlot.
“So wherever you go in life, in Canterlot, you will not see many other humans around. Do you know what that means?”
Lemon went to answer again frantically, but Cinch continued, cutting her off before she could make a noise.
“IT MEANS-” Cinch snapped. “That wherever you go, other creatures are not just judging you for your actions.” She stood.
“They are judging all of humanity through your actions.”
Twilight blinked.
“If you're a well mannered, smart, respectful individual, it will tell the monster races that humans are just as so. If you ATTACK one another-” She looked at each of them slowly. “By ‘bitting’ and ‘hitting’-” Her eyes zeroed in on Twilight. “And ‘spitting’-”
Twilight winced.
“-if reflects back on humanity as well.” She straightened her jacket. “A monster who meets a human who is rude or violent, especially with almost no other human to draw reference from, is a monster who will think, even subconsciously, that all humans must be in a similar vein. They may not shop at human stores, they may not hire a human worker, they may even slip to worse.”
She leaned over her desk. “Fair or not, you are all unwilling ambassadors to the human race whenever you step out of human inner circles. That is why I impress such a strict regimen at this school! Top grades! Best behavior! Nothing else will do in this world!” She slammed her first loudly on the wooden surface. “Reputation is not just a pretty word that gets us money or fame! It dictates how others will react to you before they even talk to you! Your ancestors have jumped through hoops to make sure you're not getting met with a spear to the CHEST! I think the LEAST you can do is act civil and not reverse possible years or decades even of work!”
Cinch was breathing hard, a stray hair drifting down over her face. All the girls were quiet, looking at the floor. Taking a deep inhale, Cinch stood up, straightened her appearance and put her hands on her hips.
“Am I understood?” She said simply.
“Yes ma’am…” All the girls said softly.
“Good,” Cinch said sternly. “Now you are all suspended for a few days, that much I’m sure you know! I have my secretary calling all your parents and not one of you is going home until we have a nice, long talk.”
Lemon swallowed tightly.
Twilight shared that sentiment, especially since her parents were a bit busy today. Mom had a meeting with a few writers and Dad was charting stars with some colleagues. She’d be under Cinch and Trenchbull’s care likely for a few long hours. Of course depending on her parent’s reaction, it may be a nice break in comparison.
“Next we need to ensure this does not occur again,” Cinch said “Now I’m sure some social kerfuffle and hormonal fluctuations played a part in this.” She sniffed. “Perhaps you haven’t had a chance to properly learn how to vent such intense emotions before. Anger can be very hard to manage after all and you all are still growing young women.” She smiled a bit, making the girls all wince. “And what is this place if not one of education. I’m sure we can show you a few excellent outlets for future issues.” She looked at the ever imposing Ms Trenchbull, standing at the side of the room. “What do you think, Ms Trenchbull?”
Twilight looked at Ms Trenchbull nervously. The correctional teacher seemed to smirk. “I’d say these LADIES just had too much energy stored away! High strung emotions are best worked out through physical action, which we need to divert from fighting each other, into more ‘positive’ exercise!”
“An excellent idea.” Ms Cinch looked down on the girl’s assembled with a dark chuckle. “I trust I can leave the lesson to you Ms Trunchbull?”
Trunchbull cracked her knuckles. Loudly.
“Of course.”
The girls began to sweat.
The rain was really cold.
Twilight panted as she rounded the bend on the muddy running track. Her shoes kept sticking and sinking into the muck, making it harder to pull them up. Her broken glasses were now foggy with raindrops and the heat of her heavy breathing. Her clothes stuck to her body like a second skin and the wind felt like knives on her chilly skin.
At least the thunder and lighting had stopped before they came out here…
As Twilight slowed a bit she felt her lungs tighten. The cold and exercise were doing double duty on her asthma. She took another hit of her inhaler, the fifth hit since she started running, to ease the tension in her chest. She more felt than saw another girl run past her, overtaking the slower girl with ease and continuing along the track.
