The Flurried Soul and the Troubled Heart
Shining Armor sprawled out on the grass of the training grounds, feeling the sweat drip down every inch of his body, two empty bottles of water next to him. He’d been showing a platoon of Crystal Guards how to deflect magic, except he was the only one actually throwing the magic for them to deflect.
He was knocked out of a semi-doze by the approach of hurried hooves. “Captain, Sir.”
Shining opened his eyes and scrambled up in full armor to render a salute. A messenger held out a scroll. “Urgent message from your wife, Sir. Your eyes only.”
Shining’s heart skipped a beat. Cadance wouldn’t be messaging him during an exercise unless it was urgent. He opened the scroll.
Shining—
Emergency message just came in from Dean Emerald at Crystal Prep. Flurry’s been involved in a big fight, and the Dean claims she started it. Lots of bruises, but nobody seriously hurt. One of the other students involved is the daughter of a Yakyakistan consul. Please meet me at the school as soon as you get this.
Flurry Heart attacking another student? he thought. Sure, Flurry was strong-willed and could be a pill on her bad days—not unlike her mother—but she was nothing but kind to those around her. At least, so she said. And all the parents of her friends, too. No, there’s gotta be more here.
The teleportation spell sapped his strength even further, and he wobbled on his hooves ever-so-slightly when he appeared at the front door of Crystal Prep. Thankfully, no one was around to see. Shining Armor strode into the lobby, identified himself to the secretary, and was shown back to a series of offices and corridors, all of which were lined with parents from Flurry Heart’s class talking in low tones.
“Shining, over here!” He saw Cadance, who rushed over and embraced him. Shining returned the embrace.
“Is Flurry alright? Where is she?”
“Yes, Flurry’s fine— just a few scratches and a bump on her head. She’s with a counselor. Dean Emerald wants to see us; I was waiting for you.”
The Dean’s report was grim. There had been an argument among Flurry’s class during recess, and Flurry had jumped in—flown in—and had knocked four students down with her magic, unprovoked.
Unprovoked my pasty flanks, Shining thought. If she was fighting, it was for a good reason. “Dean, did you talk to Flurry about this? Did she say why she threw the first hoof?”
The Dean shook his head. “Ms. Flurry said that she got mad because another student was being teased on the playground and they wouldn’t stop.”
“Which student?”
“Excuse me?”
“Which student did she see being teased?”
“I’m afraid I’m not at liberty to discuss that with…”
He saw a shadow rising up over him. Cadance was still a lithe and regal princess, but she could be intimidating as hell when she needed to.
“Shining, go speak with Flurry and get her side of the story. I would like to talk to the Dean. Alone.”
Shining knew better than to question a princess, especially one in full Mother Ursa Major mode. “Yes, dear,” he said, and trotted out.
It took a few minutes of peeking through windows of small offices—the kind used to counsel wayward students—before he saw Flurry in one, all alone.
When Shining walked into the room, his daughter looked up at him with eyes of incredible sadness. Her eyes were red and puffy, her mane a mess, her fuzzy pink face lined with tears. “Daddy…” She choked out a sob. “I screwed up. I’m so sorry…”
She lay her head down on the table, her hooves pressed inward against her temples. Shining went over to her and laid a comforting hoof on her back, gently rubbing like he had done when she was an upset little foal, not that many years ago.
“It’s OK. Tell me what happened.”
“You probably won’t believe me…” Flurry started.
“I won’t know until you tell me,” Shining said.
Flurry sat back. Shining saw a long scratch down her forelimb, and a visible bruise under the fuzz of her shoulder.
“Must have been important for you to go starting a fight.”
“It was Yulia.”
“Who’s Yulia?”
“A new student. She’s a yak.”
Shining wracked his brain and then remembered the name. The Second Consul of Yakyakistan, Yorador, had been at one of those fancy receptions. He said he had a daughter about Flurry’s age, and that he was thinking of enrolling her in school here in the Crystal Empire instead of back home. Shining and Cadance had gushed about Crystal Prep, and Shining felt a pang of guilt that their advice to him had gone so wrong.
“They went after her. Making fun of her,” Flurry said.
“Who did, sweetie?”
Flurry rattled off a disturbingly long list of a half-dozen names. “It was… it was wrong. They were calling her fat, and a cow, and saying, ‘yak yak, shit-brown sack, go away and never come back,’ and ‘yaks stupid’ and begging her to try and smash them. And Yulia was crying and telling them to stop, and they wouldn’t stop…”
Shining sat down next to Flurry. “Did you tell them to stop?”
