A pale pink earth pony filly, with a lavender mane and tail, donned a diamond-studded silver tiara on her head. Her flanks displayed a similar item, much to her pride and joy, and very much proclaimed her given name: Diamond Tiara.
While she was pretty and proper by Equestrian standards, her attitude, personality, and general disposition left a lot to be desired, unfortunately.
The latter was confirmed because right now, in the Ponyville Elementary School playground, she was harassing three other fillies, one yellow earth pony, one white unicorn, and one orange pegasus, i.e., the self-proclaimed Cutie Mark Crusaders™.
While the three were more or less used to Diamond Tiara’s antics during recess, there was something quite different in the current display of dominance.
Namely, Diamond Tiara, while retaining her filly proportions, was as tall as a two-story house, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders were half their normal size, thus making them no larger than insects compared to the giant filly.
And Diamond Tiara knew perfectly well that she had the upper hoof at this point in time:
“Do my homework or I’ll crush you like the roaches you are!!!”
The yellow filly (Diamond Tiara considered their names to be inconsequential and thus didn’t bother remembering them) looked up and shouted, “But we had plenty o’ problems doin’ our own homework! It took us forever t’ do!”
“Yeah! It will take forever to do your homework as well!!!” added the white unicorn.
“And why are you asking us to do your homework? Don’t you have a butler who always does that for you?” asked the orange pegasus.
“I’M ORDERING YOU BECAUSE I CAN!!! A HA HA HA HA HA HA HA!!!” was her Traditional-Royal-Canterlot-Voice-type response. Which almost blew away her victims, but a quick stomp pinned their tails to the ground.
They weren’t going anywhere.
“DO MY HOMEWORK NOW, YOU MISERABLE BLANK-FLANKS!!!”
“With what??? We don’t have any books, paper, or pencils, duh!!!”
It was that last “duh” by the orange pegasus that sent the bully’s rage into overdrive.
And being completely intolerant of their “insubordination” and “defiance” of her orders, Diamond Tiara raised her right hoof one more time…
…and flattened her victims with one swift stomp.
Satisfied that they were now dead, she scraped her right hoof on the grass, but then suddenly realised, “Oh, great, now I have to find even more miserable blank flanks to control! But there should be plenty here at school—”
A sudden vibration on the ground, right under her hoof, interrupted her rant. For a moment, she thought that those miserable blank flanks had somehow survived her fury and were squirming under her, so she pressed her full weight on her leg and twisted her hoof in order to finish them off. However, instead of the vibrations stopping, they increased, and then, much to her surprise, something solid began forming between her hoof and the ground.
Not to be undone, she pressed harder, but it seemed that the more she pressed, the more that…thing…increased in size, lifting her hoof higher and higher.
Whatever was appearing, it was spherical in shape, and it was glowing with a very intense blue light.
By now it had reached her withers, so Diamond Tiara had no choice but to step away and shield her eyes from the blinding light—
A “pop” suddenly dissipated the light, so when the bully turned to see what had happened…
In front of her, in all her royal glory, stood none other than Princess Luna.
And not only was it Luna, she was proportionately in her full size, meaning that she was much taller than Diamond Tiara, meaning that she towered over the playground and the school building.
Bully or not, Diamond Tiara had enough sense of self-preservation that kicked in at this moment, meaning she quickly bowed and pressed her nose on the ground.
“P-P-Princess Luna!” she stuttered, “It’s…an…um…honour to have you here in…um…Ponyville again!!!”
“Arise, young Diamond Tiara,” she replied, quite tersely. “And save your pretentious flattery for your father or your teacher. There is much to be discussed tonight.”
Trembling, and slightly taken aback by the princess’ scolding, the filly straightened up. “Discussed?”
“Aye, but first, we’ll need to ‘reset’ our setting…” Luna’s horn glowed white, and with a “ping”, the entire school, playground, and even Ponyville disappeared, leaving the two females floating in a star-filled dark blue void.
This frightened the bully, and she scrambled to find any point of reference by which to anchor her position, but there wasn’t even any ground to stand on—
“Welcome to the Dreamscape, Diamond Tiara.”
The filly in question was currently holding Luna’s left rear leg in a death grip, since she was suddenly overcome by a near-deadly wave of vertigo.
Looking around, the Dreamscape lacked any ground, and hence, any horizon. It was as if they were in outer space, though this “space” was dark blue instead of black. Stars twinkled all around them; some were dim, and some were bright, but despite the lack of a sun or a moon or any form of light—natural or artificial—they could see everything clearly.
Luna continued her exposition, “This is a realm of which only I have the power to enter and leave, and only I have the power to bring guests here, such as yourself. It is here where I monitor my subjects and I stay on constant alert against any nightmares anypony may have. Each ‘star’ you see around you is a dream somepony is having at this moment. Some are brief, some are long, and if the dream is a nightmare, the star will turn red and blink rapidly, alerting me to action. I then enter the dream and assist the pony in dealing with whatever fear is causing the nightmare.”