Twilight wasn’t sure which girl they were or why they were running so fast. Ms Trenchbull had led them out into the downpour and informed them that they were running laps until ‘mommy and daddy’ came to get them, however long it took. There was no controllable finish and so long as they didn’t slow too much Ms Trenchbull didn’t bark at them.
It was likely Indigo Zap. The girl could be really competitive. Even when there was no way to win.
A fat drop of rain hit her square on the nose and if Twilight had the luxury of lung space, she would have sighed. This was not how she wanted this day to turn out. Not that she had any control over what happened, but when was that unusual for her? She wheezed softly as she rounded the bend again, almost losing her shoe in the loose dirt.
This sucks.
Still she had to give it to Ms Trenchbull. She really didn’t have the energy to fight with someone anymore and she was willing to bet neither did the other girl. This punishment may be enough to keep Nettlekiss and the others off her back for a bit, even if she had to endure it too. Not to mention Ms Trunchbull hadn’t left them to run and gone back inside, or even moved to get cover from the rain under a nearby picnic structure. She stood stock still, rain running down her as she gloweringly watched the girls do their laps. The fact that she was willing to withstand the rain with them somehow gave Twilight a small, very small, amount of respect for her teacher, even if she had them do laps in a rainstorm.
The wind picked up and Twilight shivered. She winced when her foot splashed in a puddle, soaking her socks and deep into her shoes. Every step was a squishing feeling now. Ugh!
Twilight took her seventh hit from her puffer now.
She wasn’t sure how long they had been out here, but it was long enough for some parents to arrive. The first taken off the track was Moondancer. Then a couple of Nettlekiss’s friends. Then a shaky Lemon Zest was led away. It left just three of them on the track now and Twilight didn’t care how bad a punishment her parents gave her, she just wanted to get out of the rain and stop this god forsaken running.
Where was that runners high she had heard so much about?! Lousy endorphins!
She made another lap, feet sloshing through a good number of puddles now. The rain wasn’t stopping anytime soon and Twilight had a feeling she maybe swimming laps before too long, rather than running them. Her chest tightened and Twilight tried her inhaler again.
It helped, but she could tell the effects were lessening. It wasn’t fully working now, making her think that she was getting worse.
She may have to stop soon, or else she’d risk an asthma attack with no workable solution but a rescue bronchodilator inhaler and a trip to the ER. Of course if she stopped running then she risked getting yelled at by Ms Trunchbull…
Hmmm. Decisions, decisions…
However, as usual, she had no control over what happened to her. She heard a shrill whistle from Ms Trenchbull, who had a walkie talkie pressed against her ear. At least it seemed like it, Twilight really couldn’t see well.
“Sparkle! Get back to the principal's office! Your parents are here!”
Oh thank god.
Twilight stumbled to a stop, bending over to try and catch her breath. Thankfully the slight whistle she had started to get died down, though her chest still really hurt. Someone ran around her before Twilight straightened back up and wiped off her glasses with her sopping wet sleeve.
She could see the other girls were not as bad a shape as she was, but it was clear which one of them was the soccer star and which one wasn’t. Indigo was running like a professional, in form, speed and breathing. Nettlekiss looked tired and out of puff but not in any danger.
“NOW SPARKLE!”
Twilight stumbled from the track, back to the main building. The campus was quiet, most of the students back at the dorms by now. It was well after classes and most outdoor sports were canceled by the weather. Twilight’s slow trudge got her to the administrative area and as she pulled the door open she coughed, the kind that was deep and echoing in her chest.
Please don’t let me get sick from this!
Twilight left a large puddle of water as she walked down the hall to the Principal's office. She was soaked to the bone and shivering a little.
One thing was for sure, she really didn’t want to get into another fight on school grounds if she could.
She reentered the waiting room and Principal Cinch’s secretary waved her to the door. Apparently they were all set for her. Twilight approached the door and groaned. She took a second to brace herself before pulling the door open. It creaked loudly and all conversation on the other side was halted. Cinch was seated at her desk, her attention drawn away to Twilight’s entrance.
