"For a family day, there sure are many grown-ups here." I think to myself as I walk out into the bright sunlight with Scootaloo right beside me, trying to forget the events that happened only minutes ago. I look over the play-yard, finding many of the fillies and colts playing with one another, most of them spending time in their respected groups. Th adults are either talking with one another or playing with who I assume are their children.
I look down at my little angel, the filly scuffing at the ground beneath her, like she's waiting for permission to play.
"Are you going to go and play with your friends?" I ask, nudging her side with a hoof.
Scoots shakes her head, breaking out of whatever trance she is in. The filly looks up at me with confusion, "What?"
"I said, "starting to chuckle at the fillies forgetful nature, "Are you going to go play?"
She nods once more, galloping away from my sight to go over to a group of fillies. I sigh to myself, watching the Pegasus begin to chat with them before they run off to play tag.
"Now it's my turn to find something to do, "I say to myself, looking around for a nice spot to sit down and relax. All that time in the Everfree Forest has really done number on my mind, and all this yelling and crying is too much to handle right now. My eyes quickly spot a brown object through the maze of ponies, a long brown object.
A Stenson hat.
Moving through the maze and ducking under a frisbee that is hellbent on taking my head off, I finally find the same orange pony as last time, only this time with another mare, a white unicorn that I can already tell is someone I won't like. The way she talks already puts me off, and the way she's the only pony sitting on what looks like a couch cushion form a solid hypothesis in me that she's one of those 'high class' Canterlot types. Her cutie mark is of three diamonds.
I trot over to them, sitting down next to the fence that fences in the play-yard so that I'm far enough as to not disturb the two, but close enough to hear them and to get some shade from the dead tree above.
"Honestly Applejack, I can't believe how you manage to keep yourself so... dirty." The white mare says, enforcing the phrase by backing away from the farm pony a little.
"Well, little miss clean-freak, "the apple farmer retorts back, pushing up her Stetson a little so her eyes are visible, "Unlike you I happen to love getting my hide all dusty and whatnot. The dirtier it gets, the more effort I put into my job, which I had to do before I came here." She snaps back, once again pulling the hat over her eyes.
"But App-"
I stopped listening into the conversation, closing my eyes to take it all in. The sound of idle conversations from adult and child alike, the yells and cheers of fillies and colts as they run around having the times of their lives.
"I just need to think about thi-"
My thoughts never get too far as hoofsteps close in, stopping in front of me. I never open up my eyes, hoping that whoever this pony is will get the hint and buzz off. The footsteps don't pick up until a minute later, the pony in question sitting down next to me. No words are spoken, no words needed to be said. I already know who it is.
"What's wrong with her?"
I finally open my eyes, never looking at the purple mare. Judging by her shadow, she never turns her head either.
"Which one, Raven or Scootaloo?"
Now her head turns toward me, obviously concerned about the comment I made. I pick up my head, looking over at the orange filly, my daughter whom I love very much. Not biologically related, but it doesn't change the fact at all. The mare follows my head to her, chuckling to herself.
"The one who almost suffered a heart attack in my classroom." She says to me, her blank expression never faltering as she slightly nudges my side, trying to get me to look at her.
"Why is it so important to you?"
"Because, "she says to me, finally moving in a way to force me to look at her, a gaze that could cut through steel, "It is my duty as a teacher to make sure my students aren't just given an education, but make sure they're taken care of properly as well, and to report the parents to authorities if otherwise. You already rub me the wrong way, and Scootaloo's so-called 'mother' almost died when the mentioning of strangers. I understand that you take care of fillies and colts who never had a family of their own, and I respect that fully, but if she has some sort of mental disorder or anything that will jeopardise the life of my student, you will need to tell me or get her checked out or I will have to report her to the Royal Guard."
"Dammit, Cheerilee must have rehearsed this a bunch of times in a mirror." I think to myself, forcing myself to stare into her eyes, her gaze instantly softening when she sees me and the angry glare that dwarfs hers by a mile.
"Xenophobia."
Her softening gaze terminates instantly afterwards, leaning back against the fence posts like me, trying to comfort me by putting a hoof over my shoulder which I instantly throw off of me.
"I don't need your sympathy." I spit at her, my words seething with rage. The purple earth pony backs away slightly from my outburst, slight fear eminating from her face. I try to continue my assault, until I was interrupted by an orange filly.
"Hey Wavey, I want you to meet... my... friends."
The filly quickly sees the anger that's plastered to my face, my whole body tensing up as if getting ready to fight to the death. Her teacher never falters though, instead getting up slowly and brushing the dust and dirt off of her fur.
"We'll continue this conversation later." She says in a nice tone, trotting away to discuss things with the other adults. My eyes follow her the entire way, before my vision moves back to Scoots.
"D- did I interrupt anything dad?" She says in a confused tone, her body tensing up as well, as if she's expecting me to hit her. My anger quickly subsides after that, instead a smile creeping back onto my face. That in turn causes Scootaloo to smile as well, her adorable little smile.
