Royals, Friends and Lovers Chapter 1: The Pegasus Artist

Chapters

1 Meeting Vincent
2 New Friends in Ponyville
3 Undesired Consequences
4 Instant Karma
5 Luna's Theory in the Starry Night
6 Forgive and Forget

1 Meeting Vincent

Our story begins in the city of Liverhoof, one of the busiest in all of Equestria, and it is well-known for being the birthplace to perhaps the land's most famous music group, the Beatrots; John Gallop, Paul McHoofney, George Mareison, and Ringo Joggs (with two G's).

One February morning, the winter winds were blowing fiercely in the streets of Liverhoof. Everypony who was outside was struggling to keep warm as they went about their lives.

In a flat at the Liverhoof City Center, a unicorn filly and a Pegasus stallion were doing their best to keep warm. The filly was light blue with freckles, a light gold and pink mane and tail with magenta eyes, a red bow in her mane, and no cutie mark. Her name is Fictionary. Her older brother is the yellow Pegasus with the blue mane and tail, blue hooves, dark green eyes, glasses, and paint brush and palette for a cutie mark. This stallion is our protagonist, Vincent van Colt.

Now, some would think it's strange that two ponies of different species could be siblings, but there is a reason for it; their mother was a Pegasus, and their father was a unicorn. Vincent and Fictionary were born in Fillydelphia, but their mother came from Cloudsdale, and she was a single parent pregnant with Vincent. She married a unicorn stallion, who would eventually become Fictionary's father.

At a young age, about four years old, Vincent was first in his class to obtain a cutie mark, but many other foals were quite jealous of him. As he got older, Vincent was either ignored or teased by other colts and had very few friends. He and Fictionary were disheartened upon hearing their parents got involved in a cart crash, and thought they had been killed. To cope with his pain, Vincent moved away from Fillydelphia with Fictionary joining him, and traveled Equestria to find a newfound life, eventually ending up in Liverhoof.

Vincent is a good sort, but he's very sensitive and doesn't like bringing up "certain topics". Despite being a Pegasus, he is ironically afraid of heights! Fictionary, however, is more of a joker, is brave, independent, and she doesn't care what others think about her.

Back to the story; for this morning, Fictionary's job was to keep the fire burning brightly whilst her older brother was wearing a blanket, reading the Liverhoof Daily Post.

"Oh, why can't it be warmer?" Fictionary moaned as she used her magic to put a fresh lump of coal into the fireplace, "It makes me wish it was summer already! Why don't you join other Pegasi in controlling the weather?"

"Even if I wanted to," scoffed Vincent, rolling his eyes, "there's no way I'm going more than ten feet in the air!" He knew Fictionary was only teasing him, but didn't say so.

"Do you think there's anywhere else we can go that's hopefully warmer?" asked Fictionary, continuing to stoke the fire.

Vincent looked into the newspaper. His eyes scanned the pages until something caught his eye.

"Hmm? What's this? 'Help Wanted: Ponyville in Search of Artist…'" Vincent read on, absorbed. After a few minutes of reading, he put down the paper with a hopeful smile on his face.

"Pack your bags, Fictionary!" he declared, "Next stop; Ponyville!"

A few days later, Vincent and Fictionary stood on the platform of Liverhoof Central railway station. They had filled a cart hauled by Vincent with about six bags of their stuff, food, clothes, and his art supplies; blank canvases, easel, paint brushes, paint palettes, paint bottles, you name it.

"Let's hope Ponyville's full of friendly faces like in Liverhoof," Fictionary said eagerly.

"The Liverhoofians are nice ponyfolk," said Vincent, "but it'll be a shame to leave them. One day, we might return."

There was a crackle as the announcements came on.

"Attention, passengers! The 10:15 service from Liverhoof to Ponyville shall be departing in ten minutes from platform three! Please mind the gap between the train and the platform when boarding."

The siblings quickly got to platform three where the porters loaded their luggage into the luggage car. They then got their tickets, boarded one of the carriages and got their seats.

As the clock struck the quarter-hour, the conductor's whistle blew and the train departed for Ponyville. For Vincent and Fictionary, there was no going back now.

Around the same time at Canterlot railway station, Twilight Sparkle sadly walked onto the station platform, shortly followed by Spike.

"Uh, prepared for what, exactly?" the baby dragon asked, puzzled. Earlier, Twilight had a word with Princess Celestia at the castle, and the pure white alicorn had assigned Twilight and her friends to help save the Crystal Empire, which was far north of Ponyville in the snow. Twilight looked back sadly at Spike until a voice called out for her.

"Twilight! Uh, did you pass?"

Twilight gave a slight grunt, receiving a hug from Applejack. She and the other four mares were anxious to know what Princess Celestia had assigned Twilight. Spike stood where he was until he was knocked aside by Pinkie Pie. With her was what she called her "party cannon." It was bright blue with pink wheels.

"Are we gonna celebrate your awesomeness with Princess Celestia?!" Pinkie exclaimed as her party cannon set off, blowing confetti into the air. She jumped in excitement as it did so.

"Not quite," said Twilight. Pinkie landed back to the platform on her bottom and the confetti went back into its cannon. The pink Earth pony looked at Twilight, confused.

"We're going to the Crystal Empire!" Twilight declared. Her friends looked at each other, confused.

"Crystal what?" asked Rainbow Dash.

Back to Vincent; he was in his coach with Fictionary. Right now, he had out his easel, palette, paint bottles and brush and was painting on the canvas with the brush in his mouth. He was an extremely talented painter; he could even paint with his hooves and wings! Right now, his painting was of the train he and Fictionary were aboard right now. Vincent always had a fascination of trains since he was a colt. He thought steam locomotives were beautiful machines and a sight to behold. Sometimes he'd talk about trains to anypony who would listen; some were interested, others weren't.

"According to the paper," said Fictionary, who'd brought the newspaper with them, "anypony who's willing to volunteer as an artist must have a word with Mayor Mare at Ponyville Town Hall in the Town Square."

"Should be easy," said Vincent, applying the finishing touches to his newest painting, "we do have a map with us, right?"

"Got it right here with me!" said Fictionary, producing the map with her magic.

"Excellent; soon we'll be starting a new life before you can say 'Summer Sun Celebration'!"

About two hours later, the train steamed to a halt at Ponyville railway station. Vincent and Fictionary's luggage was unloaded – by now, Vincent's newest painting was complete – and they set off to find the Town Square.

"We've just arrived at the station," said Fictionary, looking at the map, "now we need to find the Town Square."

"It should be easy, given we have this map with us," said Vincent, "how hard could it be to find it?"

That was easier said than done. After about an hour, they couldn't find the Town Square.

"Me and my sense of direction," Vincent groaned, facehoofing in embarrassment.

"Can't you just fly?" teased Fictionary.

"Out of the question," her brother retorted, "we'll ask for directions."

As if by coincidence, he noticed a light amber stallion walk by.

"Excuse me, sir," called Vincent, "can you direct us to the Town Square?"

"It's to your left," the stallion replied, and pointed. Vincent and Fictionary looked; there was the Town Square.

"Right, thank you, sir," said Vincent gratefully, and he and his sister unicorn walked over to where the stallion pointed.

"You really could've just flown us over there yourself," Fictionary joked again. Vincent rolled his eyes and didn't reply.

Mayor Mare is a pale, light grayish amber Earth mare with a light bluish gray mane and tail, phthalo blue eyes, yellow glasses, a white collar with a greenish-blue tuft, and her cutie mark was a tan scroll tied with blue ribbon. She was in her office at the Town Square when somepony knocked on the door.

"Come in," said the Mayor, and the door opened to reveal her deputy mayor.

"Good day, Mayor," he greeted, "a Mr. Vincent van Colt is here to speak with you, to volunteer as the town's local artist since Stalliono da Vinci's left for Canterlot."

"Oh, a volunteer!" gasped the Mayor, "How splendid! Send him in!"

The deputy mayor nodded, and then called in for the blue-haired Pegasus to enter the Mayor's office.

"Good afternoon, Mayor," said Vincent politely.

"Mr. van Colt, I presume?" said the Mayor.

"That's me name."

Outside the office, Fictionary sat waiting while the Mayor interviewed her older brother. She didn't mind the wait – it was grown-up pony stuff, after all – but after half an hour, she began to feel bored.

"When's the interview done?" she moaned to nopony in particular. She was just about to fall asleep, when a voice called out to her.

"Come on, Fictionary!" called Vincent, "Hitch me up to our cart; the Mayor's going to lead us to our new home!"

Fictionary stood up in an instant, an eager look on her face.

"Did ya get the job?!" she exclaimed.

"We'll explain everything on the way," said Vincent, "the Mayor's leading us to our new home."

"Oh, okay!"

"This shall be your new home," Mayor Mare was saying to Vincent and Fictionary, "Stalliono da Vinci left this place about two months ago when he was hired as a painter in Canterlot. The building's a little dirty on the inside, but some touch ups will restore it to former glory."

"Did Stalliono run a business here?" Fictionary asked.

"Suppose you could say that," the Mayor shrugged, "but either way, this place is yours now."