Twilight winced as her parents turned around in their seats to see her as well, not looking amused. She took a deep breath and stepped into the room. Best to get this over with-
“TWILIGHT!” Her mom shouted, getting out of her seat and running over. “Honey, why are you soaking wet?!“ She put her hands on Twilight’s arms, but yanked them back as if they burned. “You’re freezing!”
“Huh?” Twilight asked, confused.
“Whoa, that's quite a rasp kiddo,” Night Light said, standing up as well. “You should use your inhaler.”
“Where is it? Do you have it?” Velvet asked, patting down Twilight’s pockets and squirting water out of one. “Here it is!” She pulled it and held it up to Twilight’s face. The teen rolled her eyes, she could do it herself, honestly! However she did as she was told. Her mom was just worried after all. It puffed into her mouth, easing her discomfort, but her mom frowned and held the inhaler up, shaking it next to her ear. “This is empty! What in the-” She read the dates on the side. “You got this a week ago! It should last at least a month! What were you doing?”
“Well ah-” Twilight said, voice still rough. “Ms Trunchbull was keeping us busy until you arrived by having us run laps outside-”
“Laps?! OUTSIDE!? Now?!” Velvet asked, shocked. She turned to look at the only uncovered window in the room, as if to double check that it was indeed still raining hard outside. That action, however, turned her sights back to Cinch. Velvet scowled. “That’s your idea of a fair punishment?!”
“Well-”
“Our daughter has a breathing condition!” Velvet snapped angrily. “The cold and the running could have sent her into an attack!”
“I assure you that Ms Trenchbull has everything under control!” Ms Cinch said quickly. “What we need to talk about is the fight you daughter was in-”
“That's another thing!” Velvet said lowly, stalking over to the principal's desk. “Our daughter was in a fight?! Twilight ‘Straight A’s, socially anxious, and very shy’ Sparkle was in a fight?!”
“That is pretty weird,” Night Light agreed, rubbing his chin. “Twilight does everything she can to avoid conflict!” Then under his breath he said. “Think she gets that from me…”
“Nighty please!” Velvet said quickly, then turned back to Cinch. “What were they fighting over?! What could have caused this to happen?! Twilight has never had a fight in her entire schooling history, so why start now?!”
“Well it would likely be because of the incident with Kamikaze,” Cinch said simply.
“Indicident?” Velvet asked darkly, eyes narrowing. Night Light, sensing danger, backed away to Twilight’s side.
“Well yes,” Cinch shrugged, the fool not realizing what she was doing. “Your daughter has been having altercations with Miss Kamikaze for a long stretch of time! I was informed of the severity recently when your daughter was accosted in the halls last friday with a knife-”
“A KNIFE!?” Velvet yelled. “NO!”
“Why did she have a knife?!” Night Light asked, putting his hand on Twilight’s shoulder.
“Did Twilight not tell you?” Cinch asked, looking surprised. “I assumed she would. We had a chat about the incident and everything. Twilight agrees to keep it hush hush from the news and any gossip and Kamikaze has been expelled.”
“So she can just do it again at some other school?!” Velvet shouted. “Why didn’t you call us?!”
“I told you, I assumed Twilight would tell you,” Cinch said, brow raised. “Did that cut not raise any questions?”
“That-” Velvet looked back at Twilight, momentarily surprised and Twilight withered. Thankfully Velvet swung back around to Cinch again, leaving her alone for the moment. Twilight shivered, though she wasn’t sure if she was cold or upset. Either way her dad set his planetarium uniformed blazer over her shoulders.
“How long has this been happening?” Velvet asked darkly.
Cinch had the audacity to look thoughtful for a few moments. Finally, after a few moments, she hummed.
“Quite a while I suppose?” She shrugged. “Since the start of middle school perhaps?”
Velvet spluttered angrily and Night Light harrumphed. “And you didn’t think that was something we should know?” He asked.