"Your fine Scoots, you didn't interrupt anything. Just your teacher sticking your muzzle somewhere she doesn't belong." I say, the malice and hate in my voice dissipating away. Scootaloo chuckles at the comment, her contagious laughter causing me to laugh as well. I once again pat the spot next to me, the orange blur passing my vision as she sits down next to me, leaning against my fur.
We remain in this pose for well over 5 minutes, my hoof unconsciously stroking Scootaloo's mane as she sighs in content, snuggling further and further against my green fur. The orange Pegasus turns her head to look at me, and I look down at her, watching her curious gaze.
"Something wrong Scoots?"
"Nothing's wrong, "The filly admits to me, slowly sighing to herself again, "I just wish we could do this more often."
"You know I wish for the same thing Scoots, but with doing everything that needs to be done, I just don't have the time anymore."
She slowly nods her head, donning an expressionless face to hide her emotions from me. It isn't until another voice appears in front of us that the two of us pay attention to anything else around us.
"'There you are Scootaloo! You ran off without... us."
In front of me are two fillies, one earth pony with light yellow and bright red mane, a tiny bow making her look that much cuter. Her southern accent clearly tells me who she's related to. Then there's the other one, a unicorn. If she doesn't look like that other stuck up mare from before, someone call me blind. Her marshmallow colored body and light purple mane are dead giveaways of sisterhood to the one talking with Applejack.
My eyes lock with the white one, her tiny horn glowing with a really light green aura.
"So Scootaloo," I say, my eyes never leaving the filly," you mind introducing them to me?"
"These are my friends, Applebloom, "She points to the yellow filly, who curtsies towards me, "and Sweetie Belle."
The white filly tries to copy Applebloom with her curtsy, but ends up falling flat on her face. I chuckle softly to myself, which doesn't go unnoticed by the orange Pegasus, who lets out a chuckle of her own. Applebloom lets out a torrent of laughter before reaching a hoof out to help out her dazed friend. The silence quickly returns, all of us looking at each other.
"Hey blank flanks!"
We all turn around to see the exact pony who Scootaloo described on the way to school. A pink earth pony with an angry grin that could shut out the sun, a tiny tiara on top of her mane. She is walking towards us with a gray earth pony, a tiny filly with glasses and a spoon as her cutie mark. She's trying to look tough, but underneath that false expression is a scared foal ready to sprint at a moment's notice.
"So pathetic."
Sweetie Belle quickly gets into an attacking stance, her horn lighting up even more, trying to look intimidating. Scootaloo quickly gets up, sliding in next to Sweetie Belle, Applebloom following shortly afterwards. I tuck myself into the shadows, my horn lighting up on instinct.
"Step 1: Observe your prey."
"What do you want?" Scootaloo says, looking back to try to find me. Noticing I disappeared causes sweat to slowly make its way down her forehead, but she quickly regains her composure, turning to confront the tiny filly in front of her.
The pink fillies gaze turns into a glare, the stronger her glare gets, the more magic that flows into my horn. I slowly lick my lips, the thrill of the hunt coursing through my veins, my mind racing with pure adrenaline. The pink filly thinks she's going to harm my daughter, she wants to cripple her and her friends. Maybe a little intimidation is in order.
"Oh you no, just looking at a bunch of losers." The filly says, her eyes looking around for any witnesses. She never notices me behind the tree, watching her, observing her.
Stalking her.
"Step 2: Wait for the perfect moment to strike."
"I guess the same thing could be said by me." Applebloom says slowly, a blank expression forming on her face. The filly looks back towards her sister, who is still talking to the white unicorn, oblivious to the situation.
The comment gets a chuckle out of the pink filly, the grey one letting out an awkward laugh. She is also looking around for witnesses, a pitiful tactic that won't save them from me.
"So how's your quest to get your cutie marks? You know it will never happen at this rate." She says for probably the millionth time. I look behind the tree, noticing a tiny rock next to me. My smirk grows into a devilish grin as I levitate it next to me, a plan already forming in my clouded mind.
"I don't know why you're so keen on calling us blank flanks."
The four all turn to Scoots, who right now is sporting a grin even I can't mimic. Her eyes soften from the intimidating stare she had to a more soft gaze, losing her fighting stance.
"You two aren't any better than us."
Once again the pink filly laughs, the grey filly slowly backing away from the encounter when she notices some ponies watching the standoff. One less pony to take out.
"Of course we are, "She says getting closer to the Pegasus, "We're richer, more popular, and of course, we have our cutie marks."
Scootaloo never flinches at the approaching filly. Instead she deepens her smirk, even going so far as to laugh in the earth pony's face.
"Then tell me Diamond Tiara, "She says, looking back at her friends before speaking up once more, "What does your cutie mark mean?" The group quickly returns to silence, the pink filly backing up a little from the simply innocent question she wasn't expecting. Applebloom's expression turns to a smirk as well, advancing on the bully.
