Meanwhile, the unsuspecting Twilight and her friends were busily getting the School of Friendship ready for the annual Parents and Students Dinner. Each of them had a different assignment. As the head mare, Twilight was responsible for supervision, with Starlight as her assistant. Applejack was handling all the food. Rarity was in charge of decorating the school's banquet hall for the occasion. Fluttershy was in charge of the music. Pinkie Pie was in charge of coming up with some fun games for the students and parents to play on the school grounds after they had finished eating. Rainbow Dash was in charge of the entertainment, and she had finally been able to convince Spitfire to bring the rest of the Wonderbolts down for a small show.
As for Maddock, he helped wherever he could, but his real assignment was showing his students' parents how they had gotten rid of their various prejudices. He quivered with excitement. He couldn't wait to tell them about how their children had progressed in his class. He couldn't be more proud to show off their new attitudes. Well, all except one.
He had made some progress with Princess, but she still wasn't quite warming up to the Pegasi in the school. Sometimes he found himself breaking up verbal fights between the two parties. Some might think, "that's progress?" But indeed, it was, for only a few months before she had been getting into physical scuffles with the female pegasi. One time, she injured one of their wings and was suspended from school for one whole month by Twilight. The only contact with the school that she was allowed to make was with Maddock himself, for Twilight did not want her to discontinue her anti-prejudice studies.
The night of the dinner, everything was in place. Rarity had outdone herself, decorating the banquet hall with welcome banners and streamers all over the place, along with some of the finest food Ponyville had to offer, courtesy of Applejack. Pinkie Pie had set up all kinds of fun games on the campus grounds, and Fluttershy had managed to book in the Pony Tones for the evening. Everything was ready, and Maddock found himself standing at the top of the school's main staircase dressed in the same suit he wore when Twilight rejected him. He felt a little awkward standing next to her, but he quickly put it aside and prepared to welcome the students and their families.
Once they were all gathered, Twilight spoke. "Thank you for being here tonight, everyone! We are thrilled beyond measure to have this wonderful opportunity to share with not only our students, but their parents as well. Yes, indeed, this is sure to be a momentous occasion. Our goals tonight are threefold: one, to show the School of Friendship to the parents who entrust their children to us on a daily and nightly basis, two, to have fun, and three, to make new friends! Because that's what we do here at the School of Friendship. We strive to make every creature who walks through our doors a better friend to all whom they might come into contact with, and we hope we have achieved that goal through our students. So, welcome one and all, and let's have a good time!"
When she finished, she led all the guests and the faculty up through the school's main hallway and into the banquet hall. Everyone stood for a moment and gaped at Rarity's decorations. The pretty unicorn blushed a bit but, ever the dramatic diva, stepped forward and silently proclaimed that she was the one responsible for such a ravishing sight.
The parents, students, and faculty all took their seats. The evening began with another speech from Twilight, in which she poured praise over the student body for the work they had accomplished and the friendships they were forming. Afterwards, each teacher got to give a small presentation on their respective classes. When it came time for Maddock to give his, he slowly stepped to the microphone.
He tried not to show it, but he was more nervous than he had ever been, even on the night he confessed to Twilight. He had never made a public speech before and, even though he had been practicing for weeks, he still felt small standing there in front of such a sizeable crowd. He cleared his throat, causing the microphone to feedback some, then launched into his speech.
"Students, parents, and my fellow faculty members. Tonight is a night with which I have been anticipating with a lot of, shall we say, gusto, but also a lot of trepidation. It's easy to become apprehensive when one has to give this kind of a speech, especially when you've been entrusted with eradicating the bigotry of a special group of creatures, but, nonetheless, I press on. Hopefully, you will bear with me.
Tonight is momentous, not only for myself, but for the students in my anti-prejudice class. We've been studying hard and working hard to rid ourselves of that which besets us, and I feel like we have made a lot of progress. Unlike other prejudice classes, this one does not focus on one race of creatures who are thought to be 'privileged' or 'advantaged,' due to their appearance or where they're from. On the contrary, my class is for all creatures who wish to rid themselves of the senseless hate that racism causes.
I am delighted to be here this evening to present the results of that eradication. I'm very pleased with the progress that my students have made. Just looking out at the audience this evening, I can see how much they have changed since the semester began. I see ponies, dragons, Changelings, Griffons, and all other creatures sitting side-by-side tonight. That is what I strive to teach my students day in and day out. It doesn't matter who you are or where you're from. Opportunity presents itself to everyone equally, and it's your choice whether to grab it and run with it or to shrink away from it and never hear from it again.
So to all the parents of my students here tonight, I ask you the following question: will you help continue to quell that prejudice? If you will, then I can guarantee you from personal experience that the world will be a better place because of it. I may have come to Ponyville a prejudiced, bigoted pony, but thanks to Princess Twilight, I am living here as a completely different stallion.
I am proud of the stallion I am today, just as I am so very proud of the differences in my students' lives, and I hope that they will continue long into the future. They are the reason I do what I do on a daily basis. I love having each of my students in my class, and I only hope that they will go out into the world and make a difference in someone else because of what they've learned, not only in my class, but in all the other classes as well. Thank you."
As he finished, he took a quick look around the head table. There wasn't a dry eye there. Even Applejack's eyes were moist. But the eyes he took the most note of were Twilight's. Her tears stained her coat as she smiled. She silently conveyed a message of teacher's pride to Maddock. I know, he told her silently, I'm proud of them, too. The room erupted with applause as every creature made plain their pleasure with Maddock's speech. He sat down and blushed a bit. After all, his speech had been so brief. Pinkie Pie leaned over and nudged him. He looked at her, and saw a happiness in her puffy, tear filled eyes that he thought could never be matched. "Maddock," she whispered, "that was beautiful."
He turned to respond, but was interrupted by a crash from the banquet hall's glass ceiling. Suddenly, dozens and dozens of unicorns, all wearing the same red scarf tied around their horns, came dropping in on ropes. Even more crashed through the windows. Before any of the faculty members could move, they began attacking the students and their families.
Twilight flew into action, zapping a few of them with her magic before being overwhelmed by the sheer numbers. "TWILIGHT!" Maddock shouted and flew after her. He used his powerful hooves to buck off a number of unicorns before finally locating the princess. She was bleeding a bit, but otherwise unharmed. He pulled her out of the pile and back to the head table, where Applejack and Rainbow Dash were busily warding off their combatants.
"What the hay is all this?!" Twilight shouted.
"I haven't the foggiest!" Maddock shouted back.
Suddenly, the marauding unicorns stopped as a certain pink unicorn landed with a loud thud. She seemed to be their leader, as they all stopped and bowed in respect. She looked around with an evil sneer, but said nothing. She carried a hateful air about her, one that she completely conveyed without making a sound. But she wasn't the only silent one. Another pony was speechless. Maddock looked at this intruder with his mouth agape, for there, right in front of him, was the unicorn that had killed his parents.