“Well-”
“Let me get this straight!” Velvet yelled. “Firstly, my daughter has been bullied for, what could possibly have been years and you didn’t tell us. Next she was attacked with a knife and you didn’t even call! Then she was attacked again today and you wanted to PUNISH her for it by having her run in the rain and the cold, almost activating her asthma and killing her, then you tell me that we should make sure to dole out punishment at home too, for something she couldn’t control?!”
Cinch looked around wearily. “Well Twilight’s actions have an effect on the reputation of the school and all the human race-”
“Oh don’t give me that reputation bullshit! My mother has been shoveling it down my throat since I was five!” Velvet shouted. “It was teenagers having a fight! Teenagers fight! Even monster’s know that!”
“They wouldn’t have seen it as the same and you know it!” Cinch frowned.
“Maybe, but I don’t see any monsters around here. Do you?” Velvet frowned. “You keep parroting about reputation but now that's just a word people use to try and one up each other! By having higher paid jobs, better, more expensive schools and houses! You are all so concerned about what monster’s think of you that you’ve started treating the humans who don’t have the same opportunities as you as beneath you! Just like what we’ve been trying to put a stop to with the monsters for years!” She snapped. “You think that nice manners and the occasional fundraiser will make everything better, but it won’t! We’re no better than anyone else, just like Monsters are no better than anyone else!”
Cinch blinked as Velvet straightened back up. “I don’t know what kind of reputation a school has if it would put looking good over the health of its students! Letting them bully each other and viciously compete for praise and rewards! It’s sickening!”
“Mrs Twilight-”
“I have had it up to here with people caring more about reputation and legacy and their own fears of the world than other people’s wellbeing!” Velvet said, gesturing the measurement with her hand up over her head. “In fact, I’ve had it up to here with this school! I didn’t like going here! Night Light told me he didn’t like going here! Shining Armour hated it here! I only sent him and Twilight here because I was assured it was the best school, but clearly it's not!”
“Uh, what's happening?” Twilight asked in confusion. Her father looked just as lost as she was.
“What are you trying to say?!” Cinch asked, looking shocked.
Velvet took a deep breath.
“What I’m saying is don’t worry about Twilight being suspended because SHE’S NOT COMING BACK!”
“What?!” Twilight gasped.
“What?” Night Light asked more out of bewilderment.
“What!?” Cinch stood up. “Mrs Twilight! Your daughter is one of our best academic students, you can’t-”
“I can and will!” Velvet poked Cinch in the shoulder harshly. “You said it yourself, Twilight is one of your best academic students, she’ll be fine wherever she goes! What she needs is a healthy social environment that you have failed to supply!” Velvet snorted. “In fact, as long as this school is so expensive and exclusive with the students it allows, I don’t think you ever could! So say buh-bye to your grade point average because Twilight Sparkle is OFF your books!” Velvet turned on her heels and marched for the door. “We’ll send for her things later on!”
Cinch stared after them in shock as Velvet Twilight slammed the office door open and stormed out. Night Light and Twilight hurried after her. Out in the waiting room there was a man and a woman, both busy typing on their laptops furiously. The man looked up briefly at Velvet stomping past, then over at the two of them. “Hey Nighty,” He said.
“Hey Speedy,” Night Light sighed. “How’s the business.”
“Fine, busy though,” He glanced back down at his screen worriedly. “Gotta pick up Indigo. Weird she got into a fight off the field though...”
“Tell me about it,” Night Light said, patting Twilight’s shoulder.
“Speedy, did you send the orders for the baseball equipment?” The woman asked next to him, her yellow eyes darting the screen before her.
“Yeah, just did, honey,” Speedy replied, starting to work again. “Sorry Nighty, I’ll catch you for a drink down at the bar this weekend ‘kay? I’m sorta burning the candle at both ends here…”
“Yeah, talk to you later,” Night Light chuckled a little, taking Twilight into the hall. “We’d better hurry anyway, your mother might be tempted to do some property damage.”