Flurry shook her head. “Nuh-uh. You told me that just because I’m an alicorn doesn’t mean I get to boss other ponies around. And I didn’t want to say or do anything, but seeing her just made me so angry I couldn’t help myself. So I told them to stop once, then they told me to ‘lighten up,’ and that was it. I flew in and cast that magic-throwing bubble spell you showed me. Knocked them all back. Then we started fighting on the ground. I couldn’t help it. Yulia was fighting next to me, too. Then the teachers broke it up.” She looked up at him, begging. “I know… I know you told me not to do things like this, but I’m sorry, I couldn’t just…” Another wailing sob, and Flurry turned away.
Before he could stop himself, Shining had both hooves around his daughter. “Fighting should never be the first thing you do, honey. But some fights are worth picking. And sometimes, creatures need to be told to knock it off.”
Flurry took his large hooves in her tiny ones. “I… I didn’t know. I thought you and mom told me never to boss anypony around just because I’m an alicorn and a princess.”
Shining looked directly into his daughter’s large eyes. “Consider this the exception. You see anypony… you see anycreature being picked on, or abused, or treated badly, you tell them to stop. That’s one of the perks of being a princess.”
And one of your duties, he thought.
Flurry nodded. “I… I understand. So… am I still in trouble?”
Shining thought for a moment. “A little,” he said. “But nowhere near as much as the kids who started picking on Yulia.” He gave her a hug. “We’ll talk some more in a bit. Right now I’m guessing your mom is getting the rest of the story from Dean Emerald and the other parents…”
Just then, the door opened, and Cadance appeared, along with the even larger-framed yak Second Consul Yorador, and in between them, the rather small—and sheepish-looking—Dean Emerald. “Captain Armor, I think there may have been a misunderstanding.”
Cadance blew a magic heart over to her daughter, and one to her husband. Only he saw the slight half-grin on his wife’s face.
I figured she’d get it straightened out.
Flurry came down the stairs, nervously, at her father’s call. She’d taken her punishment of a week’s grounding—save for school, of course—quite hard, spending most of her time after school either doing chores or being quiet up in her room.
“Flurry, honey, there’s someone here to see you.”
Shining held open the door. It was Yulia, her thick black mane in a long single braid, clothed in a red robe. He motioned for Yulia to come in. “Flurry, Yulia just came by. You can come say hi.”
Flurry stepped over next to her father, looking confused.
“Um, hi, Flurry Heart,” Yulia began. “Yulia just wanted to say ‘thank you’ for sticking up for Yulia in front of all those bullies. Does… uh… would Flurry want to be Yulia’s friend?”
Before she could say another word, Flurry had flashed over to Yulia’s side and gave her a big glomping hug. “I’d love that, Yulia! I’m so happy!” Yulia let out a huge giggle.
Then Shining saw Flurry look up at him, nervously. “Oh… but I can’t play with you right now, Yulia. My dad says I’m grounded for knocking down all the bullies.” Her face fell. “When I’m not grounded anymore, I’ll come play at your house, I promise… if it’s OK with you, Daddy…”
Shining looked down at his daughter and the friend she had stuck up for. She’s growing up just fine.
“You can stay here and play with Flurry if you want, Yulia. It’s fine.”
“But… Dad…” Flurry asked, “I thought I was grounded. You and Mom said…”
“Well, yes, you do have to stay here,” Shining said. “We didn’t say you had to be here all alone.” He gave a sly wink.
He felt Flurry flash over to him and give him another one of her big hugs. “Thank you, Daddy,” she whispered. Then she turned to Yulia. “Come on up to my room, Yulia! Let me show you around!”
“Yulia would like that so much!,” the young yak squeed with delight.
The two of them scampered away, leaving Shining wondering how in the heavens he had been graced with such a daughter.
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I'm lost on what Cadance did there. She obviously did something while with the Dean, and the parents. But I don't get it. At all.
10353220
Simple never mess with a mama pony she will be very protective of her young
Glad to see you back, friend!
This is a nice little story with a good (and very timely!) message. Even more so now, I think.
A good moral and a cute characters, well written and well told.
I don't think she should've been punished. As Princess, her duty is to defend others. Best she learn her trade early. Sometimes, injustice must be met with force.