Diamond Tiara took in her explanation with slight trepidation; she was still trying to overcome her sudden vertigo and mortal fear of heights, and she decided that the best course of action would be to take her mind off the fact that she wasn’t standing on anything, and that would be accomplished by talking about something else: “But…why did you take over my dream, Your Highness? I wasn’t having any nightmare. In fact,” she almost smiled and chuckled, “It was a rather…fun dream, too.”
Luna looked down and replied, “You can release my leg now, Diamond Tiara. You won’t fall down because there isn’t any ‘down’ to fall towards.”
The filly gulped, “Y…yes, Your Highness.” Slowly and fearfully, she released Luna, but didn’t step away from her rear legs; foal instincts were still in full effect right now, especially the one where if a foal senses danger, then the safest place to be would be under or near the dam’s hindquarters.
Seeing that she wouldn’t be moving from that position anytime soon, the Night Princess continued, “You may not have been experiencing a night terror, young pony, but the dream you were having was just as bad.” That didn’t seem to bring any reaction from her charge, so Luna decided to try something different. “Walk with me, Diamond Tiara, and I’ll show you what I mean.” With that, she began walking in what seemed to be a random direction, and the filly scrambled to keep up.
The walking motions seemed to calm the filly down, because though she still couldn’t see any ground, her hooves at least could sense that they were pressing on something, even if it was invisible. “I…I don’t understand. I wasn’t scared at all in my dream. Maybe I was angry for a while, and perhaps upset and disappointed, but it was still a fun dream—”
“Young Diamond Tiara,” Luna suddenly interrupted, not stopping their walk, “tell me, what is the bully situation in your school, Ponyville Elementary?”
Surprised yet again by what seemed like a non-sequitur, her instinctive fear ebbed even more as she now focused on the topic at hoof.
And she knew exactly what to answer, too: the same thing she had told her father.
“It’s terrible, Princess Luna!” she feigned emotional distress. “Just this year, three bullies formed a club, not in the school, but outside of the school, and they have been bullying me and my best friend, Silver Spoon, for no reason at all! Every day at school they don’t stop bothering us, and our teacher, Miss Cheerilee, does what she can to protect me and Silver Spoon, but she can’t do anything if they come against us outside the school!!!”
That was her most convincing performance yet, but Diamond Tiara was somewhat dismayed when she saw that Luna’s reaction wasn’t one of concern or pity for her, but was facehoofing instead.
“This…club…” she replied, taking deep breaths, “…it wouldn’t happen to be called ‘The Cutie Mark Crusaders’?”
“YES!!! Oh, Princess Luna,” she whined. “I can’t imagine what other horrible deeds they may have done that the news of their horrible bullying has reached even Canterlot! I can’t imagine what you may be feeling right now!”
And you don’t WANT to imagine that, you foal…
“These…three fillies…weren’t they your subordinates who worked for you when you were in charge of your school newspaper, the Foal Free Press?”
“YES!!! Oh, dearest Princess Luna, it was horrible!!! Those three miserable liars lied to all of Ponyville, they blackmailed me, and they tricked Miss Cheerilee into demoting me and giving me the most disgusting job of them all: running the printing press!!! It took me weeks to remove all the ink from my mane, tail, and coat! It was terrible!!!”
A flick of Luna’s horn materialised in front of them the last Foal Free Press issue that featured the Gabby Gums column, and it glowed with a dark blue light as it was held in her telekinetic grip.
“How odd, I must be confused,” said the princess. “This periodical has a confession of the Cutie Mark Crusaders that states the contrary: that you were the one who was blackmailing them, with…their baby pictures, was it?”
“LIES!!! THEY’RE ALL LIES!!!” yelled the real bully, trying to regain control of the situation. “Those miserable LIARS LIED in that article!!! And Miss Cheerilee had the GALL to believe THEM instead of ME!!!”
“Calm down, young one,” said Luna with a somewhat stern tone. “I, unlike some ponies, do not believe everything I read, be it in a periodical or not, nor do I take at face value everything that the headlines proclaim.”
Diamond Tiara calmed down. She had her fooled now.
“So, I decided to investigate this particular matter,” she waved the newspaper slightly. “I’ve interviewed the ponies involved, the ‘victims’ of the Gabby Gums column—which, I might add, included all of the Knights of Harmony, strangely enough—” the filly suddenly felt a wave of fear, “and I’ve also been monitoring quite a few dreams as well. And I’ll tell you, Diamond Tiara, I found out many interesting things.”
“R-really?” she asked, feeling even more fright. “Y-you found out what horrible bullies the Cutie Mark Crusaders are?”
“What I found out, Diamond Tiara,” the newspaper suddenly disappeared with a dark blue flash, and the princess stopped and turned to face the filly, abruptly halting her walk as well, “is that you and your minion, Silver Spoon, have been systematically banned from several stores, restaurants—you were even briefly banned from the Golden Oaks Library—and most recently, you’ve been banned from Sugar Cube Corner. Tell me, Diamond Tiara,” she leaned down and almost pressed her nose against the filly’s, “if you and Silver Spoon are the victims of bullying, why is it that you have been barred from entering all the establishments I mentioned, hm?”