“I don’t think mom would do that,” Twilight mumbled.
Halfway to the exit they saw Indigo heading towards the office. She looked wet and miserable, but also sort of startled. “Hey Twilight, is that your mom outside kicking apart the flower beds?”
“Oh cheese and crackers!” Night responded, hooking Twilight around the middle and hoisting her off the ground, running outside as quick as he could go.
Apparently she would.
As awkward as it was to try and tear her mother away from causing further damage to Crystal Prep’s prize winning flower gardens, it was quite a bit more awkward to be sitting in the quiet car as they drove home. Twilight was in the back seat, buckled in and still wearing her dad’s blazer over her uniform. She was drying off now at least and not shivering anymore, but that was pretty much the only improvement.
Mom was looking pointedly out the window and Dad seemed torn between looking at his daughter in the rearview, his wife beside him and keeping his eyes on the rainy road. The wipers squeak a bit as they clear the windows. It’s the only sound in the car.
Well Sparkle, you don’t learn do you? You should have told them about your friends but you didn’t. You should have told them about the bullies before this, but you didn’t! You waited too long and now we’re in the thick of this.
Good job.
Twilight almost groaned.
She was trying damn it!
….
She really hated how silent it was in here.
Upfront her dad seemed to be in agreement because he gave a long, heavy sigh. “Twilight honey,” He said tiredly. “Why didn’t you tell us you were being bullied?”
Twilight bit her lip. She could recall why she didn’t want to tell them, but in hindsight they kind of seemed like stupid reasons. She had been afraid of repercussions from Kamikaze and her gang, she hadn’t wanted to worry her parents, she was hoping it would just ‘go away’ on its own…
Not knowing how to express that she instead just mumbled softly. “I don’t know…”
“You know you can tell us anything sweetheart, we love you!” Night Light frowned, glancing at her in the rearview briefly.
“No she couldn’t,” Velvet grunted suddenly.
“Huh?” Bothfather and daughter spoke at once.
“She couldn’t tell us about anything Nighty, just like Shiney couldn’t either. We’re a couple of go with the flow, no backbone parents. I’ve let my mother, the community council and that school tell me how to raise my kids, even when I didn’t agree with how it was done.” She shook her head. “How could either of them come to us when we would just default to the opinion of people causing their problems?”
Oh.
“The school made it clear that their reputation was the only thing that matters. Just like the council does with all its fake showboating…” She pinched her nose. “I understand how precarious our place as humans is in monster society, but what good is it if we end up treating each other just as bad as monsters did in the past? If our own kids don’t feel free enough to be themselves or bring up their own concerns without being worried on how it would look.”
“Hmmm,” Night hummed, looking a bit down.
Velvet sighed. “Well for now we can at least call to order a moving van for Twilight’s things.”
Twilight perked a bit at that. “Wait, were you serious about me not going back?” She asked, confused.
“I didn’t make a big stink over it for the showmanship Twilight,” Velvet said in amusement.
“I never liked that school,” Night Light agreed. “Way too strict! Back in my day they still hit you with a wooden paddle for misbehaving.” He shivered. “I think I still have a splinter…”
“They only got rid of that a few years after Shiney started there,” Velvet scoffed.
“Well it’s good one of us got out early.” Night Light said. “But ah- where is Twilight gonna go now? There’s not really a school in Everfree…”
Velvet was quiet for a moment, looking back out the window. “I was wanting to talk to you about that…”
“Oh?” Night peered at her for a second before looking back at the road.
“It’s just- I HATE the home owners associations and I hate the council! The house we have is nice but there's nothing really to do around it and I feel like the only reason we live in Everfree Estates it because my mom bought us that house to keep us close to her. Honestly I could use some more space away from her. Away from everything!”
“I know all that honey, we’ve lived together for more than twenty years after all,” Night smiled.
