Bad Decisions
Starlight was having a bad start to her morning.
Last night, she had partied with her friends. Rainbow, Pinkie, and Rarity were all there, celebrating another year of teaching at the School of Friendship. Twilight hadn't joined them this time around as she had other royal commitments to attend to the very next day, and Rainbow Dash apparently had spilled to her that they were going to be drinking at the party.
Starlight wished she had gotten that heads up. They drank heavily that night, and it wasn’t because Pinkie had spiked the punch. No, it was because Starlight chose to drink that night with them, so this was mostly her fault. But Pinkie also hadn’t disclosed how much alcohol was in each drink, saying it ‘wasn’t that much’.
Spoiler alert, it was waaayyyyy too much. As a result, Starlight was nursing a massive headache this morning, punctuated by her holding her head with a forehoof. The headache hadn’t helped her put on her more official attire before she arrived, it only made her dwell on what had gone wrong while she sat at her desk in her office. She was donning her violet-buttoned, collared white shirt, which was captured by her copper star-shaped brooch that clasped the top of her collar. Over the top of her shirt was her fresh off her ironing board (she was wanting to at least look the part of a headmare!) magenta suit that was designed by Rarity a few weeks ago. However, despite how fancy her attire was, she was definitely missing a button or two, and she was more than confident that she looked like she had seen some things. Not to mention, on top of all of this, she was struggling with her magic, her horn fizzling every time she even tried to move her cup of coffee on her desk.
Note to self: never drink heavily again.
The only thing going for Starlight was that she had not woken up late. Her alarm she had set had rung loudly in her ears. Unfortunately, she had no backup plan if she had slept past her alarm. She would have had Spike to wake her up just in case, but the poor dragon had been planning on sleeping in that day, so she didn’t want to burden him with being her impromptu failsafe. Hence her alarm, her ear-splitting headache, and her arrival to the school.
Starlight was glad she was there early. She was finishing up the final new enrollments she had gotten this year. These students were more… different than last year, which was a shocker as her mind drifted to each one. They were all different in their own right, and they all had something to offer.
This year, they were supposed to get even more random. And she was super excited to see the values of friendship being spread all across Equestria!
She smiled as she got herself out of her seat. She had dealt with all the paperwork required for most of the students, but only one remained and they were the most questionable. Why? Well, she had little information to go off of. She had seen the roster last night after the party: Hippogriffs, Griffons, Changelings, Yaks, and Ponies just like before… but there was one. One that was unlisted in species. Their name was Ruff, and they were a male. That was it.
Who in the whole wide world of Equestria would name their son Ruff?
She shook her head and adjusted her mane. Maybe those drinks she had last night made her see things and the actual name of the student was like ‘Apple Crust’ and they forgot to list them as a pony. Yeah, he was just a pony, right? Or maybe this was some alcoholic amnesia and she was forgetting something important. Very importante, as Pinkie would put it.
With a flick of her horn, Starlight teleported to the front door of the school. Well, she’ll have to bite her tongue and approach Mr. Ruff with as much gumption as a hungover headmare could! Hopefully his name wasn’t a bad omen and they would have a great time getting to know each other.
Starlight sighed and summoned what little magic she had this morning in her reserves. She winced as she did so, struggling to fling the double doors open. She closed her eyes and sighed. She really wished she was someplace else right now. Maybe she should plan to go back to Cloudsdale or something? Rainbow Dash could hook her up with the works.
The doors to the School of Friendship swung open.
“Hello! My name is Ruff. And you are… uh, Miss Starlight Glimmer, right?”
Starlight opened her eyes.
“Yes, my name is—HOLY SHIT!”
She panicked upon seeing what was in front of her. A bright white light flashbanged her view of the creature, disorienting her surroundings through a blur. She could only see a silhouette of one that was tall, had large claws, and had its pearly, white, razor sharp teeth out for her to see.
That’s all she saw before she gave them a one-way ticket to Cloudsdale.