Her gaze seemed to penetrate her soul, and even her abilities to spin information faltered, and the fact that they weren’t in any physical place was also contributing to Diamond Tiara’s nervousness. Still, she replied, “Be-because…because why else?” She stood straight. “Those liars have LIED to all those owners!! They LIED to Mr. and Mrs. Cake, and they threw me and Silver Spoon out before we could drink our milkshakes that WE paid for, and those idiot blank flanks then drank OUR milkshakes!!!”
Luna just looked at her, first sadly, then sternly.
“Do you mean these milkshakes, Diamond Tiara?”
For one instant, the filly thought that Luna was going to materialise the drinks in question right in front of her, but a brief glow of her horn conjured a floating viewing screen in front of them instead.
And on that screen they both saw the scene in question: The Cutie Mark Crusaders were at Sugar Cube Corner, and the yellow earth pony was quite immersed in a heartsong. That is, until her cousin, a brown earth pony filly, charged in and slammed her hoof on the table, knocking the three away, and then she, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon proceeded to drink the milkshakes that they didn’t pay for.
The bully’s mouth fell open as her version of the events in question was very much destroyed at this point.
“That’s right, Diamond Tiara, Sugar Cube Corner has a security system complete with video cameras, and from the images that were stored that day, it seems that you and your minions stole those fillies’ milkshakes—despite you having enough money to pay for your own several times over—and ejected the Cutie Mark Crusaders from that establishment by sheer intimidation. And it was Mr. Cake who later saw these images, and he and his wife had a long talk with you, your minion, and your parents, and proceeded to ban you from their establishment, am I right?”
The bully was grasping at straws now. She whirled toward the princess, and blurted, “They didn’t deserve those milkshakes!!! Those three were bullying me and Silver Spoon and…and that other filly!!!” Again, she had deliberately forgotten Babs’ name, and never thought it important enough to bring it up again.
“They didn’t deserve them?” Luna asked almost condescendingly. “Well, that is an interesting piece of information I didn’t know until now. Please, Diamond Tiara, enlighten me as to how they didn’t deserve the drinks that they paid for with their own money and how they were bullying you and your minion.”
“H-how?” She had to think quickly. “Well…they…that yellow filly tried to turn her cousin against me!! But I showed her! I showed them all!!!”
“You’ll have to explain that more thoroughly, Diamond Tiara. If she was trying to turn her cousin against you, she obviously did a very poor job, since it was her cousin who shoved them away from that table.” The filly blanched. “But we’ll come back to that later. How else have the Cutie Mark Crusaders been bullying you? And please, don’t hold anything back; after all, now’s your chance to say the whole truth without any fear of retaliation from your enemies.”
Yes! Now was her chance to spin everything into her version of things!
“They…those three idiots bully me and Silver Spoon by passing notes in class, insulting me and her, they won’t stop calling me names, and worst of all, those LIARS LIED about me to Princess Twilight when she, out of the goodness of her heart,” she did her best “sad eyes” expression, “set apart from her own time, ‘Twilight Time’, she called it, to help them in their pathetic magic, and she never bothered to ask ME about my side of the story, and now the new princess refuses to talk to me or Silver Spoon—”
“ENOUGH!!!”
The bully was blown back several meters after getting a very up-close demonstration of the Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice™. Since they were in the Dreamscape, luckily her eardrums remained intact.
“I have never seen such a blatant attempt to deceive my royal person with such pathetic tales filled with lies, slander, perjury, trickery, falsehoods, defamations, and deception!!! I would have expected something like that from spies, traitors, or enemies of Equestria, but never from a filly like yourself!!! I will now continue questioning you, Diamond Tiara, but don’t you dare lie to me again!!! I have already checked my sources for the real facts, and if you try to lie to me again, I will immediately know AND YOU WILL BE CHARGED WITH PERJURY AND YOU WILL FACE THE CONSEQUENCES, IS THAT CLEAR???!!!”
Diamond Tiara was hunkered on the non-existent ground, covering her head from the auditory onslaught. When she looked up, Luna’s eyes were glowing white, and even her ethereal mane and tail seemed more agitated.
And the filly was suddenly at a loss for words.
Luna’s eyes didn’t fade, “Do you truly think that I don’t speak to Princess Twilight Sparkle at all? No, young one, we talk, and we talk often. Not only did she tell me everything that happened concerning the events of this ‘Twilight Time’ you mention, she also showed me the video images of ‘you being harassed by those three fillies during Twilight Time’.” She huffed and snorted for a few moments as her eyes turned back to normal. Then she finally added, “And from what I saw, it seems to me that it is you and your minion who are harassing and bullying the Cutie Mark Crusaders, Diamond Tiara.”
“YEAH??? WELL, THEY DESERVE IT!!!”
Luna was certainly never expecting the filly to talk back, much less stand and scream in her own face, and even less with that type of accusation.
“They deserve it, you say? They deserve every single insult, mockery, mental abuse, theft, berating, and animosity on your part? Well, that certainly changes things,” her tone was slightly condescending again. “But again, here we are free to speak all we want without fear of them retaliating against you, so now you can speak the truth…or what you think is the truth, at least. Tell me, young Diamond Tiara, have the Cutie Mark Crusaders ever invaded or trespassed into your home, completely uninvited?”