“Yes, but that's not just it. Twilight has her monster friends and now Shiney is getting married to a monster woman. I don’t know her at all but he really seems to like her and I think she is gonna make him very happy. They may even start having kids soon and I just…” Velvet looked at her husband. “I want our grandkids to be able to come over to our house and visit us, whether they’re human or not.”
“Oh!” Night Light’s brows raise. “I didn’t even think of that!”
“I think we’ve… outgrown our current living situation.”
“Ok.” Night Light glanced over at her again. “Then, what do you want to do?”
Velvet heaved a deep breath.
“I wanna move out of Everfree.”
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Dopamine is the chemical in the brain responsible for feelings of pleasure.
This story getting updated is one thing that gave me dopamine.
I like Velvet's rant. At least she think of her own kids before her family's image - unlike many adults I have seen.
If this is how you treat your 'one of your best', I don't think this establishment is anything worth going.
That was an AWESOME chapter! I loved Velvet's rant, seeing her shouting down Cinch like that, was both satisfying and hilarious. And Twilight being closer to her monster friends just makes it better and better. Can't wait for the next chapter (though take all the time you need to make them as perfect as you do)
10522298
Yeah this whole story is really lopsided.
Even if you ignore the 1000 years, Nightmare Moon, evil sword stuff; it’s still a world where monsters that can and will eat your limbs because they have the munchies. If this was a generic WW2 military story, Cinch would be the drill sergeant everyone hates until the bullets start flying and her training ends up saving some but not all of the protagonists.
yeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee <3
Wow! I was *not* expecting that out of this version of Twilight's parents! Good on them!
10718409
Well, that analogy doesn't seem right for this scenario. A drill sergent only trains those who signed up for it. It's not like any of them are going to break down our doors and suddenly start teaching us how to wield weapons in case of an attack on country soil. I understand Cinch's point, but the method of execution is terrible. She shouldn't have doormatted to Kamikazie because of reputation or the other, because if word got out of how Kamikazie acted, than that could also tank their reputation, and she shouldn't have been so harsh on the kids simply to keep their grades and apperences up. Again, the ideolagy is fair, but how she actually executes it needs work.
ALSO, YASS AN UPDATE! I CAN'T WAIT FOR THE NEXT ONE! THIS HAS BEEN ONE OF MY FAVORITE STORIES!
Okay, this was worth the wait and the shorter length. Twilight's life will start changing for the better with her getting out of Crystal Prep and Everfree. Let's see if her friends and their families can help them find a place or if Shining Armor can help. I'd still love to see what Cadance is for the fic.
Well, that is big bomb for anyone, but I must say it was coming from far away.
YYYYYEEEEESSSSSSSSSSSS[
Yes! Yes! She's out of Crystal Prep & they're moving out of EverFree! Yes! I know it's probably some silver lining before the storm, but **** if this chapter didn't feel great to read!
Choose wisely
You have chosen wisely
Great chapter! I am confused about something, how does Twilight’s mother know she has monster friends? I don’t remember Twilight telling her parents about them.
THANK YOU for the new chapter loved it along with all the others waiting for more when ever you get them out
10718320 I think I kinda got a bit of a high, while a new chapter is ALWAYS welcome; I'll stick with water parks.
10718604 Personally, I've figured that Twilight would be using that favor from Tia to get out of Everfree since the last of chapter one of book one
10718741 Gated Communities and HOAs are RARELY worth money and NEVER worth the trouble they bring
10718826
It happened in chapter one of this story, when her grandmother came for dinner.
Yay! An update! As excellent as always. I'll admit I'm kinda chomping at the bit for more interaction between Twilight and her monster friend, but at the same time you don't make the other half of things seem dull at all. In fact, I really hope Twilight manages to hold onto her budding friendships from Chrystal Prep. Heck, I can easily see her becoming a bit of a bridge between the two worlds. Though there's clearly still a lot more then just that going on... I haven't forgotten that Crystal prep seems to have what sounds like a changeling snooping around. These flashbacks are clearly going somewhere to so I bet that sword is going to show up at some point and maybe even work it's way into Twilight's hands. Then there's her family history that is going to be a shock to her monster friends when that finally unravels, probably with help from old grandma.