Princess Twilight Sparkle was having a bad start to her morning.
She had woken up past her early morning alarm. This was the first time she had ever slept past it, and this was surely one of those times she wanted to hope it was all a dream. It was, startling, to see that she had missed her train by about thirty minutes. It was earth-shattering that her mind was prattling on and on of the thoughts that everypony who had expected her to be there would say. Her long-standing streak of being punctual was suddenly dashed by a hazardous body clock.
So, she decided to be irrational, like the old days. She skipped breakfast and just teleported herself there.
That was her second mistake, as she forgot to bring the missive she needed to present to the Mayor of Cloudsdale, so she had to teleport her non-punctual goofy self back to Ponyville to then teleport once again back to Cloudsdale, as if she had never even teleported there in the first place. Somepony probably saw her, right?
By the time she got back her missive, and then triple checked—no, quadruple checked her list of items to bring, which were her saddlebags (to put the missive in, of course), the missive itself, some quill and ink, some paper, and a secondary list of action items to do AFTER the meeting with the Mayor of Cloudsdale (she was not fond of this list, it was boring), she realized that her magic was already on the fritz. The unplanned oversleeping, and the subsequent anxiety and forgetfulness were not the greatest ingredients for a tasty cocktail of friendship, and they certainly weren’t good for an early morning excursion to Cloudsdale.
She sighed, clip-clopping her way through downtown. Since she was now extremely early, she might as well recover her magic reserves by spending her time sight-seeing. Some ponies were bowing down to her as she passed, but she didn’t want to waste her energy telling them not to, as she was really not in the mood to correct every single one she ran into.
So, she opted to just pretend they weren’t bowing down to her and continued her journey.
MUNCH!
Oh, and she also stopped by one of the bakeries in Cloudsdale, which was why she was currently munching on a chocolate covered double cake doughnut. Carefully, she swallowed the bit she nommed from, smiling and licking her lips as she carried the pastry in her magic.
What else could she see? Not that Cloudsdale was like Ponyville: a place that acted quaint but was really a chaotic mess of friendship, or at least, that’s what Discord told her was the thesis of his twelve page review of it. He gave it an A+ because Fluttershy was there. She admired that he adored Fluttershy to the point of reform, but really? Fluttershy is the only redeeming feature that he liked? According to his notes, Ponyville would’ve been granted a B- if Fluttershy weren’t there!
Groaning inwardly, Twilight took the final bite of her doughnut and closed her eyes. She was happy she was here, but she really missed the spontaneousness of Ponyville. She also missed her friends, who had attended their ‘Another Year of Teaching and Learning’ party last night. And of course, she missed it because of her affairs that she had to attend to this morning. She wondered how they fared, since Pinkie had totally spiked their drinks with vodka she got from somepony who stopped by Sugarcube Corner recently. She had told her that the vodka was from some place out east, but she couldn’t remember the place. Ponies are now all over the globe these days.
Twilight’s thoughts drifted to a friend of hers that she missed the most: Starlight. Wasn’t she supposed to be greeting the first diamond dog student at this time? She had seen the enrollment papers with Spike prior to the party; it was exciting to finally see the diamond dogs unearth themselves from their caves to experience life outside, even if it did hurt their eyes a bit. Thankfully, a very nice diamond dog just so happened to be interested in the values of friendship and wanted to pursue them further after meeting herself and Starlight in the caves. It warmed her heart and her soul, knowing that it was because of their efforts that this was even a possibility. Their dedication and hard work in nurturing a partnership with the dogs finally surmounted to something.
So… how was Starlight doing?