The filly just stood there, knowing she couldn’t spin any more information.
“N-no.” There was no more she could answer to that.
“Have they ever wrecked any projects inside your own home, which you may or may not have spent hours on?”
“Uh…no…” She wasn’t sure what Luna was getting at.
“Have they pulled aside any of your relatives or employees, and turned him/her/them against you in any way, shape, or form?”
“Well, no—”
“Have they stolen any food or any candy from you, which you paid out of your own purse?”
“No, but—”
“Have they openly and deliberately mocked any elderly relative of yours, whether you are close to him/her, or not?”
“Not in my face, no—”
“This is quite interesting, then. Tell me, young one,” she leaned closer. “What have the Cutie Mark Crusaders done to you that has driven you to retaliate to such extremes? Again, speak freely, and don’t hold back. After all, from the way you treat them, they must have treated you much more horribly than what you’ve done to them, am I right?”
Diamond Tiara just stood there.
And stood there.
Then her breathing became laboured, her eyes hardened, and she finally blurted, “That miserable Apple stole all the attention during my cuteceañera!!! If it wasn’t bad enough that my parents weren’t able to get there until very late, that Apple filly suddenly showed up and told ALL of my guests that it’s MUCH BETTERto NOT have a cutie mark, and worst of all, Twilight Sparkle agreed with her and she turned all my guests against me!!!” Feeling emboldened, she stood on the tip of her hooves and almost shoved her nose into Luna’s, “And YOU, most of all, should know perfectly well what that’s like, when suddenly NOPONYpays attention to you because somepony else shows up and steals everypony away!!! THAT MISERABLE BLANK FLANK DESERVES EVERYTHING I’VE DONE TO HER, AND MORE, AND YOU KNOW THAT!!!” She huffed for a few seconds, and then she suddenly remembered who she was talking to, so she quickly curtseyed and added, “…um…Your Highness.”
Luna just looked at her for a while, apparently deep in thought, and replied, “It’s quite resourceful of you to compare your situation to that of my sister and I a thousand years ago, but that does lead to another question.” The filly straightened up. “If you didn’t want Apple Bloom at your cuteceañera, why did you bother inviting her in the first place?”
Diamond Tiara’s eyes widened at that, and while her breathing was still laboured, she didn’t answer.
“Or,” continued Luna, “why didn’t you demand that she leave, her and her new friends, if she was making you so uncomfortable? If she was upsetting you so much, I’m quite sure that Dame Pinkie Pie would have very much taken your side and revoked their invitations, if you had only spoken to her privately and explained to her what you’re explaining to me now.”
Again, the filly didn’t answer. Her rage was preventing her from thinking logically.
“From what I gather, Diamond Tiara, you deliberately invited the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and all the other foals who had yet to receive their cutie marks, because…” she leaned closer again, “…you wanted them to feel low, and beneath you, because of what you had already achieved. You wanted to stand out from them, stand out above them, like the tiara on your head, am I right?”
The filly winced and turned away slightly at having her soul bared, “Uh…maybe?”
“Which then brings us to yet another question that has intrigued me for quite a while now. Tell me, young Diamond Tiara, what will you do once the Cutie Mark Crusaders get their cutie marks—which, from what I can see, will happen quite soon? Will you finally leave them in peace, and seek out other ‘blank flanks’ to torment?”
The rich brat scrunched her nose at that, but didn’t dare look at Luna in the eye.
“It does seem odd, to me, at least, that there are quite a number of colts and fillies in your school—nay, in all of Ponyville—who are still markless, but you don’t single them out at all. They’re also younger and smaller than you, ‘easier targets’, if you will, but you are fixated on the Cutie Mark Crusaders.”
“Why???” she whirled again. “Why do I pick on them and nopony else? Because from what they did at my party, it’s obvious that they are the ones who are trying to hog all the attention!!! Those three can’t stay still and they have to butt in everypony else’s business! Those three idiots are always trying to look like heroes when they’re nothing but miserable, poor, weak, and powerless JERKS!!!”
Silence.
Again, the princess eyed the filly for a moment.
“You are quite passionate and firm in your convictions and justifications of your never-ending bullying of those fillies. You have an unwavering opinion about them, who they are, and what they do, but let’s go back to you for a moment. Tell me, Diamond Tiara, do you consider yourself, in comparison to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, somepony great, powerful, intelligent, and dare I say, heroic?”
The filly smirked as she now thought that she was regaining control of the discussion. “Of course! I’m incredibly rich! I have the power to do just about anything!!!”
“That’s quite an interesting opinion you have of yourself. Tell me, was it you who caused all of Ponyville to stop fearing that foreigner, Zecora the Zebra Shaman?”
Her control was abruptly truncated, much to her chagrin. “Uh…no—”
“Pardon me, then, I must have confused you with another filly. Then, was it you who singlehoofedly restored all the friendships and relationships in Ponyville after you confessed of being the one who was spreading damaging gossip in a periodical?”
She stuttered, “N-no, that wasn’t me, either—”
“Were you the one who galloped non-stop from Ponyville to the Crystal Empire in order to perform in the contest for the Ponyville Flag Bearer of the Opening Ceremony of the Equestria Games?”