While I do understand why Flurry needed to be punished (I'm glad it wasn't severe), I can see why she did what she did, unsurprisingly. Flurry did mention that she asked the student bullying Yulia to stop, and that bully didn't listen to the first attempt. While she shouldn't have resorted to letting her hooves do the talking so quickly, Flurry did at least give some attempt to solve the issue diplomatically. Also, she's a princess, and she'll soon be an Empress. It's her duty to protect her subjects from any threat, especially in the long run. And this, while more or less unwarranted, is a good start for her. While I do agree with Shining Armor that throwing strikes shouldn't be resorted to so quickly, at the same time, it's also important for Flurry to learn that not all conflicts can be solved with mere words and done peacefully. To put it simply, don't always resort to blows, but also know when the time for talking is no longer working. Try to find a balance between both. Or else things will go bad for everyone. Not just for the leader of an entire empire either, but for the rest of his or her subjects as well. Those very same creatures who will become Flurry's subjets in the future
.
Not every problem can be solved diplomatically, but at the same time, every problem can be solved with blows. The earlier that Flurry Heart learns this and finds a balance between them, the better off she'll be in the future when she takes her parents' positions as leader of the Crystal Empire
.
All and all, nice little moralistic one-shot of not only standing up for those who can't do it themselves but also how to handle those situations in a proper manner: depending on the situationtwilightsmile:
.
10353337
That is a horrible example, if Flurry is let off with no punishment because she's a princess. Yes, she was right in the end, but that doesn't mean she should get away with it.
Considering she was only grounded a week, when it could be much longer, or outright expelled from the school for fighting, then it fits what she got.
10353607
But she didn't do anything wrong. Those little shits were asking for it. The only language bullies speak is a punch to the face. If more little shits had gotten their asses kicked on the playground we wouldn't be in the current mess. Our culture REWARDS and ENABLES bullying. All this "turn the other cheek" bullshit. Bullies need their asses kicked.
Also, her being a Princess matters. Kicking the asses of shits like criminals and invaders is one of the few legitimate roles the state has.
Also, great story, I really did like it.
Nice. That was awesome! Such a good kid.
10353608
I look at it a little differently.
Was starting the fight wrong? Yes. Among youngsters - especially at school - fighting shouldn't be the answer.
Was Flurry wrong for taking the stand she did? No. It wasn't right of those other students to be picking on Yuria...independent of it possibly causing a diplomatic incident.
Does Flurry regret taking that stand? No, and she shouldn't.
Does she regret doing so by fighting? Yes, and she should.
Being punished here is her facing the consequences of her actions. She broke the rules, and faces the consequences...but that doesn't make her reasons wrong. It's a careful approach, to punish for action but not reason.
10353831
)
I agree. That was what I had Shining and Cadance thinking about in the back story--and looking back on several conversations with my own parents, probably what a lot of parents think about. There is a time to fight and defend yourself and others, but one should always try to end a conflict peacefully first. My own version of Flurry is that she's a kid who wears her heart on her sleeve, and when she feels something, she feels it all the way. (Not that there's anything wrong with feelings! But part of growing up is learning how to master feelings rather than let them control you. Which explains, you know, teenagers.
You've got 2 "the"s in your preview description lad.
Dawww, that was a nice little story. Love me some Uber powerful flurry heart but seeing her young and still learning the ropes of her trade is nice to see.
Also for people arguing about the punishment, it’s a good idea for her to get punished because it teaches Flurry (and young people) that they’re actions, even good ones, have consequences that you’d have to deal with after.
But I think this punishment was suitable, a grounding from the parents was is enough for a child like Flurry who’s old and art enough to understand her situation. Don’t see the need for much more
10353337
Based on the ending and how Shining Armor is lenient on the idea of a grounding punishment, I think the grounding is more a show of disciplining the aggressor than actual punishment. He and Cadence are proud of their daughter, but they have to make a show of not being nepotists and respecting the rules and regulations of any facilities utilized.
10354115
Fixed. Thanks!
10354027
That's kinda what I thought was in mind. Being a princess does not put you above facing consequences. No matter how much it was the right thing to do.
I could be wrong, but I get the feeling that with how lenient Flurry's punishment was (and I would think fighting would get her expelled), Cadance took the school to task over its failure to prevent the bullying in the first place, and then not trying to stop it themselves.
The Dean seemed to care far more about Flurry getting all of the blame for everything, and not how it all started. Or he didn't care at all about the bullying.
That could just be me though.
A good lesson to learn at that age. A lot of people don't get to learn that lesson, so many are filled with doubt and a lack of will, saying "Maybe somebody else will help?" or "They really should learn to defend themself!" Or even, "I can't help them."
...Though I will say the obvious answer would have been grabbing a teacher...