"Yeah Diamond Tiara, your clearly better than us with your cutie mark, "Applebloom says, eyeing up the still retreating filly, "Why don't you tell us what makes you so special?"
Sweetie Belle's horn never lets up as she watches her two friends advance on the pony who's ruined her childhood up to this point. She looks to the left of her, noticing Diamond Tiara's dad, who was watching the entire encounter from the start. Now even Sweetie couldn't hold back a smirk.
"Optional step: Influence the world around you to your advantage.
I quickly let my plan go into action, changing up my strategy and dropping the rock. My horn quickly lights up, and I watch the white unicorn very closely, checking to see if the spell works. She quickly grabs her head with her front hooves, allowing the flow of magic into her head and trying to take control.
A few seconds later, the unicorn looks up at her horn, seeing it glowing brighter than it ever has before. She curiosity reaches its peak when her entire body stiffens instantly, her mind trying to comprehend the immediate transfer of information flowing into her cranium. I smirk once more, sending her megabytes of information. Only two spells that she never knew before, but now could perform like she's been practicing them for years. A simple magic and info transferring spell for the pony who will settle the argument once and for all.
The unicorn recoils a little, her mind reeling from the influx of info. Then she smirks once more, her mind focusing on one spell.
"Well..." The pink filly begins, trying to think clearly and hard about the subject, "It means... um, well its supposed to mean," The filly never answers before Scootaloo laughs loudly, attracting more attention.
"All these years of bullying us about not having out talents, and you don't even know what yours means! That's not sad, that's just pitiful!" she howls out between laughter.
"Meaning she's not a blank flank, she's just talentless." Applebloom says, adding insult to injury for the angry earth pony. At this time Sweetie Belle slowly advances towards the bully, passing the other two and trotting up to the earth pony who is now blistering with anger.
"Face it Diamond, "Sweetie says, eyeing up the mare like Applebloom did moments before, "Your destiny is to be lower than everyone else. No wonder your father's always gone on business trips, so he doesn't have to be close to his worthless embarrassment of a daughter."
Even I'm surprised by that outburst, the crowd agreeing with me as gasps and shocked expressions. The fillies aren't who they were minutes before, there changed by the pent-up anger and hatred that is finally coming out to play. The three are relentless, laughing at the defenseless filly like they've been wanting to do for so long.
"SHUT UP!"
The pink pony quickly stands up on her two hooves, using all of her force to throw a punch at Sweetie Belle. The unicorn is ready for it, and without using her gaze makes a shield in front of her. Shield spells aren't that complicated when you get the jest of it. The more magic up use on the shield to support it, the denser and harder the shield is. Making a big shield requires a lot of magic, which is why big shields aren't as hard to break through. Meaning the tiny shield Sweetie made for herself combined with the intense magic I gave her gives it the feeling of punching a mountainside.
When the fillies hoof connects with the shield, she instantly falls over on her back, yelling in pain from the almost broken bone and pain searing up her hoof. I get out from behind the tree finally, moving across the schoolyard towards the exit. Applebloom and Scootaloo's faces instantly soften when they see Sweetie Belle advance on the pony.
Her horn lights up once more, using her magic to hold down the fillies hooves. Diamond Tiara begins to tear up at the pain in her hoof, and her eyes grow to the size of saucers when they see Sweetie's massive glare and grin, the filly moving her head closer to Diamond's.
"You know Diamond, the three of us could be bullies too." She says, her eyes flaring. Applebloom and Scootaloo quickly move next to their friend, the two of them also glaring down at the filly, their eyes boring down on her.
"I can see it now, "Scootaloo says, playing along with the act, "teasing and tormenting Diamond Tiara day after day, ruling the school and making everyone else feel below us."
"Doesn't that sound fun Diamond, "Applebloom says, getting closer to the now cowering filly, "Huh, DOESN'T IT SOUND FUN?!"
"Girls."
The three instantly back off, Sweetie's spell dissipating instantly as Cheerilee stands over them. Cheerilee looks down at the group, and then back at Diamond Tiara, who's tough exterior is completely shattered by the trio. The sobbing filly tries to wipe away her tears, but the flood of moisture never ceases up, continuing to cascade down her face.
"Usually I would have to suspend you from school for a couple of days for the act you just did, "The teacher states, before a small grin that only the CMC could see appears on her face, "but seeing as Diamond Tiara has been doing this to you for years, I feel as if getting a little payback isn't so much of a crime. And considering that Diamond Tiara yelled at you three first and threw the first punch, I'm going to let your family members here today decide the punishment for you."
The two crusaders look back at their family, who are already trotting into the schoolhouse along with Diamond Tiara's father. Cheerilee help's the filly off the ground, who takes it slowly, getting helped up to her feet. I trot next to my daughter, the orange mare winking at me as I ruffle her mane, he two of us trotting into the schoolhouse with the other crusaders behind us.
"Steps accomplished: target terminated."
People, I haven't been getting these out regularly, and I'm going to apologize her for it. The ruckus in Ukraine is really putting a damper on things.