“Um…no, I didn’t do that—”
“You didn’t? Then you must have been the filly who made that trek, all by herself, through the Flame Geyser Swamp, in order to deliver a whole wagonful of merchandise, at your own peril, am I right?”
Diamond Tiara lowered her head. “No, that wasn’t me.”
“Ah, but it must have been you who singlehoofedly proved—in front of an entire town, I might add—that an innocent pony, who was literally down on his luck, was indeed innocent, and not a criminal, as many ponies erroneously thought?”
The bully whirled away. “NO!!!”
Another pause.
Luna sighed, but continued her grilling, “You have quite an intriguing use of ‘logic’, young filly. Despite not having done any of the feats I mentioned, you consider yourself a ‘heroic’ pony. But let’s take a more recent event. Were you there when I joined all of Ponyville’s dreams into one single dream?”
Diamond Tiara slowly turned her head with slight confusion. “Y-yes, I was, or at least, I think I was, and so was Silver Spoon. That was…crazy…”
“How odd, I didn’t see either you or your minion there. It was difficult for me to track everypony who was involved, so please help me remember: what did you and your minion do to help me defeat the Tantabus?”
The bully couldn’t help but gasp quietly at the question. She turned away fully, not daring to look at the Princess of the Night, and replied with the only spin she could come up with, “I…I don’t remember. Some dreams are very hard to remember, if you can remember that you dreamed at all—”
She was suddenly encased in a magical blue glow, and Luna’s magic lifted her and turned her around again in order to look at her in the eye.
“Perhaps, filly, but this is one dream that you will be remembering perfectly FOR THE REST OF YOUR LIFE. I’ll be making sure of that.”
The bully gulped.
“And I’ll help you remember that other collective dream: You and your minion were hiding under a table in the basement of your mansion, while the rest of Ponyville, INCLUDING THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS, AND YOUR FATHER, fought WITH me in order to defeat the Tantabus…” Luna slowly shook her head and placed her down. “…while you two did absolutely NOTHING.”
“But what could we have done???” she pleaded with desperation. “We were just two earth pony fillies!!! And you had the rest of Ponyville helping out!!! Would we have made any difference???”
Luna sighed, and looked down with disappointment, “You could have done anything, young Diamond Tiara. Since it was a dream, you and your minion could have conjured any power or ability, and it would have manifested itself without any restriction whatsoever. Instead,” she looked at her in the eye once more, “You two chose to hide from the battle. You know, young one, there is a term for what you and your minion did. Do you know what it is?”
The spoiled brat took a few nervous steps back, and replied with the only answer she could think of, “Um…‘self-protection’?”
The princess narrowed her eyes at her, her pupils almost becoming draconic. “Try ‘cowardice’, you miserable spoiled brat,” she whispered dangerously. “And ‘cowards’ were the one thing that those ‘blank flanks’ you torment are not. So now that you know everything perfectly well, and that you know that I know everything perfectly well, do you still have the gall to consider yourself strong and heroic???”
Again, silence, and the filly turned away.
“Knowing what they have done, and what you haven’t done, do you still wonder why neither you nor your minion were invited to the Grand Galloping Gala?”
That was another sore spot for the insufferable bully, so she was emboldened once more by her rage and frustration, and straightened up and yelled, “THOSE MISERABLE BLANK FLANK JERKS!!! THEY’VE BEEN STEALING THE SPOTLIGHT AND THE ATTENTION EVER SINCE WE MET, AND THEY DID IT AGAIN BY TRICKING THE KNIGHTS OF HARMONY INTO TAKING THEM TO THE GALA!!!”
Luna was unfazed, naturally. “Yes, of course, searching for talents that have nothing to do with either you or your minion, and helping their sisters protect Equestria, is nothing but a pathetic cry for attention and a blatant form of deception and trickery to get them into the Gala, isn’t it?”
Diamond Tiara huffed with rage, but she had nothing left to say. She would have cried, too, but she wasn’t about to humiliate herself, much less in front of the Princess of the Night, so again she looked down.
Luna once more gazed at the filly with sadness, pity, and disappointment. But there was still more to discuss.
“You have been given facts and information about who you, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders, truly are, and what you are doing, and what your intentions are. And what you choose to do with that information is now up to you, but bear in mind that you no longer have any excuse to feign ignorance of any matter of this kind. Do I make myself clear?”
The bully didn’t bother to turn nor look up at her, and only whispered, “Y-yes, Your Highness.”
“Excellent. That means we can continue with something else you need to know, and know clearly.”
Ugh, there’s more???
“Tell me, young Diamond Tiara, would you allow a new-born foal to play with a knife?”
Only then did the bully turn to look at Luna, this time with shock and confusion. “Of-of course not! That would be crazy!!!”
“Would you allow a new-born foal to play with fire?”
“No!!! That’s just stupid!!!”
“Would you allow a new-born pegasus foal to fly unsupervised?”
“N-no,” she began calming down.
“How about a new-born unicorn foal cast any spell during a magic surge?”
“No…I…I wouldn’t.”