"Thank you, madam," said Vincent, shaking hooves with the Mayor, "we'll take great care of it as well!"

He was true to his word; over the next two days, he and Fictionary first cleaned up the building's interior, and once that was done, they began to unload their luggage and had brought in their furniture they had from their Liverhoof flat.

After two weeks, Vincent and Fictionary had finished transferring all their furniture from Liverhoof to their new Ponyville domicile.

"That's it, our job is done," smiled Fictionary.

"And it's the start of a new life," Vincent agreed, "now Vincent van Colt's 'Metrostallion House of Art' is open for business!"

"Metrostallion House?"

"It's a good name, I thought."

"Pretty catchy; I like it!"

"Glad you think so. Now I wonder where we should start…?"

Two days later, Vincent was out in a grassy field. He was now painting still life, his painting itself consisting of a lake, some trees, and birds flying in the sky with clouds in the background.

"What a peaceful morning," he was saying to nopony in particular, "the sky's clear, and you're deep in your thoughts, wondering about the mysteries of the world today… Today's got perfect weather for painting! Better than about a week ago with crazy pink mares jumping around all over town saying 'fun, fun, fun' all the time…"

Not too long ago, Pinkie Pie used a magic mirror pond to clone herself after being overwhelmed with having to choose one friend to spend time with, but Vincent had yet to understand this.

He was so focused on his painting he didn't notice a light purple unicorn standing right next to him.

"Oh my, that's such a lovely painting!"

Vincent jumped in surprise, his wing dropping the paintbrush.

"Ah! Who said that?!" he exclaimed in surprise.

"I did, to your right!"

Vincent turned to his right, and he noticed the voice came from Twilight. She was out to run some errands whilst Spike was looking after Golden Oak Library.

"Oh," Vincent exclaimed, "sorry, didn't see you there."

"It's alright," said Twilight, "I was just saying your painting looks very lovely."

Vincent gave a small smile; it was the first time in a while that somepony had complimented his artwork.

"Thank you, miss," he said at last, "my name's Vincent van Colt, but you can call me Vincent for short." He held out his right hoof.

"I'm Twilight Sparkle," said the light purple unicorn, and she shook Vincent's hoof, "but mostly everypony calls me Twilight. I don't think I've seen you before; have we met?"

"No, actually," said Vincent, "I arrived from Liverhoof to Ponyville two weeks ago with my sister Fictionary."

"Two weeks ago?" exclaimed Twilight, then had a realization, but didn't say it out loud.

"What, is there a problem with that?"

"Er, no; my friends and I were at the Crystal Empire two weeks ago too," Twilight admitted.

"Huh, what a coincidence, I- Wait a minute... Crystal Empire?" Vincent looked at her with a puzzled look.

"It's in the arctic north of Equestria," explained Twilight, "vanished for a thousand years by a curse placed by King Sombra, defeated by Princesses Celestia and Luna. My brother Shining Armor and Princess Cadence lead the empire together now."

"Oh, I see," said Vincent, "it makes sense. I never heard of such place until now."

"I'm not surprised," said Twilight, "hardly anypony's heard of it up to two weeks ago."

"Well, anyway," said Vincent, "I've just finished up my painting of some still life. I'll just pack up me supplies and head back to the Metrostallion House. Wanna come with?"

"I don't see why not," smiled Twilight, "I've just finished up with my errands for the day and I've got some time to kill before I'm due back at the library."

Author's Note

Vincent van Colt’s name is inspired by the Dutch painter Vincent van Gogh. Likewise, Stalliono da Vinci's name comes from Leonardo da Vinci.

Liverhoof is the Equestrian variant of Liverpool; it also spoofs the real-life British city’s Center, Daily Post newspaper, and Central railway station.

The Beatrots is a reference to the Beatles.

The Metrostallion House of Art references the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City.

This chapter takes place during The Crystal Empire duology.

2 New Friends in Ponyville

Twilight and Vincent were soon walking back to Ponyville. The two were already chatting like old friends and knowing more about one another. Well, Twilight told more about herself, but Vincent didn't mind.

It's best she don't know about what I've been through, he though anxiously to himself. Vincent was so deep in thought, he didn't look where he was going.

"D'oh!"

"Oops. Careful!"

"Oh, s-sorry, miss! I was in my thoughts…!"

Vincent and Twilight helped the mare he'd run into back on her hooves; it was Pinkie Pie.

"Oh, hey Twilight!" she said, "How's things doing today?"

"Doing great, actually," the light purple unicorn replied, "I've just been speaking with my new friend Vincent here."

Pinkie turned to the yellow Pegasus.

"I say, miss," Vincent began, "are you one of the pink ponies I saw several days ago-?"

Before he finished, Pinkie gave a deep gasp of surprise, and then quickly ran off. Vincent looked at Twilight, a confused look on his face.

"What was that all about?" he asked.

"Oh, that's Pinkie Pie," Twilight shrugged, "she acts like that when she meets someone new in Ponyville. I know what it's like, believe me."

"Oh-kay," said Vincent, after a slight pause, "now, that was Pinkie, one of the Elements of Harmony, right?"

"Yep, that's her," said Twilight, "I represent Magic, as you already know."

"What of the other four?"

"Rainbow Dash is Loyalty, Applejack is Honesty, Fluttershy is Kindness, and Rarity is Generosity. Oh, and we can't forget my pet dragon Spike."

"My gosh," remarked Vincent, "I've only just met you an hour ago, Twilight, and I've already learned a lot about you. Anyway, onto the Metrostallion House, shall we?"

"Right," said Twilight, "let's go; lead the way, Vincent!"

About a quarter of an hour later, the two ponies made it to the Metrostallion House of Art.

"That's my domicile," said Vincent, "it's not much, but Fictionary and I like to call it our new home." He opened the door with his hoof.

"Fillies first," he called to Twilight.

"Thank you, Vincent," she said politely, and entered the house.

"It's quite dark," Twilight remarked.

"Hang on, Twi," said Vincent, getting into the house, "I'll get that switch." He flipped the switch, turning on the lights…

"SURPRISE!"

"Oh! A party!" exclaimed Vincent, "What's the occasion?"

"It's your 'welcome to Ponyville' party!" squeaked Pinkie, who appeared from behind Vincent, "It's always great to make new friends!"

"That's really nice of you, Pinkie Pie," said Vincent, "but to be honest, I actually arrived two weeks ago."

"Oh, it was noth- Wait, you arrived TWO WEEKS AGO?!"

Pinkie stared at the yellow Pegasus stallion, a stunned look on her face.

"Yes, you heard me; I was busy for the last two weeks getting my new home ready to prepare for being Ponyville's new arist."

"It seems he moved to Ponyville around the time we were at the Crystal Empire," Twilight explained to Pinkie.

"Ohhh," said Pinkie, understanding, "and wait; how did you know my name?"

"Twilight told me," said Vincent, "and yes, we did meet today."

"Ohhh."

"Sheesh, Twilight, we held a party for somepony who's arrived two weeks ago and didn't tell any of us about it?"

"Spike, Vincent couldn't have helped it he was busy," Twilight called out to the baby dragon, "some ponies do put work first after all."

"So that's Spike?" Vincent asked Twilight, pointing at the baby dragon, "Name's Vincent van Colt, by the way." Then he spotted a familiar light blue unicorn filly trotting over to him.

"Hey, big brother," Fictionary said in excitement, "I've just met some of the ponies who have come for our belated-'welcome to Ponyville' party, and they really are that friendly!"

"She's your sister?" Twilight asked, confused.

"Our mother's a Pegasus, and our father's a unicorn," Vincent explained, "I suppose you could say I'm part-unicorn."

"Oh, that makes sense," said Twilight, "surprised you didn't mention your parents earlier, Vincent."

"Ah, yes, I suppose I forgot," Vincent admitted, feeling a little sheepish. Inside he didn't want to be reminded of his parents' unfortunate death, but didn't say so in front of everypony.

Nopony must know, he thought, it's best Fictionary and I only kept it to ourselves only.

Once again, Vincent was deep in thought, and didn't watch where he was walking. This time, he bumped into a purple Earth pony mare with green eyes, a bright pink and white mane and three flowers for her cutie mark.

"Oh, careful!" she called, "Almost spilled my cider."

"Sorry, miss," said Vincent, "it's been happening to me a lot today. Anyway, I'm Vincent van Colt, and here," he pulled Fictionary towards him, "is my younger sister, Fictionary. Our mother's a Pegasus and our dad's a unicorn, just so you know."

"I see," said the mare, shaking hooves with Vincent, "I'm Miss Cheerilee. I teach young colts and fillies at the Ponyville Schoolhouse. Is Fictionary educated?"

"She was mostly home-schooled when we lived in Liverhoof," Vincent explained, "our parents were very busy, so she's my biggest responsibility, and I care for her deeply like a big brother should. It's very stressful for me, considering my new position as Ponyville artist, but somepony's gotta take care of her."

"Perhaps I could enroll Fictionary at the schoolhouse and teach her," suggested Miss Cheerilee, "then it can be much less stressful for you."

Vincent thought about it for a moment; he looked over to Fictionary, who smiled big.