In other words I guess I'm saying there's a lot to be excited about and I really can't wait for more. I hate saying that last bit because of the pressure it puts on authors but I can't say it's not true here. Heh. Probably going to go back and read everything else again sooner or later.
10718965
That would make sense. As Twilight's family starts to make plans to leave, she talks to her friends about it and Sunset reminds her about the favor. Twilight makes a formal request about it and Celestia is ready to pay her back, giving them some property that Celestia likely has that's close enough to Canterlot.
Grandma's not gonna be happy for sure. I have a really bad feeling about this.
10718826
She told it in the previous chapter right? The one with grandma coming over.
10718604
A sacubas maybe. Princess cadence and sacubas are both related to love after all.
10719166
Yeah, a succubus would make perfect sense for Cadance depending on how they are in this AU. But then again, she could also be an angel-like species of cupid or something. We'll wait and see when we finally meet her.
10719082 At the very least pointing them to a trust worthy realtor but considering that Candy is quite likely part of Tia's group that IS a possibility.
10719217
Honestly, it would be fitting if Cadance is the one to help them find a new place as the realtor. Even claims that she's happy to help her new family. All depends.
10718604
I have my own theory about that. Shining Armor and Cadence are getting married very soon, right? But... that's not the only mention of a wedding. Rainbow Dash mentioned that her cousin was getting married in the last book. Now this is probably just a coincidence, but, Cadence as a harpy isn't the weirdest option.
10719244
I don't think that would happen, but it's a nice theory.
Sorry, Abacus. Turns out making your asthmatic star student do laps in the rain isn't the best way to get on her parents' good side.
And yeah, Velvet is the last person in the world who'd be willing to swallow that reputation rhetoric. And Sparkle may be in a better position to mention her nonhuman friends than she realized. Still, the rest of the family and community won't take this very well... but at this point, I'm not sure if either Twilight cares. Definitely looking forward to seeing what develops from here.
10719244
ive been saying that since the last story XD nice to know someone else shares my little theory too
I am stunned that Twilight wasn't pulled out of Crystal Prep sooner than in canon.
Seriously, she was being SHOVED IN THE HALLS on purpose.
Thankfully, she can leave that awful place behind now.
An update that isn’t on Hallowe’en well that’s an unexpected treat as for my thoughts on this chapter
ALL of the YES!!!
Very nice chapter! I always love it when Velvet is on a rant like this in any story, specially if its against Chinch
10718826
Her grandma figured it out and brought it to their intention in the first chapter of this story
10718409
I don't agree with Cinch, though. While keeping a good rep with monsters is a good idea, fights arent whats going to cause issues with them.
Humans where suppresed because monsters liked the taste of them, because they saw humans as easy pickings. Humans that let others walk all over them fit the sterotype of the "stock", the farm animal human.
Knowing humans can and wil throw hands is actually beneficial in saying "we're nobodies bitch" to critical monsters.
Not that the knifing should have been advertised, just- I don't get what Cinch means by apparently trying to hide the situation from monsters because it would make humans look savage. Shes just making excuses, honestly.
I love this
After hiatuses, shit moves fast.
I hope Twi keeps in touch with moondancer and Lemon . they just started opening up with her a bit
10718554
Agreed! They seem both too spineless to do this and also a little afraid. The fear seems kinda justified, given the attitudes a few have had towards Twilight. But then it’s countered by Twilight’s and Shining’s experiences.
I do like the part where she mentions wanting grandkids to be able to visit. She’s not freaking out about Shining marrying a monster anymore, which is great progress!
I wonder if this newfound realization about how much they don’t know about their kiss’s lives will result in Twilight detailing how she met Sunset. And how much she’ll freak.
Soft’s the one to worry about there. Velvet doesn’t seem to care about family oral history, but Soft may well recognize the name Celestia and Luna. That will be fun.