Luna glared at her with stern eyes, making the cowardly bully flinch slightly and look away.
“Young Diamond Tiara, I have to inform you that you made a very poor choice when you selected your bully victims.”
She straightened up again in disbelief. “W-what? No I didn’t! They are the perfect victims!!! They’re stupid, they’re weak, they’re poor, they don’t fight back…THEY’RE NOTHING!!!” she yelled again in Luna’s face.
And once more, the princess was unfazed by that.
“That is yet another interesting choice of words you’re using to describe your victims, Diamond Tiara. Let’s analyse them…” Once again, she conjured a viewing window, and it displayed a still image of one of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “Do you know this filly’s name?”
The bully stared at the orange pegasus for a moment, and replied, “Um…Scootalooser?”
Luna almost snorted in disgust, but replied instead, “Close. She is Scootaloo. She is having a very tough time learning to fly, but even so, she’s a very close friend, and protégé, of one of the Knights of Harmony, the fastest pegasus alive: Dame Rainbow Dash.”
Diamond Tiara spat and sneered, “Oh, please. The only reason Rainbow Dash lets her hang out with her is because she pities her for not being able to fly.”
“Really? Do you think that is also the reason why Dame Rainbow Dash asked her to go camping with her, agreed to teach her and help her to fly, and why out of all her friends, she chose Scootaloo as her companion for the Grand Galloping Gala?”
“YES!!!” The bully stomped on the non-existent ground. “That miserable cripple doesn’t deserve a friend like her, or any of the Knights of Harmony, either!!!”
“And she doesn’t deserve them because she was the one who travelled, non-stop, on her own wingpower, from Ponyville to the Crystal Empire, while towing her two friends, in order to perform for the Flag Bearer competition,” again she turned and pressed her nose against the bully, “despite you mocking her handicap to no end?”
The filly grit her teeth at that, but only huffed and snorted, saying nothing.
“Diamond Tiara, I understand that you may not have an extensive comprehension of all the laws of Equestria, but I’ll have you know this: while the Princesses do their best to protect all Equestrian citizens, four groups of ponies have a higher…priority…if you will, when it comes to protection from harm. They are the elderly, the widows, the orphans, and the handicapped. They require additional protection because their situations make it more difficult for them to defend themselves with their own strengths. That is why any attack or abuse or harm done against them carries a greater punishment than it would against a healthy and able-bodied pony with a sound mind. And while Scootaloo has yet to be officially diagnosed with having a real disability…” Again Luna pressed her nose against Diamond Tiara’s, “…if it turns out that she indeed is handicapped, you will be in even BIGGER trouble than you are now.”
Again, the bully gulped.
“You have been warned,” stated the Princess, straightening up. “And the reason why you are in trouble right now is because your actions against Scootaloo have placed you, your father, and your mansion, in Dame Rainbow Dash’s blacklist.”
“Blacklist?” asked the filly, confused.
“Oh yes. Your entire estate now has the lowest priority of the Ponyville Weather Bureau, regardless of the regularity of the monthly payments. In other words, your house is now the last house on the Ponyville Weather Team’s Task List, and should there ever be a water contingency in Ponyville,” she glared at the filly, “your house will be the first to be rationed.”
Diamond Tiara blanched, both in fright and in anger.
“But that shouldn’t be a problem for you or your father, after all, you have a large pool that is full all year round, am I right?”
Now the bully was actively grinding her teeth, struggling to keep her mouth shut, lest she explode in a barrage of curses against the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and the Princess of the Night as well.
Luna then conjured another still image. “Do you know this filly’s name?”
The earth pony turned, and then smiled and scoffed, “Heh, that’s Squeaky Belle. That stupid unicorn can’t do any magic worth spit.”
“Or she hasn’t done any in front of you, as she has neither the need nor the desire to show off her magical abilities to you,” Luna clarified. “But during her Twilight Time, Princess Twilight has seen Sweetie Belle cast spells, which are gradually becoming longer, more stable, more complex, and more powerful. Oh, and you do know that she’s the younger sister of another of the Knights of Harmony?”
Diamond Tiara tilted her head, “You mean that stuck-up white unicorn who doesn’t talk about anything else except clothes and fashion?”
The Princess almost ground her teeth at that. “That ‘stuck-up white unicorn who doesn’t talk about anything else except clothes and fashion’ also fought singlehoofedly against an entire pack of Diamond Dogs—and won—subdued a giant rampaging dragon and brought him under complete control, she was ten seconds away from fighting with her bare hooves against three teenage dragons—simultaneously, I might add—in order to protect Princess Twilight’s assistant, and while you call her ‘stuck-up’, she willingly let herself be covered with mud, from mane to hooves, so her sister and she could participate in last year’s Sisterhooves Social.”
Much to Luna’s surprise, Diamond Tiara snorted and snickered at that last piece of information. “And those two stupid unicorns lost, and to earth ponies, too.”
Suddenly, the alicorn’s nose was pressed against hers once more, “Watch your tongue, Diamond Tiara. I will not tolerate any mockery against the ponies who helped free me from the power of Nightmare Moon, and I will tolerate even LESS any indicia of TRIBALISM, do you understand???”