"Don't worry about me," she said, "I'm sure I'll make lots of friends at the school, but you'll always be my best friend, Vinny."

Vincent smiled, and then turned back to Miss Cheerilee.

"I don't see the problem with it," he said, "she'd be more than happy to come."

"Excellent!" said Miss Cheerilee happily, and then looked down to Fictionary, "School starts for you first thing on Monday. Don't be late!"

"Oh, wow!" said Fictionary, "I get to go to school! This'll be great fun for me!"

Vincent smiled again, chuckling quietly at his younger sister's excitement. Normally young foals would hate going to school, at least from his experience, but Fictionary loved the idea and he couldn't blame her.

"Make sure you make the right choices," he told her kindly, but firmly, "I don't want to make a visit just because my only sister got into a fight!"

"Oh, you," Fictionary giggled, playfully punching him on the foreleg.

Within the following week, Fictionary had gotten supplies she needed for school and was more than ready to start learning when Monday morning came.

"Off to the schoolhouse, off to the schoolhouse," she sang, "and I'm going to learn stuff and make some new friends!"

She arrived at the Ponyville Schoolhouse, a small dark pink building with a dark red roof. Eagerly, Fictionary skipped inside, a big smile on her face.

"Good morning, Miss Cheerilee," she called.

"Oh, good morning, Fictionary," her new teacher replied, "you're looking especially cheery, and I'm hardly surprised."

"I really am," Fictionary smiled, "it's my first day and I can hardly wait to learn!"

"Well, class starts in a few minutes, so you won't have to wait long."

Soon enough, young colts and fillies were at their seats, except Fictionary, who stood by Miss Cheerilee's desk.

"Everypony," said Miss Cheerilee, "we have a new student in our class today. Why don't you introduce yourself?"

"Name's Fictionary van Colt," said Fictionary without hesitation, "my older brother Vincent runs the Metrostallion House of Art. Feel free to come there any time you like!"

As she talked, the other foals got very interested, except for two, who acted like she wasn't there at all.

Later that day, Fictionary and the other foals were outside on the playground. She walked over to three fillies. One of them was a light yellow Earth pony with amber eyes, a light red mane and tail, and a pink bow; her name is Apple Bloom. Another was an orange Pegasus with lavender eyes and a purple mane and tail; her name is Scootaloo. The third was a white unicorn filly with green eyes a purple and pink mane and tail; her name is Sweetie Belle. Like Fictionary, none of the three fillies had cutie marks.

"Hey girls," Fictionary called to them, "what's happenin'?"

"Oh, hi Fictionary," said Sweetie Belle. She and Fictionary had met at Vincent's "welcome to Ponyville" party, but she hadn't introduced her friends properly. "These are my friends Apple Bloom and Scootaloo."

"Nice to meet ya both."

"Gee golly," said Apple Bloom, "ya haven't got a cutie mark!"

"Not yet, but I don't mind," Fictionary smiled.

"Gee, you should be our fifth Cutie Mark Crusader!" said Scootaloo.

"Fifth?" Fictionary was puzzled. "But there's three of you… four if you count me."

"Naw, my cousin Babs Seed from Manehattan's the fourth member of the Cutie Mark Crusaders," Apple Bloom explained, "we had a bit of a run in with her at first, but now we're one anothers' favorite cousin! Right now, she's startin' her own branch of the Cutie Mark Crusaders in Manehattan."

"Oh, I see," said Fictionary, "that makes sense. But anyway, what's this Cutie Mark Crusader thing?"

"It's our organization for colts and fillies who've yet to obtain their cutie marks," said Scootaloo, "wanna join? We can lead you to our clubhouse after school."

"Yeah, sure, why not?" Fictionary grinned, "I'm all up for it!"

"The new filly's first day, and she's already friends with the three blank flank losers? Puh-leaze!"

Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom and Scootaloo groaned; they knew one of those voices all to well. Two earth ponies walked up to the quartet with smug looks on their faces. One of them was light pink with light blue eyes, a purple and white mane and tail, she wore a crown on her head, and her cutie mark was of said headgear; her name is Diamond Tiara.

Her acquaintance was light gray with purple eyes, had a pale gray mane and tail with a pink hairbraid, wore a pearl necklace and blue glasses, and her cutie mark was a silver spoon with a pink heart on the handle; her name is Silver Spoon. It was Diamond Tiara who said the insult.

"Yeah, these 'blank flanks' are my new friends," Fictionary said to them, "you have a problem with that?"

"Oh, yes, our problem is why you'd want to be friends with those losers," snapped Diamond Tiara.

"Cause, personally, I don't care what you say about me or my friends," said Fictionary bravely, "if you don't like others for what they are or how they look, I suggest you don't talk to me or them ever again. Comprende?"

Colts and fillies who were watching looked at each other in surprise; somepony with no cutie mark was standing up to somepony rotten as Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon? Last time the Cutie March Crusaders saw it happen was when Babs Seed stood up to them before she went back to Manehattan, and the snobs ended up in a mud puddle with a pig.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon scowled, but backed off.

"Whatever," scoffed Silver Spoon, "but have it your way." She and Diamond Tiara walked off. Shortly after, there was high praise for Fictionary.

"Way to go, Fictionary!" cheered one called Dinky Doo.

"You certainly stood up to them good," praised another called Noi.

"You're an example to us all," commended a third called Aura.

"Gee, thanks for defendin' us against Diamond Tiara an' Silver Spoon," said Apple Bloom.

"Ah, it was nothin'," Fictionary smiled modestly, "you'd think I'd sit there and let them torment you? No way!"

"You're a real great pal to be around," said Scootaloo.

"I really like how brave you are," agreed Sweetie Belle.

"Ya know, girls, you three and I are gonna get along just fine," smiled Fictionary.

Author's Note

Fictionary's scene at the end was part of the original chapter three. The story here is six chapters, while the original FF.net version was eight chapters.

3 Undesired Consequences

For the next several weeks, Fictionary hung out with her new friends Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. With her as the newest Cutie Mark Crusader, the quartet did whatever they could to obtain their cutie marks. Well, three of them did, but Fictionary was a bit more laid back compared to the others, but not one of them questioned it; it was merely who Fictionary was.

During that time, there had been the return of The Great and Powerful Trixie, Rainbow Dash's enlistment into Wonderbolts Academy, the latest Apple family reunion at Sweet Apple Acres, and just a few days ago, Spike had saved Applejack from a horde of Timberwolves.

However, through all this, something was bound to go wrong for Vincent van Colt…

It had been about six weeks, but for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, they still hadn't forgotten Fictionary standing up to them in front of the other foals.

"How dare a blank flank insult us in front of everypony else!" Diamond Tiara scowled, "Now look at us, Silver Spoon; we're a laughingstock no thanks to Fictionary van Loser!"

"I know; utterly humiliating!" agreed Silver Spoon, "What can we do to teach her not to mess with us?"

Neither of the school-age Earth ponies had a clue. They stood in silence until Diamond Tiara spoke up.

"What if instead of humiliating her directly," she suggested, "we humiliate somepony she's close to? Say, her brother?"

"Those Cutie Mark Crusaders have big siblings too," Silver Spoon pointed out, "well, not Scootaloo, for she and Rainbow Dash aren't sisters, but whatever."

"Yeah," said her friend, "are you going anywhere with this?"

"What if we made up stories about their big siblings," Silver Spoon explained, "and we blame it on Fictionary's big brother, Vincent or Victor, whatever his name is?"

"Silver Spoon, you're a genius!"

"I am? I mean, I am."

"If we plan this carefully," said Diamond Tiara, "we'll make an example out of Fictionary, and show everypony else we can't be messed with! Ending up in that mud puddle with a pig was embarrassing enough, but being shown up by one – no, two – blank flanks is something else! So here's what we're gonna do…"

The two Earth pony fillies snickered quietly.

The following morning at Sweet Apple Acres, Applejack and Apple Bloom were helping to harvest apples alongside their older brother Big Macintosh, a large red stallion with light green eyes, a light orange mane and tail, freckles, tan hooves, a brown saddle around his neck, and his cutie mark was a green apple sliced in half.

"We've got plenty o' apples to harvest," said Applejack as her hind legs were kicked against a tree, causing apples to fall off into buckets. "Prob'ly a lot since our family reunion!"

"Eeyup," said Big Macintosh, his hind legs kicking against another tree.

"How many d'you think we're gonna sell?" asked Apple Bloom, checking apples to see if they were good for selling before tossing them into buckets.

"Ah'm thinkin' 'bout a thousand, maybe two thousand," said Applejack.

"Sounds like a lot," said Apple Bloom, "but we're Apples and nuthin' can hold us off, right?"

"Eeyup."

Unfortunately, whilst Applejack went about bucking another tree, a branch had fallen off the tree, with an apple attached to it, and it landed right on Applejack's flank!

"Ouch!" she cried, rubbing her flank. Apple Bloom heard her sister's cry of pain, and ran over to her.

"You okay, Applejack?"

"Kinda," groaned Applejack, "ow, those trees do know how to bite back, don't they?"

"But trees aren't like dogs?" asked Apple Bloom, confused.