Please PLEASE!!! You have to let me on your pre-reading team! Please!!
I have a decent resume too to boot
Sometimes shorter chapters move things when we would otherwise get hung up on trying to hit a word count for the sake of numbers rather than story, so no worries there. Still, glad to see Velvet's backbone here, and also hoping the other parents follow suit. Nothing like having a bunch of parents remove their kids from there to drive the point, although I could see a potential future contest between Twilight's old and new friends in a competition.
Anyway, looking forward to more!
Something else I wanted to say is I hope the Shadowbolts end up alright, Twilight was forming a bond with some of them and it would be a shame if that was severed. Who knows maybe after that punishment which borders on abuse of children and power some of the others might be pulled out.
I need to re-read this story, and the one before it. its 3am, so I want to really appreciate Velvet's rant.
I hope the build up was worth it. It's clear that Velvet has been chafing as much as her daughter has recently. You see... the first thing I remember about Velvet in this AU is her getting passive agressive commentary from the Homeowners association. and twitching.
And the past few days have probably been an emotional roller coaster ride, and it's not finished.
How are the sparkles going to explain this to the Grandma?
so we just saw either the of start underlot or the beginning of the changelings.
I love that twilight's parents could tell why she couldn't tell them anything with out her having to spell it out for them
Yes! Yes! So much YES!!! Way to go, Mama Bear!!! Love the Velvet rant, and her wanting to move on. Gramma Soft won't be happy, but Velvet with a backbone is GLORIOUS!!!
On a different note, it took me until the interaction with Nightlight and Speedy to realize that this AU is a matriarchy
. I just thought that Nighty was whipped by his mother-in-law. 
If I have not said it before then let me say it here: I am not usually a fan of AU's; I came for more of the world and characters already in use. You sir have managed to create an AU which I not only find intriguing, but which I actively anticipate. Well played sir!
Well played, indeed.👏
Honestly, I was thinking Nighty would ask, "where can we send her?" and Twilight would, meekly, suggest, "Canterlot High? I have some friends there" and kickstart the whole conversation. This works better, I think.
The big problem with Cinch and Soft Twilight is that they are forgetting what preceded those legal rights: teeming up with the witches (who seem to have been treated as 'lesser monsters') and kicking butt. The fighting back is what the monsters respected or begrudgingly acknowledged, not the "being civilized". Also, Twilight seems to be the only one making use of those rights by going out and mingling.
You know, the way the flashbacks are going, I wonder if Sunset and Twilight are heading for a "mend the bond torn by pride" angle. Where Twilight's ancestor and Celestia, the 'previous generation', tore the two sides apart and Sunset and Twilight, the 'next/new generation', have to get the humans and monsters to unite against some greater evil.
Loved the brawl scene before this chapter and I gotta say, I got blindsided by an arrow in the knee joke. I think it's the first one in a few years for me, impressive. Anyways, I'm glad Twilight isn't in trouble for kicking ass.
I love where this is going. More worldbuilding! Woo!
It's been too long since we've seen Twilight's friends, too.
Dammit, just started reading these last week and now I'm all caught up. Plus the release schedule isn't making it look like I'll see the next part for quite some time.
Anyway, really enjoying this. Good storytelling and very creative. Looking forward to more.
This was a great chapter!
Velvet was worth the wait
Progress! And more monster city content!
Dang, glad I finally got around to reading this chapter!
So excited to see how things progress from here; I'm loving the dynamic with Twilight's family. I can bet the rest of the gang are going to be thrilled to be able to visit Twilight once they move, but I'm kinda curious if she'll stay in touch with any of her Crystal Prep (friends? acquaintances?) buddies, I'll miss her roommates if they don't make any more appearances.
Either way, fantastic work, there's still some small grammar and tense mistakes I can pick out here and there, but they're less and less common, and the punch and super fun tone of the story more than makes up for any lingering mistakes.
Can't wait for the next chapter, but I'll still be waiting patiently nonetheless!