Twilight smiled at the thought as she passed over a golden bridge, which, surprisingly, wasn't made of clouds. It was anchored magically between two larger and stronger sets of clouds, which were made of some rare metal that she read about—her doughnut was distracting her from remembering all the details. No matter what metal it was made of, this bridge represented a symbol of unity of Equestria’s founding, from what Twilight could recall. It also served as a safe spot in case somepony who didn’t have wings suddenly had their cloudwalking spell fade and they didn’t want to fall through Cloudsdale. In fact, several new spots formed across the town, as they were called ‘safe spots’. Twilight wasn’t sure why they hadn’t added more of these sooner.
Regardless of the speed of the creation of the other safe spots, it was great to see that the bridge still held up, but the small shrine that it led to was what Twilight really wanted to see. It was supposed to also commemorate the unification of Equestria, but unlike the bridge, it also served as a mini museum, with some artifacts that didn’t need to be held under surveillance twenty-four seven. Twilight could be wrong, though, as this was entirely based on her sleep-deprived memory.
In reality, she was certain it was just another shrine to Commander Hurricane—
Mmmmmmrrrriiiinnnngggggg!
Twilight yelped as her train of thought was derailed by a sudden pink-ish glow that formed right in front of her. The loud noise it emitted made her falter back, her wings now fully extended. She hoped that whatever was appearing in front of her wasn’t going to ruin her day.
Then, the glow dissipated and so too did the noise…
…and a Diamond Dog stood in front of her, blinking, its paw raised.
A few ponies that had also witnessed the sudden glow had run or flown away from the bridge, leaving just her to inspect the diamond dog. It was tall, brown, and had blue-ish eyes. Its paws were large, and its head was... normal, for a diamond dog.
“Hello…?”
The dog shook his head, before looking around, its ears flopping around. “Hello—Princess Twilight!?”
The dog bowed its head, much to Twilight’s chagrin.
She waved her forehooves. “You don’t need to bow to me!”
“But I must, that’s what I was told—”
Twilight sighed. “Well you have bowed long enough, sir…?”
“Ruff, ma’am. I… I was told to meet Miss Starlight Glimmer—”
She could feel her brow twitch at this one, while her ears were standing up proudly. “Come again?”
“I was told to meet—”
“That was a rhetorical question, Ruff. I apologize.”
“None taken,” Ruff replied, his paw returning to his side. He smiled rather sheepishly.
Twilight’s eyes bugged out. She knew who this was. Why was the student that Starlight was supposed to meet up here in Cloudsdale?
“Sorry, uh… where am I, princess?”
“You’re in Cloudsdale, Ruff,” she said, trotting up to him. She eyed him down a bit—he didn’t seem to be hurt at all during that sudden teleport. “Stay on this bridge, this is the only thing that’s solid for you to stand on.”
The diamond dog stood still and looked down at the sites below. “Wow, is that Ponyville down there?”
“Yes,” Twilight said, as she too looked down from where they were at. She could still see the Castle of Friendship from up here—wait, focus! “While I'd love to point out the landmarks of Ponyville from up here, it’s… not good that you’re up here. How did you…?”
Ruff held his front paws together as he continued to peer down at Ponyville. “Miss Starlight Glimmer teleported me up here, princess.”
Twilight’s eyes bugged out for a second time in a row. “P-Pardon?”
“Miss Starlight Glimmer—”
“No, I heard you, Ruff. I’m just… confused. Did she say why?”
Ruff turned to her and shook his head. “Nope! She just said her name was HOLY SHIT and then teleported me here.”
A third time for good measure, her wings now flared while her horn sparked. “She said WHAT?”
“Exactly! I’m just as confused as you are, princess. Is that how ponies greet each other? I don’t know, it’s my first time being out of the caves and I was worried—”
Twilight folded her wings to her sides and sat on her flanks. “I’m shocked that she said that to you. That is not how ponies greet anyone, let alone each other. I apologize on her behalf. Could you… did you get a good look at her before she teleported you?”
Ruff shrugged. “Not sure what you mean by a good look. I’m not one to judge a pony. All I know is that her mane was a bit frazzled and she had definitely jumped when she saw me.”