"It's a figure of speech, Apple Bloom. It's only a bruise, after all; little harm done!" Applejack wiped her forehead, some sweat flying into an empty bucket.

Not one of the three siblings noticed Diamond Tiara watching the whole scene from a distance away behind a bush. The pink Earth filly snickered quietly to herself, trotting away before anypony could see her.

"Rarity? Are you in there?"

Sweetie Belle and Spike stood outside of the bathroom door of Carousel Boutique.

"Um, not now, Sweetie Belle!" a voice called from inside, "I'm brushing my teeth!"

"I don't hear the tap running," said Spike, confused.

"Rarity, why can't we come in?" asked Sweetie Belle innocently, "It's okay, you can tell us."

Rarity sighed, and then reluctantly opened the door. Spike and Sweetie Belle gasped in shock; Rarity's mane was a terrible mess!

"Oh, sweet Luna!" cried Spike.

"How did that happen?!" exclaimed Sweetie Belle.

"I don't know," moaned Rarity, "last night, my mane was perfectly fine, and this morning, it's all in utter tangles! And of all the worst things that could happen, this is the. WORST. POSSIBLE. THING!"

The pure white unicorn broke down in tears. This was nothing new to either Spike or Sweetie Belle; they'd heard this from Rarity before.

"So… do you need our help?" asked Spike.

"Actually," sniffed Rarity, "I do. I can't be seen in public like this! I'd be a laughingstock! Do be dears and get me some hair products, won't you?"

Spike and Sweetie Belle agreed to, and once Rarity had given them a list, the two set off for their shopping. They hadn't noticed a certain light gray filly with glasses spying on them and Rarity…

After leaving Sweet Apple Acres unnoticed, Diamond Tiara hid behind a bush and spotted Rainbow Dash in the sky, clearing away the clouds.

Rainbow Dash had just finished her job and was flying about in the air, doing stunts which she hoped would impress the Wonderbolts, Equestria's best flyers.

All of a sudden, an advertisement flew into Rainbow Dash's face, taking her by surprise. She pulled it off her face and her eyes lit up when she saw what it was for.

"Aw yeah!" she cried in excitement, "The Wonderbolts are performing live at Cloudsdale in ten days! I can't miss this!"

Unfortunately, the light blue Pegasus was so caught up about seeing her idols perform (again) that she didn't look where she was flying, and went smack into a wall!

"Oh, my nose!" she cried. Before she could react, Rainbow Dash fell and landed right on top a very light aquamarine unicorn mare, their faces almost meeting by the lips!

"Agh!" Rainbow yelped in surprise, "Sorry, Lyra! I didn't see where I was flying!"

"Well, please be more careful," Lyra Heartstrings sighed, standing up, "I wasn't expecting somepony to fall on me!" And she walked away; Diamond Tiara saw everything and smirked to herself.

"Hey, D.T.!"

The pink earth pony turned and saw Silver Spoon trotting towards her.

"So what'd you get from Sweetie Belle's big sister?" asked Diamond Tiara.

"She was flipping out because, from what I saw, her mane was a tangled mess! She also sent for her blank flank sister and that lizard to get her hair products."

"Oh, really?" said Diamond Tiara, "I saw Apple Bloom's big sister get smacked by a tree branch, and mopped some of her own sweat into a barrel! And just now, I saw Rainbow Dash crash into a wall and almost kiss another mare! Could you believe it?!"

"I wouldn't believe it without seeing it," chuckled Silver Spoon, "but it might've been funny."

"It was. Now we got to come up with names and find somepony gullible enough to believe them!"

"Yeah, but who?"

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon's answer came sooner than expected when they came across two unicorn colts. One of them was short and fat, had grayish blue fur, a moderate orange mane and tail, brown eyes and eyebrows, had buckteeth, and his cutie mark was a pair of open scissors; his name is Snips. His friend was tall and skinny, had amber fur, a turquoise mane and tail, black eyes, freckles, and his cutie mark was a frowning snail; his name is Snails.

"Hey look, Snails," said Snips in a high, scratchy voice, "it's those fillies Fictionary stood up to weeks ago!"

"Oh, eh, yeah!" Snails giggled in a low, slow voice.

"Ha, that's a good one boys," said Diamond Tiara sarcastically, "and now that you think about it, we was talking to our good friend Fictionary the other day, and she told us about what her older brother, Vincent, I think his name was, thought about Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash."

"What did he say?" asked Snails.

"We heard that Applejack had an accident with a slapping branch," said Silver Spoon, "and we heard her family's cider comes from sweat!"

"And can you guess what he called her?" asked Diamond Tiara.

"No, what?" asked Snips.

"He called her 'Applesmack!'" the fillies declared together.

"Rarity's also had a bad mane day today," continued Diamond Tiara, "and she sent off her sister and that lizard Spike to buy hair products for her! How lazy is she?"

"I know," said Silver Soon, "and he calls her 'Hairity!' Isn't that awful of him?"

"It really is!" exclaimed Snips.

"And you two know Rainbow Dash, right?" asked Diamond Tiara.

"The greatest flier of all of Ponyville?!" remarked Snips excitedly.

"Not today, she wasn't," explained Silver Spoon, "she crashed into a wall and not long after, she kissed a mare!"

"Old Vincent's name for her was 'Rainbow Crash!'" finished Diamond Tiara.

"Applesmack, Hairity, and Rainbow Crash?!" the two colts exclaimed together.

"Oh, yes," said Silver Spoon, "Fictionary's big brother is nasty, isn't he?"

"But don't tell those three mares we told you," added Diamond Tiara, and the two fillies walked away, snickering to each other. Snips and Snails looked at each other awkwardly.

The next morning, Snips and Snails had told ponyfolk who'd listen about what they were told, neither mentioning Diamond Tiara nor Silver Spoon, which was probably lucky for the two fillies.

In a few days' time, everypony who saw them was laughing at Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack.

"Hey, Applesmack! Your cider's a real workout, isn't it?!"

"Where's your little helpers, Hairity? Can I help you out?"

"Find any good mares lately, Rainbow Crash? Give my sister a call!"

The three mares were furious, and they had an indignation meeting at Carousel Boutique after finding out why.

"Outrageous!" declared Rainbow Dash.

"Nefarious and evil!" put in Rarity.

"Absolutely disgustin'!" finished Applejack, "We're not lettin' him get 'way with it, are we?!"

They consulted together.

"Right, since he did it to us…"

"We'll darn well do it to him…"

"And see how that uncool guy likes it!"

Vincent van Colt had a good day; the skies had been clear for him, and he was making his way back to the Metrostallion House. He was looking forward for tea when he came across the three angry mares blocking his path.

"Oh, hi, girls," Vincent smiled, "what's happening?"

"Don't play dumb with us, van Colt!" snapped Applejack.

"Excuse me?"

"You're telling tales about us to the public, aren't you?!" exclaimed Rarity.

"What?! No I'm not!"

"Yes you are, don't lie to us!" Rainbow Dash scowled angrily. The four of them continued to argue until Twilight broke up the argument. She then asked the three mares why they were angry with Vincent.

"Vincent called me Lazy Hairity!" the white unicorn spluttered.

"No, I never-"

"Sweatin' Cider Applesmack!" the orange Earth pony fumed.

"Now, wait just a minute-"

"And I'm Mare-Kissin' Rainbow Crash!" the blue Pegasus hissed.

"If I may say so, Twilight," protested Vincent, "I'd only wish of coming up with those names myself… if the hooves fit…!"

"Really?"

"He's made everypony in Ponyville laugh at us!" accused Rarity.

Twilight wasn't sure how to respond, until she found her voice. "Did you, Vincent?"

"Certainly not!" Vincent declared in defense, "I'd never be as mean as that! Why would I insult mares?! I'm a respectful stallion!"

"Of course you are," said Rainbow Dash sarcastically.

"That'll do," said Twilight firmly, before turning to Vincent. The yellow Pegasus looked anxious.

"I don't know where these names are coming from," she said, "but I'm getting to the bottom of this, one way or another. Why don't you stay with Fluttershy until this matter is resolved?"

"But what about Fictionary?" asked Vincent, "She needs somepony to watch over her."

"She can join you if you like."

"Thanks, Twilight… I guess…"

Vincent walked away with a tear forming in eye; he wanted to get away from the angry mares who accused him of treachery. Not long after the yellow Pegasus left, Twilight spoke to Rainbow Dash, Rarity and Applejack.

"What's the big idea about jumping to conclusions about others before knowing the truth?" she scolded angrily, "You three, of all ponies, know better than that!"

"But Twilight…" Applejack began.

"I'm not hearing any of it," said Twilight firmly, "when I get to the bottom of this, I expect you three to apologize to him for false accusations!"

She walked away, leaving three stunned mares behind. Unknown to all five, (which included Vincent) Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had been watching from behind the bushes.

"It seems our work here's done," Diamond Tiara smirked, "that'll teach Fictionary not to mess with us; now her brother's a complete fool!"

"I don't know," said Silver Spoon, slightly worried, "I think Twilight's suspicious…"

"Does it really matter?" scoffed Diamond Tiara, "I mean, when we meet with this Fictionary next, even if we're not at school, we'll make her wish she never messed with us!"

