Rise of Opaline

by WhisperFace

1 Shine like an Opal

"Oh darling. She shines like a fire opal," the stallion said.

"Mmhm," the mother breathed hard.

"Now push," the nurse said.

The father beamed at his daughter as her mother finished up the afterbirth. The nurse offered him the option to cut the cord. He closed the clip. The nurse took the fledgling from the father's hooves.

"Congratulations," the nurse said, "I'll go clean and weigh the crystal empire's newest citizen."

Another nurse tended to the winded mother. The father gushed.

"Darling she has your luminescence. We have a beautiful foal."

"Good, good," the mother said. She closed her eyes," I just need to rest." The crystal mare closed her eyes. After a few minutes, the nurse brought back their little foal. The mother cried when she held her baby.

"What shall we call her, Pinfire?" her stallion asked.

"Our little, Opaline. Our most precious gift."

Pinfire Opal was wheelchaired out of the hospital a few days later by her stallion with little Opaline in her hooves.

Opaline grew up as pampered as any filly can be. Her mother showered her with presents. Opaline had merely to bat her eyes at her father and he caved to her every whim. Still Opaline had no direction in her life. She didn’t have her cutie mark.

“Mama, when will I get my cutie mark?” Opaline whined.

“You have to find your special talent my beautiful girl.”

“But what if it isn’t good enough. I deserve the best Mama!”

“Of course you do.”

Years passed and Opaline got what she wanted.

“Papa, I want to go to the Canterlot school for unicorns.”

“You’ll need to work for that little one.” The unicorn stallion chuckled. He lowered his head and touched his curving horn to the stub on his daughter’s head.

“Can’t you just buy me a spot?”

Her father laughed. “I’m sorry, jewel. You have to show magical talent. It takes study and work.”

Opaline batted wide eyes. “Please Daddy? I deserve the best.”

Her father ran a hoof through his mane. He gave a nervous chuckle. “Perhaps I could make a generous offer. There is still no guarantee you would get in if you don’t show talent little one.”

A fire entered the filly’s eyes that made her father step back.

“I’ll show them talent. Just give me a chance and I’ll blow them away!”

Opaline poured through the names of everyone on the admissions board. Three of the 25 ponies would oversee her admission test. She learned as much as she could about every one of them. The blue mare had a family of five, cuteness ought to be used in measure. Two stallions on the council had an addiction to chocolate and four enjoyed it. Safer to bring several bars of chocolate to sway them. There were secret obsessions and scandals. Opaline poured through the books and newspapers for dirt on every member of the council. The only one she left out of her research was the head mare. Why would the Princess, the ruler of the kingdom, show up at her test.

Opaline glared at a book her father placed next to her.

“The magic of friendship?” She frowned up at the stallion. Her father chuckled.

“Its the story of The Princess and her friends, how they rose to power.”

Opaline eyed the star covered tome. “Maybe later. I’m busy.”

Her father hesitated, but Opaline was already reading about her targets again.

“Opaline, have you practiced your magic?”

The crystal unicorn filly waved her hoof at her father. “I’ll have time for that later. I have to get in first.”

Her father shook his head. “If you don’t show a talent for magic you won’t get in, jewel.”

Opaline gave him a radiant smile. “Of course I will. There is more than one way to power, Papa.”

Her father trotted down stairs. Pinfire opal had a sapphire under a jeweler's lens and was carefully shaping it.

“Darling, I’m worried Opaline isn’t practicing.”

Pinfire waved a sparkling red hoof at her husband. “She’ll do fine. You don’t need to be such a worry-wort. Pass me that necklace, will you? This should be ready to place.”

The stallion levitated the silver necklace in a soft green glow.

“As long as she isn’t too disappointed. I’d hate for her to fail.”

Opaline woke the day of the test . She shoved her bags full. She had chocolate, a cute ursa-minor plush, 5 flowers, and a notebook stuffed full of notes. She blurrily blinked in the mirror. Her hair was a mess.

“Papa!” she yelled.

But no one came. She looked around the house. Opaline found her mother hunched over a silver necklace.

“Mama, where is Papa? I need him to braid my hair.”

Her mother let out a breath. She glanced at the filly’s unruly mane and looked back into her Jeweler's scope.

“He went to work early, dear. I’m sure you are capable. After all, you're going to go to a big fancy school for magic. Surely you can magically do your own hair.”

Opaline frowned but went back to her room. She stared at her reflection again.

“Its just three clumps of hair.” She closed her eyes and stuck her tongue out.

Opaline’s horn sparked and died. She focused harder. She felt hair lift. He opened her eyes. One small clump was covered in a weak colorless bit of magic. Rage washed through her. How dare her magic defy her? The hair was harshly plucked from her scalp. She yelped. She cried.

Papa didn’t come check on her.

Little Opaline, frowned at her teary reflection. She grabbed the brush in her teeth and trotted down stairs. She sat next to her mother’s chair. She held the brush up to her mother.

“I can’t do it yet. Braids are complicated.“

Her mother looked down at her. She snorted at the little filly. Opaline’s cheeks heated.

“What?”

Her mother took the hair brush with her free hoof. She laid the necklace on the table. “Ok, but I’m not doing your hair as elaborate as your father does. One braid around each ear. The rest is just going to be brushed.”
Opaline huffed. Her mother arranged her hair by hoof and waved her off.

“Go get into your magic school. I need this necklace done so we can pay for tuition," her mother said. Pinfire moved back to her jeweler's lens.

Opaline grabbed her saddle bags and ran for the train.

“Canterlot, here I come.”

Author's Note:

I have noted a distinct lack of Opaline content. I want to explore her story from a g4 perspective from her rise to her fall if possible. Perhaps we will get more info before I am done, perhaps not. But here is what I envision for our favorite narcissist.

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[Someoneirrelevant]

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