“Exactly how I expected her to look,” Twilight began, her disappointment immeasurable. She rubbed her temples with her forehooves. “Anything else you saw?”
“Other than a bright light and then turning up here?”
Twilight nodded. “Yes. Other than that.”
Ruff shook his head. “Nope. I am as in the dark on this as you are, ma’am.”
“Well, if that’s the case. Maybe you and I need to go head back so we can get you fully enrolled.”
“Yes—wait how did you know it was—”
“Your first day?” Twilight finished. Ruff nodded, so she continued, “I saw that you were on the list of new students. Congratulations on being the first diamond dog to attend the school!”
Ruff nodded. “Thank you, princess. Although, I hope I don’t get teleported again by her. With what you said, you think I did something wrong?”
Twilight shook her head. “No, you didn’t do anything wrong, Ruff. I think Starlight may have woken up on the wrong side of her bed.”
“Truly?”
“Oh, trust me. I am ninety-nine point nine, nine, nine percent positive she is a victim of sleep deprivation and not-so-good antics.” She got off her flanks and offered Ruff a smirk. “You want to go back to see her?”
“Are you coming with me?”
“Of course I am! I have to talk to her about this, since now I’m curious why she teleported you here, of all places.”
Ruff laughed. “Don’t worry, princess. She probably didn’t mean it.”
“Oh she didn’t mean to, but she’s certainly going to explain why she did it.” Twilight unfurled one of her wings and guided Ruff to her side. “Are you ready?”
Ruff nodded. A purple glow surrounded them before Twilight flicked her horn.
And then they were gone.
Starlight Glimmer's heart was beating out of her chest. There was no way she just teleported what was most likely a new student of the School of Friendship. And based on what little she heard or saw, she teleported Ruff, the one that was listed as an unknown species.
Why did she do that? What was wrong with her?
Starlight winced as she held her head. That magic exertion just strengthened that headache of hers tenfold, her brain now pulsing images of the drinks she had drank last night, and the subsequent punishment that she was going to be served if she couldn’t find Ruff!
She paused as she scampered back to her office.
So, she was screwed. She was SCREWED. She needed to fix this now, but how? Never once in her entire time of being at this school had she done something as drastic as forcibly teleporting a prospective student to another place entirely on their first day.
And on top of that… she believed it was Ruff. Ruff… the name was so familiar.
She gasped as an image of a brown diamond dog with floppy ears and blue eyes greeted her vision. Ruff was a diamond dog. The diamond dog. The ‘one that they had to push for over the past few months just to get him to enroll’ diamond dog. And she just screwed the pooch on that one—er, phrasing, Starlight!
She groaned. Her headache was beating her right now, and her horn was just sparking all over her desk. Little specks of magical unicorn dust flickered by the list, with Ruff’s name circled in red. Her coffee cup was still hanging by the edge. She thought about bumping it off her desk to cool herself off, but all that would do would stain the floor and shatter the cup into splinters of glass. She wasn’t a fan of the clean up. Instead, she moved the cup away from her desk, choosing to leave it on a nearby cabinet that had nothing on it.
Starlight put her face in her forehooves and screamed out in frustration. She needed to calm down and think of a method of recourse for this blunder. To start, she needed to know where the poor diamond dog was. Where had she teleported him again? What was she thinking right before Ruff introduced himself?
Starlight gasped and planted her face on her desk.
She had teleported him to Cloudsdale.
And Twilight was there! Right. Now.
Starlight popped herself upright and jumped off her seat. “I need to hightail it to Cloudsdale now!”
She shook her head and focused enough to cast one more minor spell: a cloud-walking spell. She’ll need it in case she needs to go around Cloudsdale to find him. But it shouldn’t be hard to find him. After all, there was only one place in Cloudsdale that would’ve made sense. The one place where a Diamond Dog wouldn’t just fall through the clouds.
The Bridge of Unification.
Without a moment to spare, Starlight teleported, leaving the door to her office wide open for anypony to see.