The two Earth fillies then walked off, but Silver Spoon was still unsure of her friend's plan right now…

Author's Note

This chapter is loosely inspired by the Thomas the Tank Engine episode "Diesel's Devious Deed"; here, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon take Diesel's place, Rainbow Dash is in Gordon's place, Rarity is James, Applejack is Henry, Vincent is Duck, Snips, Snails and various ponyfolk are the troublesome trucks, and Twilight is Sir Topham Hatt.

4 Instant Karma

Warning: Some content in this chapter might be disturbing for more sensitive readers; discretion is advised.

Fluttershy was feeding her animal friends outside her cottage when she spotted a yellow Pegasus and light blue unicorn approaching.

"Oh, hi, Vincent. Fictionary," greeted Fluttershy.

"Hi Fluttershy," Vincent mumbled under his breath, still upset.

"Um, if you don't mind me saying, Vincent," said Fluttershy, "but you seem upset about something."

"Somepony's been telling lies about me," moaned Vincent, "and now Twilight and her friends think I'm a nasty pony!"

"What?!" Fluttershy's eyes widened in surprise.

"Rarity and Applejack don't want me to be around Sweetie Belle or Apple Bloom anymore," Fictionary sulked, "and as for Scootaloo, well, she doesn't want to be 'round me in case Rainbow Dash is with her as well…"

"Trust issues," Vincent explained.

"But that's not who you are, surely?" said Fluttershy, "You're one of the nicest stallions I've ever come across, and I'm sure Twilight thinks so as well. Oh, I'd go out with you if I wasn't with Big Macintosh."

Vincent smiled slightly, but was still upset deep inside. "Twilight said Fictionary and I could stay with you for the time being…"

"Oh, I love the idea!" said Fluttershy. After feeding her animal friends, she led Vincent and Fictionary inside her cottage. The Pegasus stallion already felt better, but he couldn't shake off the accusations Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash said towards him.

All of that was about to unexpectedly change for the worse. Two days later, Twilight (with Spike's help) was asking around Ponyville where the name-calling originated. Sometimes, she and Spike got answers from one pony who got it from another pony, but not one of them, so far, had mentioned Snips and Snails.

Twilight and Spike were at Sugarcube Corner, deep in thought when Pinkie bounced up to them in her usual, excited way.

"Hey Twilight and Spike!" she said, "What are you asking everypony around for?"

"We're asking to find out where the name-calling started," Twilight explained.

"Name calling?" Pinkie was confused, but then realized what her friend was on about. "Oh, you mean the ponies laughing at Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity?"

"That's them," said Spike, "and we don't know where they got it from, but they claim it came from Vincent."

"From Vincent?" gasped Pinkie, "But he's a nice guy; he'd never insult a filly!"

"That's what we think too," said Twilight, "for now, he and Fictionary are with Fluttershy until I find the pony responsible for framing him."

Snips and Snails were also at Sugarcube Corner at the time eating their slices of carrot cake when they overheard the two mares' conversation. Both colts knew what Twilight was talking about, and couldn't help feeling a bit guilty.

"D'you think it was a bad idea to trust in them?" asked Snips to Snails.

"Eh, I guess," said Snails, "what do we do?"

"Tell them the truth, I guess," Snips shrugged.

Meanwhile, outside on the streets of Ponyville, a cloaked yellow stallion with blue hooves was walking past several ponyfolk. The stallion in question was Vincent, wearing a disguise under Fluttershy's suggestion.

"I'm gonna get my canvases and art tools," he told himself, "and then head on back to Fluttershy's. I haven't done any paintings for about three days and hopefully I'm not too rusty."

Unknown to him, as he walked to the Metrostallion House, Fictionary was following shortly behind him.

"It's good to get out every now and then," said Fictionary, "even if I don't have to go to school."

"It sure is… blank flank!"

A frown crossed the light blue unicorn filly's face; she could guess who it was and didn't even turn around.

"Let me guess… Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, I presume?"

"You guessed right, Fictionary," the pink earth filly smirked, walking up alongside, "where's your big, bad brother gone off to?"

"He's headed for the Metrostallion House to get some supplies," Fictionary said firmly, unwilling to take in their nonsense, "you two don't scare me!"

"I bet your brother does," Silver Spoon giggled rudely.

"Leave Vincent out of this!" snapped Fictionary, "He's not mean; what did he ever do to you?!"

"We're not saying," said Diamond Tiara, and before Fictionary could respond, she got kicked in the side by Silver Spoon!

"OW!" cried Fictionary, "What was that for?!"

"That was for making us look like fools!" Diamond Tiara sneered, before kicking Fictionary in the leg.

Unfortunately for the two Earth fillies, who should spot them but Vincent! Suddenly, everything appeared to happen at once…

Applejack, Apple Bloom and Big Macintosh had brought in two cartloads of apples when they heard an angry yell.

Twilight, Pinkie, Spike, Snips and Snails were just exiting Sugarcube Corner when they heard two shrieks of horror.

Rainbow Dash was in the sky relaxing on a cloud when she heard a pair of thuds.

Rarity and Sweetie Belle had bought some fabrics for new dresses when they saw a commotion not far from where they stood.

"What do you two think you're doing to my sister?!" Spike and the five mares cringed; they knew that screech all to well.

Vincent had pinned down Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to the ground; the yellow Pegasus had an angry look on his face, and the two Earth fillies looked frightened.

"Please don't hurt us!" Silver Spoon begged in fear.

"Wasn't calling your 'friends' names bad enough?!" added Diamond Tiara.

"And how do you know about all this, eh?!"

"We're not saying!" snapped Diamond Tiara, "Like we're not saying how we made up stories about you-"

Diamond Tiara gasped and covered her mouth in shock; she had blurted out everything!

"Oh, nice going," Silver Spoon muttered sarcastically.

"You WHAT?!" Vincent roared furiously, taking everypony in the vicinity by shock. They'd never seen him angry like that before. "First you bully my sister, and now THIS! Why, you ignorant little brats! I ought to-"

"Don't hurt them!" shouted Apple Bloom, "They might be bullies, but it doesn't give ya any right to beat them up!"

Her little statement took most of the others by surprise; a few years ago, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon bullied Apple Bloom for being a "blank flank", but since then, Apple Bloom had slowly been moving on, as were Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo.

"Apple Bloom's right," her older sister agreed, "just let them go already, Vincent; we now know everything!"

Vincent did so, but was still angry. He then turned his attention to Applejack, quietly snarling in anger.

"Oh, and that's coming from somepony who refused to listen to me?!"

"Vincent, none of us-" Applejack tried to explain, but Vincent wouldn't listen.

"Understand the pain I had to go through?!" he yelled in anger, "How can you lot be so selfish?! I work hard to raise one member of my family, and yet I get no credit or respect at all for it! I came here to start fresh, and then my life turns upside down no thanks to two little brats! Do any of you have any idea on what it's like to be all by yourself in this forsaken land, AND NO PARENTS ARE THERE TO SUPPORT YOU?! IS THAT TOO MUCH TO ASK FOR?!"

Vincent flew quickly away before anypony could reply. Fictionary stood up, slightly in pain, and ran after her brother, leaving behind a stunned crowd. After a few moments of stunned silence, everypony was now glaring angrily at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

"What in Celestia's name were you two thinking?!" Twilight said angrily, "Telling lies to get back at somepony!"

"But Fictionary-"

"We don't care for yer reasonin'!" snapped Applejack, "Now look at the damage you two have caused!"

"Yeah, even blackmailin' us for the Foal Free Press paper wasn't as bad as this!" added Apple Bloom. She and Sweetie Belle cringed slightly at the memory.

"Of all the worst things you had to do," Rarity almost screamed, "this is the! Worst! POSSIBLE! THING!" Everypony else looked at her. "What? I really mean it."

"You're a real pair of meanies!" Even Pinkie Pie was angry with them.

"Pinkie," said Twilight firmly, before turning her attention back to the two Earth fillies, "and I managed to get some dirt off you two from them…"

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon looked over and saw Snips and Snails next to Twilight.

"You ratted us out, didn't ya?!" Silver Spoon growled, shaking a fist.

"And good thing we did too!" retorted Snips, "At least we came clean without somepony yelling in our faces!"

Before more arguments could break out, a very frantic-looking Fictionary ran up to the group, gasping for breath.

"Everypony!" she gasped, "It's Vincent! I tried explaining everything to him, but he yelled in my face, I think he locked himself in his room and now I think he's trying to end his life!"

That brought out a collective gasp from everypony, except Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

"We've no time to lose," said Twilight, and then turned to the two Earth fillies, "I'll personally have a talk with Miss Cheerilee about you two…" Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon gulped nervously, until the latter spoke quietly up.

"I told you somepony'd be suspicious…"

"Quiet! We're in enough trouble as it is…!"

Quickly, Fictionary, Spike, Twilight, Rarity, Applejack and Rainbow Dash arrived at the Metrostallion House and entered the building. Fictionary went to get a particular book while Spike and the four mares went upstairs to Vincent's room.