The bully cringed under her glare, like the true coward she was.
The elder then conjured one more image. “Do you know this filly’s name?”
The filly looked, but refused to answer, and only ground her teeth in response.
Seeing that the young pony chose to remain silent, Luna explained, “This is, as you well know, the sister of yet another Knight of Harmony. Apple Bloom—and yes, I know perfectly well that you know her name—works at the apple orchard called Sweet Apple Acres. While it’s certainly not the only apple orchard in Equestria, it is the only one that grows zap apples, and, I might add, it is the only apple orchard that supplies your father’s store with zap apple jam. Apple Bloom, sadly, is an orphan, but she is under the care of her older brother and sister, and her grandmother, too. Despite her lack of living parents, she has no handicap or disability, she isn’t lacking in strength for an earth pony filly her size and age, and she was the one who reconciled the entire town of Ponyville with Zecora the Zebra, despite her sister’s TRIBALIST protests, too, I might add.”
Grinding her teeth even louder, Diamond Tiara spat, “That idiot Apple only got lucky that day…SHE SHOULD HAVE DIED IN THE EVERFREE FOREST!!!” Suddenly remembering who was right next to her, she quickly corrected, “Um…I…I mean…she could have died that day…you know…going into the Everfree Forest all by herself?” She gave Luna a toothy and obviously fabricated grin while she shuffled her right hoof on the non-existent ground.
The Princess of the Night sighed once more, and repeated a previous question, “You would truly never allow any new-born baby—earth pony, pegasus, unicorn, zebra, donkey, mule, cow, sheep, goat, griffon, minotaur, diamond dog, or yak—to play with fire?”
Again the filly was taken back slightly by that inquiry, but again she replied honestly, “No, no I wouldn’t.”
“Then, my dear Diamond Tiara, it is my duty to inform you that, even though you aren’t a new-born foal, you are playing with fire.”
“Huh?” She blinked. “I am? But…but how?”
Luna displayed all three still images in front of the bully. “These three fillies, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, have been enduring your bullying for quite a long time now. Eventually—and you know this—they will get their cutie marks. But I take it that it is safe for me to say that even after they get their cutie marks, you’ll continue bullying them regardless?”
Diamond Tiara turned away from the Princess and the images, again refusing to answer.
“To repeat myself, one of my duties is to watch over my little ponies’ dreams, and to be on the lookout for nightmares. And I’ll have you know that these three, the Cutie Mark Crusaders, have been having disturbing nightmares as of late.”
The bully didn’t turn, but again only scoffed and sneered, “Stupid babies…still having nightmares at their age…”
“Anypony of any age can have nightmares, Diamond Tiara, just ask my sister. But do you know what their nightmares are about?”
Only now did she turn to look at the still images, “Ugh, they’re so stupid, they’re probably dreaming that their sisters won’t want anything to do with them anymore, not with the Knights of Harmony being so busy protecting Equestria.”
The Night Mare looked at her, sighed sadly, and said, “Try again.”
Luna honestly wanted her to guess? She thought for a moment, and asked, “Uh…they’re dreaming that they’re going to get killed while they’re trying to get their cutie marks?”
So you DO want to see them gone.
“Try again.”
“Um…they’re…dreaming that I bully them even in their dreams?”
The older mare shook her head, “Oh, you wish they were truly bothered by that.”
“Huh?”
“Young Diamond Tiara, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, by actively searching for their cutie marks, are becoming stronger. Apple Bloom’s connection with the earth and all plants is broadening and her magical strength is escalating; Scootaloo’s weather and air manipulation is becoming more refined; and Sweetie Belle’s magic, especially her telekinesis, is becoming more fine-tuned each day. Their earth pony, pegasus, and unicorn magic is strengthening and intensifying. And as such, the nightmares they’re having are of them…” Once more she leaned into the bully’s face, “…totally losing control of their growing magic.”
Diamond Tiara finally snorted and laughed in Luna’s face. “Ha-ha-ha!!! Is that what those three idiots are afraid of??? Well, they should be afraid of that!!! And you know, Your Highness? I wouldn’t be surprised if they did lose control of their pathetic magic—!!!”
“NO, YOU FOAL!!!”
The bully was suddenly blown back by another outburst done in the Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice™, and the next thing she knew was that she was on her back, and Luna was standing above her, wings spread out menacingly, her eyes shining a brilliant white, and again pressing her nose against hers.
“The nightmares they’re having are of them losing control of their magic…” Luna paused to calm down. “…and hurting YOU in the process. They fear that your bullying will cause them to lose their tempers, which will trigger a loss of control of their magic, and that magic surge will be focused on YOU and your minion.”
The filly “eep’ed” at both the display of power from her Princess, and at the information she had just presented.
Luna’s eyes faded and she folded her wings, while stepping away from the filly in order to allow her to stand. “The reason why you chose the wrong victims of your bullying is because two of them are the sisters of two of the Knights of Harmony, and the third is the protégé of another of the Knights. And because word of your harassment has reached the Knights of Harmony, your estate now has the least priority of the Ponyville Weather Team. Also, the Equestria Games Committee and the Ponyville Schoolboard know perfectly well what you did to Scootaloo, so now they are both monitoring your behaviour and will act accordingly if you bring physical harm to her. Dame Rarity Belle has already boycotted your family and your father’s business, meaning that she actively refuses to sell anything to him or your family, not to mention that she no longer buys anything from Barnyard Bargains. You are still banned from entering Sugar Cube Corner and the new Friendship Castle, but sadly, there’s more.”
