Canterlot: Celestia's Royal Chambers

Celestia threw a fifth empty bottle away from her desk. She had raised the sun as usual, but she had called off the day court. Cited it as a 'Health Condition'. She knew that was a lie, Alicorns couldn't get sick with most conditions. But she needed today off. . .She uncorked a sixth bottle of Laudanum, and took a swig. Laudanum potions were technically illegal, but it was the only type of drink that could make Celestia forget.

It seemed everything was going so well, but the moment Luna returned, all the fail-safes she had set up failed. She failed to defeat Discord a second time. She had lost a duel with Chrysalia; whom she knew was weaker than her, Celestia had to botch the first one to make sure everypony got away, then when fighting Chrysalia; Celestia tried to stop time using the power she obtained from her brother Chronos, it failed her; she ended up pinned under an exploding steamroller after Chrysalia stopped time. Somber Heart returned along with the Crystal Empire. . . Luna had begged her to let her go to the Empire to solve the problem, but she told her younger sister no. Tirek returned, only to be defeated by Twilight Sparkle. Ponies started praising Twilight Sparkle as their savior. . . . . And now Lynchinus returns, of all times, forcing more awful memories of her past to the forefront. She took another swig from the bottle. She was going to make herself shit-faced drunk to forget or die trying.

She chuckled at that one, she had already tried to kill herself. . .Multiple times. . .It never worked. . . . .But anything to forget the past was preferable.

Ponyville

The three unicorns didn't look out of place in Ponyville. If Sparrow's coloration weren't grey and black, he wouldn't have drawn as much attention, but most of the ponies were busy with their daily lives to stop and say hello, they were waiting for Pinkie Pie to throw a get-to-meet-the-new-pony-party.

Sweetie Belle continued to hold Sparrow's attention with the prospect of 'school'. It was such a strange and alien concept to him. But when their conversation was just about over, Rarity, who was daydreaming, bumped straight into another pony. Sparrow twisted around and caught Rarity with his forehooves. The pony that Rarity bumped into didn't seem phased by the accident.

Sparrow looked right at him; the pony- or unicorn, had a sort of white color to his coat, his eyes were straight turquoise (whatever color that was), but his mane was strange: it was dark blue, not an odd color, but it seemed to be crystalline in structure and refracted light, and for some reason, the unicorn was wearing a sort of shirt or jacket. Sparrow saw something next to the stallion; a foal, a unicorn, about Sweetie Belle's size, wearing similar garb, the foal had a light blue mane with the same crystalline structure, but no refraction of light, it's eyes were an icy blue color that seemed to see more than most, and finally, it's coat was light grey. Then the foal spoke "Father, I told you this wasn't the way to the school."

Sparrow set Rarity down on her hooves, then they both turned towards the strangers.

The stallion looked over at his foal and tussled its mane "Good deduction skills, Dimante. . .I bet these ponies can point us to th- Rarity?" His eyes widened.

Rarity took one good look at the stallion, then she remembered exactly who it was "Oh! Lord Sapphirus, My apologies! I didn't mean to run face first into you. . .and. . .um. . .I completed the silk over-shirt that you wanted"

Sapphirus just smiled "Oh Rarity. . .You don't need to freak out because you bump into me. I should be the one doing the apologizing, not you."

Rarity turned her attention to the foal "And who is this?"

"Oh? Him? He's my son, Dimante Myalo"

Dimante piped up "Father, don't call me that"

"I'm sorry, kiddo. Call him Diamond Mind, that's the non-stuck up version"

"What brings you to town, Sapphirus?"

"Schooling for kiddo over here. . .Not that he needs the education, mind you, just the socialization"

Rarity tilted her head in curiosity "Similar disorder to Twilight?"

Sapphirus leaned over and whispered into Rarity's ear "Worse"

"Oh no. . . . Well, Sparrow, Sweetie Belle and I were just going over to the school, so you should follow us there"

"Okay then, You hear that kiddo? Lets go!"

Diamond's ears drooped "Fine"

Sweetie Belle walked next to Diamond, she managed to spark a discussion about magic, during that, she noticed the ring on Diamond's horn. She wondered what it was for. . . .

Ponyville School

"Go at'em kiddo! It's just recess, Get to know the other kids or show them some magic tricks or something" Sapphirus was leaning on the fence, shouting encouragement to his anti-social son. Rarity tapped him on the shoulder.

"Just let him socialize and get used to the other ponies, I'm sure they'll grow on him"

On the Playground

Diamond Mind was approached by an earth pony, one who had the gall to wear a diamond tiara in public like she was some sort of noble, like he was. At least he had the modesty to wear a signet necklace like the other young nobles with common sense. She was followed by another earth pony who wore crude looking glasses, the style was about forty-two years old, it should have been dead by now. Then the one with the diamond tiara spoke up "Hey, are you some sort of new kid?"

Diamond was considering just hitting the filly for her tone of voice. That tone was no way to speak to noble, and especially a unicorn noble. "Yes, I'm new here"

She then asked a more pressing question "I'm Diamond Tiara, and just a question: do you have a cutie mark?"

Diamond had heard from his father about this, it was called blank flank discrimination, and it was rampant outside of Canterlot. His expression changed to a frown "Yes I do, but I'm not showing it to filthy commoners such as yourself, and take off that tiara, it insults my presence." Diamond decided that some racial discrimination couldn't hurt, these bullies had to have thick skin "Shouldn't you two hicks be helping harvest the fields instead of attending school, since you have your cutie marks?"

"Hey! Drop the attitude, we run this place! Stop acting like some sort of noblepony!"

"Ah, but you see, I am some sort of noblepony, now trot off before I break that stupid tiara of yours" Then Diamond jumped straight up, onto the roof of the school "and there's your obligatory magic trick, I jumped 15 feet in the air, good for me and all that jazz"

"F-fine, but you're not part of our group!"

Sweetie Belle saw Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon prowling the playground. Sweetie Belle wished that Scootaloo and Apple Bloom would arrive sooner so she wouldn't have to face the two bullies alone. She turned to go hide when she heard Diamond Tiara "Hey blank flank!"

Sweetie Belle gritted her teeth"Yes?"

"Just who is that ugly stallion flirting with your sister?"

Sweetie Belle looked over at Rarity, she was talking with Sparrow "Oh, Him? That's Sparrow, he's a traveler who suffered a head injury and needed a job to make some bits" Sweetie Belle hated lying.

"To think your sister would lower her standards for a stallion, I thought she was different than you, blank flank"

Sweetie Belle felt tears start to well up "That's not how it is at all, you pervert!"

"Face it Sweetie Belle, your sister is a good for nothing whore"

And like that, Sweetie Belle started crying. . .

Sparrow heard somepony crying in the schoolyard. He turned and saw Sweetie Belle crying, and caught the last snippet of the conversation.

Memories started flooding him as he charged towards the school yard, the red haze of rage entering his vision. . .

Author's Note

Sorry for taking so long. . .Got a few finals and the ACT coming up. . . .

Hope ya'll enjoyed the chapter. . .

Celestia's problems go much further in the past than one might imagine. . .