"Vincent!" called Twilight, knocking on the door, "It's just us! We promise not to hurt you!"

After no reply, and without hesitation, Rainbow Dash, kicked the door open, nearly smashing it to splinters, to what they could describe as horrifying!

There was Vincent, lying on the floor; he was barely breathing, a razor was next to him, part of his right ear was cut off, his glasses were stained red, and amongst it all, he was lying on a small puddle of red liquid. They knew it wasn't paint.

"Oh my stars!" gasped Rarity, looking pale in fright, but it was hard to tell.

"What in tarnation has he done to himself?!" gasped Applejack.

"Looks like he could have…" Rainbow Dash couldn't finish her sentence.

"Well, don't just stand there!" said Twilight, lifting up Vincent with Spike's help, "We need to get him to hospital and fast! No time to waste!"

In a matter of minutes, the fivesome – along with Fictionary – rushed Vincent to Ponyville Hospital as fast as their hooves (feet in Spike's case) could carry them. Fictionary had also brought a book with her, but nopony was sure why, but she promised to tell them when they arrived.

They quickly burst through the doors and went up to the reception desk. The receptionist was startled by the commotion.

"My brother's ear got cut off," gasped Fictionary, explaining to her, "he's bleeding and I'm scared that he'll die!"

"I see," the receptionist replied calmly, looking at the unconscious Vincent on Twilight's back and the yellow Pegasus' ear in an ice bag in Spike's hand.

"Code Red at the front desk," the receptionist said through the intercom, "recovery unit ASAP!"

Quickly, several pony doctors brought out a stretcher, then they took Vincent off Twilight's back, accepted the ice bag Spike handed to them, and they lay the unconscious stallion on the stretcher. Everyone could watch as Vincent was taken away to the recovery unit.

"Please be okay," panted Fictionary to her brother, "I don't wanna lose you like our parents…"

"What happened to your parents, dear?" asked Rarity.

Without a word, Fictionary used her magic to pull out the book from her bag and set it on a nearby table. She motioned for Spike and the four mares to sit down with her as she opened the book. Just then, Pinkie Pie and Fluttershy burst in.

"Where's Vincent?" asked Pinkie, "Is he okay? Huh? Huh? I brought him some flowers, but I didn't know his favorite kind, so I brought every kind of flower I could!"

She paused, noticing their solemn expressions. "What?"

"What did happen?" asked Fluttershy quietly, "Somepony told me he was in trouble."

"He cut off part of his right ear," said Rainbow Dash, "and thank goodness you didn't see it, Fluttershy; it was bloody, so to speak." Fluttershy cringed at the thought, but quickly shook a mental image of Vincent in a pool of blood out of her head.

"Hey, what's with the book you brought with ya?" asked Pinkie.

"That's our family album," Fictionary explained, "there's more to Vincent than many of you think; up until now, only I was aware of his secrets and past.

"When he was a young colt, even before I was born, he was susceptible to bullying from his peers. He tried to ignore them, but they kept teasing him until one day, Vincent lost his temper and beat up one of the bullies. It resulted in him getting into trouble, as well as the bully… I forget his name."

"So that's why he got mad at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon," said Applejack.

"Seeing anypony getting bullied sets him off, yes," said Fictionary, "then a few years before we came to Ponyville, we heard that our parents were killed in a cart accident in Fillydelphia, our first home town."

"Wait a minute," said Rainbow Dash, "you two came from Liverhoof, but you're also from Fillydelphia?"

"It's the town we were born in both, yes," said Fictionary, "we left a week later after we got the tragic news, because Vincent was suffering from painful memories about our parents and bullying. We lived in Manehattan, Canterlot, and Las Pegasus, all each for a brief period before we moved to Liverhoof, where we lived up until February this year. That's where he picked up his accent.

"So you see, my brother suffers from painful memories, and other than me, only his therapist knew as well. He was doing what he could to support me and himself, for I'm the last of his family, since we lost connection with other members."

There was dead silence. Not one of the six mares, not even Spike, could say a word; they were all shocked by Fictionary's story about her brother. Fluttershy was weeping quietly, Pinkie's mane slightly deflated in sadness, Twilight and Spike stood in silence, and Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity felt terribly guilty.

"I don't believe it," said Rainbow Dash after what felt like eternity, "we were angry with someone who worked hard for his sister…"

"All because of a dumb pack o' lies," put in Applejack glumly, "Ah feel like a bad apple, ah, no pun intended."

"The poor fellow," said Rarity, "I, too, feel bad for what I've done…"

"All he wanted was some friends, and it seems like we'll never speak to him again!" added Pinkie, almost ready to cry.

"I'm sure we will," said Twilight, "but for now, we need to give him some time considering what he went through today. We should try to carry on with our lives and give Vincent a chance to calm down."

Everypony agreed with Twilight, and they hoped that would be the case.

Author's Note

The title comes from the famous John Lennon single of the same name.

Vincent cutting his ear off it largely inspired by what happened to the actual Vincent van Gogh. In reality, van Gogh cut off his LEFT ear, but since his self-portraits were mirrored, the paintings depict him showing his RIGHT ear was cut off. In a sense, the mirroring was referenced!

5 Luna's Theory in the Starry Night

The Ponyville residents had been heavily affected since Vincent's public outburst. Twilight first quickly informed Princess Celestia through letter about what had happened, who was involved, and how they were going to try and cope. Twilight knew her mentor would understand, and hopefully Vincent would listen to reason, if he spoke to anypony ever again.

A few days after Vincent was taken to hospital, Princess Celestia assigned Twilight and her friends to reform the former Spirit of Chaos, Discord, to see if his magic could be used for good. It was Fluttershy's friendship that Discord valued, and made it his vow to use magic for good… most of the time.

While their assignment distracted their thoughts from Vincent, he still stuck in the Mane Six's respective minds.

Applejack, Rarity and Rainbow Dash went on their normal lives shortly after Discord's redemption, but still couldn't help feeling bad for blaming him for something he didn't do. Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie were also shaken up; they'd never known Vincent to get angry at them once. Fluttershy, for one, was fortunate enough not to witness his anger.

Out of them, Twilight was the most optimistic, and she and Spike were certain he'd speak to them. Vincent's ear was reattached – fortunately, he cut off his earlobe and not the whole ear – but he stayed at Ponyville Hospital until he was deemed stable enough to leave. Vincent didn't mind this, nor did he care, but he didn't expect visitors.

Meanwhile, Fictionary couldn't help feeling terrible over what had happened; how could somepony cruel like Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon make her brother look mean to everypony else?

Speaking of, the two Earth fillies were serving six weeks all-recess detention while Snips and Snails (after confessing their role) served two weeks. The two unicorn colts accepted their punishment, but Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon found this unfair, yet they didn't say so… just in case.

"Hey Fictionary!" called Scootaloo, trotting over to the miserable light blue unicorn.

"Oh, hey, Scoots," sighed Fictionary.

"Y'all lookin' down in the dumps," observed Apple Bloom.

"Wanna come to our next Cutie Mark Crusaders meeting?" asked Sweetie Belle.

"Not really," sighed Fictionary. Getting her cutie mark was the last thing on her mind right now. "I just wish I'd known the consequences of my actions earlier…"

"We understand where you're goin' with this," said Apple Bloom.

"We've all had days when our friends don't listen to us," said Sweetie Belle, "like when Rarity didn't want to join me for the Sisterhooves Social."

"It's not that," Fictionary moped, "I miss Vincent so much. I don't mind living with Twilight, but still…"

For the time being, Fictionary was staying at Golden Oak Library with Twilight until Vincent was discharged from the hospital.

"I can understand how your brother feels, Fictionary," said a voice. Fictionary looked up to see Miss Cheerilee had been listening to the whole conversation.

"You do?" asked Scootaloo.

"When I was about your age," Miss Cheerilee explained, "I got into a fight with some other foals just for mocking me because I didn't have my cutie mark. My parents weren't pleased with me, of course, and I got into trouble for it."

"Oh," Fictionary said sadly, "I guess I repeated your mistakes, Miss Cheerilee, didn't I?"

"Oh, I don't think so," her teacher chuckled, "you were trying to stand up for others, and I understand that. But be aware that it can have consequences, and if those bothering you don't stop, ignore them."

Fictionary nodded slowly; it meant she completely understood. She felt better after hearing her teacher's wise words.

After school, Fictionary arrived at Golden Oak Library. There, she told Twilight about what Miss Cheerilee had told her.

"And just thinking about what she's said made me realize I shouldn't be quick to jump the gun," she said, "but even so, I still can't believe I got my big brother in this mess." She sniffed sadly, her eyes welling up with tears. "I think he hates me now and won't ever speak to me ever again!"

Fictionary began to cry, but Twilight held her close.

"I know," she said solemnly, "I'm proud of you for now understanding the consequences of your actions, but there was nothing we could have done about it. Like Miss Cheerilee told you, you were only trying to do the right thing by standing up for your new friends, and yourself as well; Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon weren't using their common sense."

Fictionary didn't reply for a few moments, and then looked up at Twilight, smiling sadly.