10353242
That is how a Karen is born!
10354539
)
I didn't have time to address what Cadance did in the original, and I wanted to keep the focus on Shining and Flurry while editing it. But yeah, it was something like that. The idea that "kids will be kids" and therefore bullying is a normal and expected part of school life which nothing can be done about is still all too prevalent IRL. (There may have been something of my old elementary school principal in Dean Emerald.
10354827
The difference between a good parent (like Cadance and Shining try to be here) and a Karen (or Todd) is that a good parent knows their children and will discipline them if they did something wrong. The Karens and Todds of the world, for whatever reason, think their kids are never wrong, and never really discipline them.
Too bad that wouldn't work in an American Public School™. There, EVERYONE would be punished, without the parents' consent, INCLUDING Yulia "for participating in a fight". Or worse, if any of the bullies had been a Sports Jock/Star™, they would have gotten away scot-free "so the school will not lose any trophies".
10353608
There's another thing to be considered here.
First, she escalated too quickly. Her use of force went 1, 2, 8 - a single "hey, leave her alone" and then escalating to physical violence is skipping several levels that still avoid a fight, but resolve the situation. Not the least of which is "get an adult involved who can prevent a diplomatic incident because of these numskulls."
Second - if Flurry hadn't been punished, on some level, it could make things much, much worse. Accusations that the school was favoring her because she was royalty. That her parents weren't taking what happened seriously. All sort of unfortunate political factors that undermine the good that her outburst caused. And, of course, it would also discourage the other parents from doing anything to their brats, since obviously they didn't deserve to be punished if their "attacker" wasn't.
And, worst of all, there's the chance that some observers might take Flurry's example and learn the wrong lesson from it, particularly if she wasn't punished at all.
So the reasonably minor punishment affirms that a physical assault isn't an appropriate response to a verbal one, while also giving a prod to the other parents in the form of "okay, we've dealt with our end - now you yutzes make sure we never have to have this discussion again, capisce?"
As a victim of the "it takes two to fight" mantra, I sympathize. But I always made sure the other guy threw the first punch.
Blocking aggressively, after that, is just proper self defense.
10355403
My experience might be colored by the fact that in school a quick smack (or worse) was essentially the only effective method I could find to stopping bullying. If you "tell" to a teacher the bully just comes back madder.
Awesome story, I really enjoyed it!
While yes, violence can get out of hand, I think people underestimate how awful words can be.
Nasty name-calling can be pretty psychologically destructive.
Man, this was adorable, funny, and wholesome all at the same time! Gosh this whole story is beautifully written and enjoyable all around! Hope ya didn't mind, but I just had to make a reading of this snazzy lil' story ya wrote! :D
Audio Linkie!: https://youtu.be/vQJ3dC7FgwM
(I don't mean to offend anyone with this comment in any way!)
10356140
I am honored! Can't wait to hear it.
Love this! I mean personally my moto's always been "If they don't listen warn em'." before violence but hey, sometimes, despite what we're told, violence is in fact the answer, some people just don't learn otherwise.
Of course Flurry jumped on the violence a little quickly but I can't judge.
This. This right here? Tells me the school couldn't have given any less fuck about who the other student was. They may even have been looking for any excuse to do something with Flurry.
You didn't exactly paint this Crystal Prep as any better than what it was in the Friendship Games.
If it got out who the other student really was, and that Flurry Heart defended her, then it would make the school look like the villain, and if this pathetic excuse for a dean is anything like Cinch, then the image is all they care about.
Probably why Cadance stepped in before it did. Something like "Let me put it this way. Either you do your job as a school and punish the bullies and Flurry Heart. Or I spill the full story to Yuria's father, and the Crystal Empire. I'm sure you know who he is. Whose story do you think he would like more? Whatever half assed one you have?
Or that my daughter stood up for and defended her? Not even caring who or what she is? I'll probably tell him anyway. But this way, you lot still look good. Capise?"
Or something like that. Otherwise, ponies will ask why only Flurry Heart got punished, and what she did to get it in the first place. And then if it got out she beat up bullies, who totally deserved it, the school is sunk.
I really wish shit turned out this well in real life. In reality though, the person acting in defense of others is always the one to be punished and the bullies always get off scott-free.
Nice
This was sweet.
10354768
Getting a teacher is the right answer, but it also assumes the teacher is willing to do something and has the power to. In our world at least, going to the teachers is, unfortunately, rarely effective.
You can has review!
An oddball ghost happened across your fic and read it. Have a review!