• Published 14th Sep 2012
  • 2,009 Views, 83 Comments

Second chances - jacob.galvin



Sometimes goodness comes from unexpected places

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Of spells and curses

Authors notes:Thanks to Amethyst Dawn for the editing.
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Of spells and curses
If you were to ask an average citizen of Ponyville how their day was going, 99 percent of the time their answers would be positive, this town wasn't like the high class Canterlot, nor the low class sinkhole that was Manehatten. This town was a perfect balance of nice ponies and modest living, where everypony knew everypony, and there were always good friends to help with any problem that may arise.

This day had been particularly kind to a certain blue Pegasus, who with the help of a stranger had confessed her love to a childhood friend. Or perhaps you could ask the mail pony Derpy Hooves, whose run in with the same stranger, had left her feeling confident about her odd appearance. Perhaps you could ask the fillies Applebloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, who thanks to the actions of this stranger, had avoided harassment at the hooves of the school bully, and most likely would never suffer harassment from said bully again. If you felt brave perhaps you could ask the town’s baker Pinkie Pie how she felt about her run in with this stranger. In truth that simple hug had left her feeling funny inside, but not in a bad way, though she would be embarrassed to admit it. Yes, truthfully there was only one pony in Ponyville who was not having a good day, though if you asked anypony about it privately, they would tell you that she deserved it.



Twilight walked through the doors of Ponyville general hospital. She had been in the library, reading a particularly interesting tome on theoretical magic, when Spike had coughed up a letter. Apparently a school filly had been magically injured, and her expertise was needed to find out what spell was used. "Excuse me", she called to the receptionist, “I was told that somepony had been brought in with a magical injury"

“Ah yes Miss Sparkle,” a doctor walked up to greet her, “please come with me.

She accompanied the doctor down a sterile hallway to a waiting room. “Stay here a moment, I'll check if they're ready for you to go in.” He disappeared into one of the rooms. Miss Cheerilee was sitting in the waiting room, along with Diamond Tiara's father, who was crying.

"Oh thank you for coming Twilight Sparkle, the doctor's say they've never seen anything like it,” Cheerilee said.

“Can you help my daughter?” Mr Rich sniffed.

"Oh of course I can" Twilight reassured him, “then we'll know whatever or whoever did this.”

“Whoever?” He asked confused,” are you saying that this was done deliberately, that it wasn't an accident?

“No I'm not saying that,” she assured him. ”After all,” she thought to herself, who in Ponyville besides herself was halfway decent at magic anyway.

“You can go in now,” the Doctor said, re-emerging from the room.

“I think I should do this privately,” Twilight said.

Mr Rich nodded. “Please help my daughter, she's all I have.”



Twilight put on a strong face as she smiled at him, then entered the hospital room. Twilight immediately cast a silence spell on the room. Whatever happened in here, Mr Rich didn't need to hear, it would only upset him further. Diamond Tiara lay in bed, her eyes staring but seeing nothing. Twilight recognized the spell immediately, temporary blindness. Some sick fools idea of a joke she thought, casting a simple counter curse. The white in Diamond Tiara's eyes faded, and she immediately began to scream, thrashing as pain washed over her in waves. Twilight immediately cast a re-blinding spell, and Diamond immediately fell silent. What an odd curse she thought, it was if someone didn't want it removed, which told her this more than a simple prank.

Twilight examined Diamond's flank, where by all rights a cutie mark should have been. But there was nothing, not burn mark, or scar, nothing to indicate that it had been removed. What the hell kind of magic was this? Twilight wondered, was this what her horn had warned her about? And if so, had she failed to protect this filly somehow? "Diamond Tiara, can you hear me?" She asked gently, there was no response, "Diamond, please say something, who did this to you?" Twilight decided to read the fillies mind; surely she must some memory of what happened. Twilight's horn glowed as she pressed it gently against Diamonds forehead, peering into her mind. Twilight saw Diamond teasing Applebloom, she saw her talking to her friend Silver Spoon, and she saw Diamond crying in her room, clutching a framed photo. She dug deeper, looking for any memories of today. She saw the Everfree forest, heard an unfamiliar voice,

"Oh how I hate ponies like you" Suddenly there was a burst of green light, Twilight screamed as it burnt her eyes. She pulled her horn back and the memory ended.

"What in the hell was that!?" she exclaimed to nopony. Who in Equestria besides the Celestia and Luna could even perform such a powerful spell, one that apparently was powerful enough to strip a pony of their cutie mark. Another thought hit Twilight, suppose she did discover who cast the spell, what then? She would be no match for somepony as powerful as that. "Oh Diamond Tiara, I wish there was something I could do for you."

As Twilight was leaving, Diamond muttered something, “I...”

Twilight rushed over, “what did you say?”

“I...I don't,” Diamond murmured

“Yes?” Twilight asked.

"I don't fit." Diamonds eyes closed, as she fell into unconsciousness.

“You don't fit, what does that mean?” Twilight wondered aloud. She emerged from the room.

“How is she? Mr Rich asked, “did you find anything?”

“Your daughter's going to be fine, the blindness was caused by a spell and will soon wear off, the cutie mark on the other hoof..." Twilight trailed off.

“What happened to her cutie mark!?" he asked worriedly.

“I checked her memories; it seems somepony removed it with a spell, the same pony who caused the blindness.” Twilight replied.

The expression on his face went from one of sadness, to one of extreme anger. “You're saying that somepony attacked my daughter!?” he growled, it seems that way, “and whoever it was appears to be incredibly powerful, possibly the most dangerous pony in all of Equestria, who knows what else he could be planning?”

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Meanwhile across town, Discord sat at one of the tables outside Sugarcube corner. "So are you sure we haven't met?" the brown, spiky maned stallion asked him.

Discord groaned, ”For the hundredth time, we haven't met, I promise you've never seen me before!"

“Were you at the battle of Gallifrey?" The stallion persisted.

“No,” Discord answered tiredly.

“How about Canary wharf?” He asked.

“No, I don't even know what that is,” Discord said.

“Are you at all affiliated with the Sontarans?” He just wouldn’t give up!

Discord slammed his head repeatedly against the wooden table. “Look sir, as far as I know sultanas are a fruit, and I have no affiliation with them, so if you could PLEASE stop talking to me.”