"You know something?" she asked, wiping away her tears, "Even though Vincent's my brother, I've always wanted a sister. Right now, I almost feel like you're already a sister to me."

Twilight looked in surprise. "I do?"

"You do," Fictionary replied, hugging Twilight's foreleg. The light purple unicorn smiled and returned the hug.

"Thanks, Fictionary," she said quietly.

About two weeks later, Vincent was discharged from Ponyville Hospital. His condition was stable and his ear's stitches had begun to heal. Despite this, he was still unhappy, and didn't take notice of anypony as he walked to the Metrostallion House of Art, which had been closed in his absence.

Fictionary was walking along the streets getting some fresh air when she spotted her older brother.

"Hey Vincent!" she exclaimed with hope in her voice, "Are you alright?"

"Physically, yes," grunted Vincent, "never been better!"

"You're not still mad, are you?" asked Fictionary worryingly, "What's wrong?"

Vincent gave a deep sigh. "First thing in the morning," he said, "we're leaving Ponyville."

"What?!" Fictionary couldn't believe what she was hearing. "But why?"

"You know why," snapped Vincent, "everypony accused me of being a massive liar, nopony stood up for me-"

"Wait just a minute!" retorted Fictionary, "Twilight defended you and Fluttershy understood you! Why would you turn your back on them now? And besides, I like it here in Ponyville!"

"So you're saying you'd rather live with them than me?!"

"Erm… basically, yeah."

Vincent scowled before replying. "Then I don't expect any visits from you or your so-called 'friends'…" And he walked bitterly away, leaving Fictionary where she was, shocked and disappointed.

At least he didn't yell in my face, she thought, but how can I convince him to change his mind?

Fictionary thought about it for a moment or two, and then a light bulb flickered on in her head.

"I know just what to do!" she exclaimed, and ran off to find the pony she was thinking of…

That night, as the moon shone brightly in the night sky, Vincent was fast asleep in bed, tossing and turning, muttering in his sleep.

"Ohh…" he muttered, "Leave me alone, please…!"

***

Nopony knows what's up ahead, but I run as fast as my legs can carry me.

Why am I running? Well, a group of ponies are chasing me, insulting me, and throwing stuff at me; rocks, sticks, balls, you name it. I can't tell you what they're calling me. Trust me; they're not pleasant.

Suddenly, I come across a cliff face. It's a dead end! I have wings, but I'm scared of heights. I see the mean ponies chasing me, but what do I do? Fly and be scared, or jump off and die? I just can't decide which seems bearable!

I shut my eyes, awaiting my fate, but after half a minute… nothing's happened to me?

"Open your eyes, Vincent…"

That voice; it sounds regal and feminine… Who's calling my name…? Wait, how does she know my name?

Cautiously, I open one eye, then the other. I see a mare right in front of me. She's taller and skinnier than me, and she has wings and a horn! A winged unicorn, is it? Her fur is dark blue, her mane and tail are moderate sapphire blue with a grayish Persian blue aura surrounding, and her cutie mark's a crescent moon on a dark purple background. She wears a dark purple corset around her chest, silver shoes, and a black crown. Royalty, perhaps?

"Do not fear them, Vincent," she tells me, "I have sent them off. They can not bother you no longer."

Out of curiosity, I slowly walk forward and face this mysterious winged unicorn. I see her corset as a crescent moon similar to her cutie mark, and her eyes are moderate cyan in color, with light sapphire blue eyeshadow!

After what feels like ages, I find my voice. "May I ask, your Highness, who are you…?"

"I am Princess Luna," says the winged unicorn, "princess of the night, and one of my many duties is to come into your dreams."

Princess Luna? I know I heard that name somewhere, but where? I ask slowly, "How… do you know my name…?"

"As a princess," Luna explains, "I know the names of everypony in Equestria along with my older sister Celestia."

"Oh." I don't know what to say next; how does somepony speak with a celebrity figure, let alone a princess? The first thing that comes to my mind is, "What… what do you… want with me?" I ask in a shaky voice. I feel scared inside; I don't if I should stay or run, but then, angering a celebrity was out of the question.

Princess Luna slowly walks towards me, and then places a hoof on my shoulder. Her smile makes her seem kind and gentle. I feel less scared and give a small smile.

"By looking at your dreams," she tells me, "I could sense you were troubled. Care to share?"

I breathe a sigh. Where do I begin?

"There was this dream," I start explaining, "where two school-age ponies were hurting my sister Fictionary, and I tried to save her, but others held me back. They were stronger than me, mind, and I tried fighting back, but couldn't bear watching as she was beaten to a pulp and…"

I couldn't say any more; I knew what it led to, so did Luna, I believe.

"And then there's this other dream, regarding my parents. I'm with them in a bus, and suddenly, it goes out of control, and before anypony can stop us, we crash into a mountain and…" Again, I knew what it led to.

"But they pale in comparison to this third, horrible nightmare of mine; my parents and a beautiful mare I was dating had been killed, and it looked like it had been fault. Then some nasty ponies kept bullying me, calling me a murderer, until I snapped – I cut one of them in half, but another immediately respawned, and so I ran.

"It didn't stop there; I ran into a town – I don't know of its name – where just about everypony accused me for… many things I can't describe, but they were horrible, mind. I could handle the pain no longer…" By this point, tears were welling up in my eyes and my voice started to crack. "Th-then I feel something j-jerk at my neck… a hangpony's noose! That's when everypony who di-didn't believe me forced me off the cliff…" I couldn't take it any more. "And it gave away and I fell to my death…!"

That was when I broke down in tears. I sat down with my forehooves covering my face. I was crying in front of a Princess, but I didn't care; the painful memories were too much for me to bear. Tears leaking out of my eyes, I let out a sniffle.

All of a sudden, I feel a pair of forelegs wrapped around me. I stop crying and open my eyes, still teary, and notice Luna is hugging me. Why is that, I wonder to myself?

"Princess Luna…" I find my voice, "I don't… Why…?"

"It's okay, Vincent," she tells me in a kind tone, "you must be suffering from anxieties of the past… just like me."

"Like you?" I ask with curiosity.

"About a thousand years ago, I refused to lower the moon to make way for a new dawn. I was bitter and jealous of my older sister Celestia, and it turned me into Nightmare Moon." At this point, I can see a tear in her eye.

"Forgive me, but is it a painful reminder?" I ask.

"Very. I was banished for a thousand years, and had it not been for Twilight and her new friends, Equestria would've been in eternal darkness and I would never have reunited with Celestia." I had a pained expression on my face when Luna said "Twilight and her new friends," but tried not to show it.

"I see…" I said slowly, "do my dreams, like the one we're in, reflect on the pain I had been through three weeks ago? I mean, I was so mad I didn't know what I was thinking… I was out there, ponies treating me like a monster – you know what it's like, right? – and I couldn't defend myself. I just wanted to scream and run away. Even with Fluttershy giving me shelter in my darkest hour, I thought nopony was looking out for me… ever."

"There are many in Equestria who have dark and bitter pasts," Luna says calmly, "but I believe you've the one thing they don't – heart."

I stare at her in confusion. "I do? I mean, I wish I did…"

There was silence before Luna spoke again. "You'll need to forgive them…"

"But my anger got in the way, didn't it? Was I too focused on the negatives to even take the tiniest glance at the positives? I've had dark days, but none as cloudy as what I went through very recently…"

"In a way, yes," said Luna, "I could tell that Twilight and her friends were trying to make amends with you, Vincent."

"I really, really want to forgive them all, particularly Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Applejack…"

"…and your sister Fictionary too," Luna finished, "she didn't know where her actions would lead to, and neither did Twilight nor her friends. Do not focus on your past too much, young Vincent, because you then feel more pain on the inside."

I don't know what to say next. But bit by bit, Luna's words sunk into my brain.

"You're right," I said at last, "I can't hide from the past any longer. I had been scared back then, but I must face them and win the battle…"

Suddenly, the sky is getting brighter, and I see the moon is lowering to make way for the sun. Then I feel the ground slowly crumbling before me and Luna!

"What…?"

"Morning has come, Vincent," says Luna, "you are waking up!"

"Wait…!" But my voice is barely heard over the ground's crumbling.

"Remember what I've said; you must put the past behind you, because the more you focus on it, the more pain you will feel…"

Author's Note

The title has two references; "Luna's Theory" is a pun on "lunar theory", and "Starry Night" is a reference to van Gogh's painting of the same name.

The second half of the chapter is in Vincent's point of view in his dreams.

6 Forgive and Forget

Vincent groaned as he got himself out of bed. That dream he had last night with Princess Luna stuck in his mind as he went downstairs; he had plenty to think about and thought of what to do. After a quick shower and drying off, he brewed himself some tea. All this time, he hadn't said so much as one word, apart from the occasional breathing.

As he sipped his tea, Vincent heard the sound of knocking on the front door. Setting his cup down, he stood up and walked over to the door. The door had lock chain maze, and since the pin was at the starting point of the maze, Vincent easily opened the door just wide enough only to find none other than…

"Twilight? What are you doing here?"

"Erm, hi, Vincent," said Twilight, feeling slightly nervous, "I know you're probably still angry over what went on a few weeks ago, if you know what I mean, but all of us gathered here to speak with you."

Vincent raised an eyebrow in confusion. "What do you mean, 'all of us'? I only see you."

"If you open the door a bit wider, you'll see for yourself."

"Hmm..." Vincent looked away for a few seconds, and then he turned back to Twilight.

"Just hold on a minute, Twilight," he said, before closing the door. Vincent turned to the lock chain, and began shifting the peg across the maze.

"Ah, come on," he groaned in annoyance, when he got lost after a minute or two, "gotta get it replaced with something that isn't complicated…!"

At last, Vincent removed the peg, and opened the door.

"Sorry I took so long, Twilight," he said, "just had a bit of complications with my door… lock… chain…"

Vincent's mouth was agape with awe; it wasn't just Twilight who was in front of the Metrostallion House of Art – there was Applejack, Rainbow Dash, Rarity, Fluttershsy, Pinkie Pie, Spike, Fictionary, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Snips, Snails, Miss Cheerilee, and even Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon!

"How is it-?" he began, unable to come up with anything to say.

"It was for your own good, big brother," said Fictionary, and explained everything, "I know you might be upset, but when you got sent to the hospital, I brought our family photo album with me to tell Twilight and the others about you and your troubled past."

"You what?!"

"I didn't want to hide your secrets any longer, and like I said, for your own good."

"I see… Now how the hay did you rally up everypony here?"

"Not long after you… ahem, 'abandoned' me, quote-unquote," continued Fictionary, "I went to Golden Oak Library and told Twilight about what you were planning to do."

"The first thing I did," Twilight added, picking up where Fictionary left off, "was to tell everypony you were familiar with here in Ponyville, along with those involved in your almost-downfall, to meet up outside here."

"I see, and how did Princess Luna knew of my troubles?" asked Vincent. There was silence before Twilight spoke up again.

"Let's just say we met her in our dreams and explained everything," the light purple unicorn shrugged.

"Her duty, I presume? And before you ask, yes, she told me." Vincent paused, in case anypony else wanted to speak up. "I assume you're all here for a particular reason…"

"We just didn't know why you never told us about your secrets in the first place," said Rainbow Dash.

"Well, Rainbow, it's because I was worried about what others would think," admitted Vincent, "I did try to move on, but the memories were way too painful to ignore, and that's why I, erm, lost it."

"As we'd seen, all too well," agreed Pinkie.

"I'm sorry I got angry at you all," continued Vincent, "especially at Twilight, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Rarity, and of course, Fictionary. It wasn't right of me, I see now, and I should have listened to what you were trying to tell me."

There was a pause, and then Rainbow Dash, Applejack and Rarity walked up to Vincent, the three mares standing next to Twilight and Fictionary.

"Vincent van Colt," Rarity began, "I speak for the three us, and it is with most regret that we apologize for accusing you for making up stories about us."

"What Rarity's tryin' to say," said Applejack, "we're sorry for jumping to conclusions."

"That was really twenty percent less cooler from all three of us," said Rainbow Dash, "especially from me!"

"It's all right, you three," Vincent gave a small smile, "I get the message and I forgive you."

"And me?" Fictionary asked hopefully, "I revealed your secrets, I nearly caused you to kill yourself, and I betrayed you… sort of…"

"How can I not forgive my sister?" asked Vincent indignantly, bringing his sister closer to him, "Fictionary, you're still my only family left even if you've done crazy things and tease me about my fear of heights…"

"You're a Pegasus that's afraid of heights?" asked Spike, "That's-"

"Ironic, I know," finished Vincent, "I don't know why, but they freak me out, even if I'm only, say, ten feet in the air."

"I know what that's like," said Fluttershy.

"With me 'round, you probably won't have to fear heights anymore!" said Rainbow Dash.

"Oh, we'll see, Dashie," Vincent scoffed, chuckling. This was met with a few giggles.

"A few of my students, too, have some apologizes to make as well," said Miss Cheerilee, giving a "hinting" look towards Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon.

Snips and Snails went up to Vincent. "Snails and I are sorry for being involved with spreading those lies about you," said Snips, "neither of us knew we were being used as pawns that nearly brought you down."

"But we don't look anything like chess pieces," said Snails, confused.

"He means somepony used to further the purposes of another," said Twilight.

"She's right, and of course, I understand, boys," Vincent told them, "I'm not mad at you, but I am cross with them," he added, glaring at Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon. "I expect you won't be telling lies about me after you nearly got me to a sticky end?"

Everypony else was also glaring at the two Earth fillies (and that included Fluttershy and Pinkie Pie too).

"What's everypony staring at us for?" grumbled Diamond Tiara.

"Don't ya have anythin' to say to Fictionary's big brother?" asked Apple Bloom.

"If you say it, we'll stop staring at you," said Scootaloo.

"Even I think they mean it," Silver Spoon whispered to her friend.

Diamond Tiara sighed in annoyance before speaking again. "We're sorry that we made up those false lies about you," she said to Vincent, through her teeth.

"And we will never, ever do it again," finished Silver Spoon.

"That's what we wanted to hear," said Sweetie Belle, "and I hope you two will stick true to your word."

"Given it's only towards Vincent," Apple Bloom noted, "you know how they can be."

Vincent smiled again; although she was blunt to him, Diamond Tiara apologizing was good enough for him.

"Well, it looks like all's well that ends well," he said to the small crowd, "and it looks like it won't be necessary for me to pack out my suitcases."

"You mean…?" asked Fictionary hopefully.

For the first time in years, Vincent had a big smile on his face. "I'm staying here in Ponyville from now on!"

This was met with cheers from everypony else, apart from Diamond Tiara; even Silver Spoon quietly applauded.

"This calls for a PAR-TAY!"

Vincent flew up in surprise; Pinkie Pie had popped from out of nowhere behind him.

"That's one thing I need to get used to," he chuckled.

Later in the day at Golden Oak Library, Vincent was writing a friendship report to Princess Celestia. Next to him was a canvas wrapped up in brown paper and strings.

"Dear Princess Celestia,

This is Vincent van Colt, a new friend to Twilight Sparkle. Over the last few months I'd been in Ponyville, I've learned three extremely important lessons in friendship; first being is that what bullies think about you doesn't matter. It's what you think about yourself that's really important.

A second lesson I also learned to put the past behind me, because, as your sister Luna put it, the more I thought about it, the more pain I felt in my heart.

The third and final friendship lesson, to me, is that you should always depend on your friends to help you even in your darkest days. I have Twilight to thank for showing me that, and without her, who knows what I'd be doing now?

Your humble subject,
Vincent van Colt.

P.S.: I've attached this letter to a package I've sent you as well. See for yourself for what it is; I bet you'll love it!"

Vincent put down the pencil he held in his hoof, and handed Spike the letter. The baby dragon scrolled up the letter and wrapped it in red ribbon with a gold button that bore the letter C for "Celestia".

"Attach this to the package, and its next stop is Canterlot castle," said Vincent proudly.

"Given your art skills," said Twilight, "I'm more than certain she'll love what you've made for her and Luna."

"Years ago, I was unappreciated for my skills," agreed Vincent, "hopefully years from now, I will be appreciated!"

Apart from Twilight, Vincent, and Spike, also inside the library were Rarity, Sweetie Belle, Rainbow Dash, Applejack, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Pinkie Pie, Fluttershy, and Fictionary. They were all glad to have a friend in Vincent (brother in Fictionary's case) and were happy he was choosing to stay in Ponyville.

Like Vincent hoped for, his package and letter to Princess Celestia arrived at Canterlot castle. She stood at her throne room with Princess Luna at her side, and two gray unicorn guards stood in front of them. Suddenly, the doors opened, and a third guard walked up to them followed by a fourth bringing in a thin, light brown package in strings with a scroll attached.

"Your Highnesses," said the third guard, "a package from Ponyville by a Mr. Vincent van Colt."

"Let us see what he's brought us," said Princess Celestia as she took the letter, letting her sister deal with the package.

As Princess Celestia had finished reading the latest friendship report, Princess Luna had unwrapped the package and gaped in awe; it was an extremely accurate painting of her and Princess Celestia! The princesses in the painting stood on a grassy field, both smiling. Luna's side had a night sky and moon, while Celestia's had a day sky and sun. Both princesses were smiling happily at one another.

"Oh my," Princess Celestia said in delight, "Twilight's new friend Vincent does have wonderful talent!"

"It looks so like us," agreed Princess Luna, "where should we hang it, dear sister?"

Princess Celestia smiled broadly. "I think I know just the place," she replied, looking at a wall of portraits.

Some time later, Princess Celestia thanked Vincent for the painting he done for her and Luna, and he was grateful that somepony of royalty appreciated his talents. To him, living in Liverhoof was a little dull, even with the friends he had there, and although Vincent put much of his past behind him, he was still touchy on a few certain subjects.

Fictionary has changed as well; she was quite cheeky and mischevious at times, but has matured and become wiser since her brother flipped out, and she often spends some sisterly time with Twilight. She and Vincent long to join the Mane Six on an adventure someday, but little did they know they would get their chance...

THE END (of this chapter, but the start of Vincent's new life)