“M-more?” stuttered the coward.
Luna turned her head to the filly, and asked, “Diamond Tiara, do you have any relatives other than your parents? Any aunts, uncles, grandparents, or cousins?”
The bully was again taken back by yet another non-sequitur, not to mention that she had to actively think and try to remember in order to provide an answer. Which she did, about two minutes later, “I…I think so. I’ve never asked my dad about them, but I’m sure I have relatives, just like anypony else. I’m sure I’ve seen pictures of them, but I guess they live so far away that I simply don’t remember their names.”
“I’m sure your father keeps your relatives…in mind, say, during the Hearths Warming Eve festivities. But tell me, what do you know about the Apple family?”
Once more, the filly snorted mockingly, and chuckled, “Ugh, they’re all a bunch of stupid hicks who can’t read or write! They only thing they know anything about is apples and apple trees and apple farming! I bet none of them would be able to read if they tried!!!”
“Those ‘hicks’, as you are so quick to call them…” Luna didn’t turn to look at her, but her tone was still menacing once more, “…helped found the towns of Ponyville and Appleloosa. Tell me, Diamond Tiara, has the Rich family done anything similar anywhere else in Equestria?”
Yet once more the bully had no answer, but only a guess. “Uh…my…family helped the Apples found Ponyville? Didn’t we found the town together?”
“No. The only thing your great-grandfather did was make a business deal with Granny Smith’s father, so that the Apples would only sell zap apple jam to the Rich family. It was those sales that helped the Rich family acquire wealth and open a store that has been in business since Ponyville’s early days, but it still opened quite some time after Sweet Apple Acres got started. And these ‘hicks’ of the Apple family, despite your opinions to the contrary, have amassed quite a large amount of wealth on their own. I’m sure you’ve heard that they’ve rebuilt their barn three times in one year, and they still have plenty of money left over. As for you,” the princess finally turned and eyed the filly. “Do you think you’re rich and wealthy?”
That question was a no-brainer, or so thought Diamond Tiara, since she knew the answer to it, and knew she had known it ever since she could think for herself. “W-what? Of course I’m rich!!! This diamond tiara on my head is real silver and has real diamonds!!! And I live in a mansion, too!”
Luna’s glare didn’t waver. “So, you think you’re a wealthy pony because of what you wear and where you live? Tell me, did you build the mansion you’re living in?”
Another stump. “I…uh…n-no, I think my grandfather built it.”
“Did he? Well then, are you the pony who sells zap apple jam?”
“Huh? No! My dad sells it in his store!”
“You mean Barnyard Bargains? Do you sell anything there?”
“Uh…no, I don’t. I don’t even work there, duh!!!”
“You don’t work in your father’s store? Then, do you help your father in his business in any way, shape, or form?”
The bully staggered back yet again. “I…uh…I…don’t think so…no…no I don’t,” she replied, turning away.
“Diamond Tiara, I know that this is going to be difficult for you to accept, but you must understand this now: You are not a wealthy filly, your father is the one who owns and handles all of the wealth. The only things that you truly own are that tiara on your head, and what toys and other gifts you may have in your room, and believe me, that doesn’t amount to much. If something tragic were to happen and your father were to lose his business, he would lose everything he has, including his mansion, and since he would lose everything, YOU would lose everything too. Your father is not an international business mogul, young filly; he’s only the owner and manager of a modest national chain that just happens to sell an semi-exclusive item. And just so you know…” Luna walked around to face her once more. “Your father isn’t the wealthiest pony in Ponyville.”
The filly’s eyes widened. “W-WHAT? That’s impossible! We have the biggest mansion in town!!!”
“A mansion that neither you nor your father built, and it was built only by accumulating wealth over many years and two generations. Most of your father’s wealth is tied up in the day to day management of his store chain. He has very little ‘liquid assets’ to call upon. And one pony who is worth several times more than your father is Dame Rarity Belle, owner and manager of Carousel Boutique.”
The earth pony stood back at that. “What? How can that be? Carousel Boutique is much smaller than my mansion!!! That unicorn can’t possibly have more money than my dad!!!”
“But she does, Diamond Tiara. She has accumulated much more wealth in five years than your family has acquired in one hundred years. And she’ll be taking in more wealth by extending her business to Manehattan and Canterlot, which will happen very soon, I might add.”
That simply couldn’t fit inside the bully’s head. “But-but-h-how can she be richer than my dad? Her store is small, she wears no jewellery, she has no butler, no carriage, no assistants, no employees, and I think she only owns a cat!!!”
Luna sighed, “There is a reason why the Elements of Harmony chose her as the Bearer of the Element of Generosity, Diamond Tiara. She gladly and willingly shares her money with ponies in need, her friends, all her suppliers, all who provide services for her, and the community in general. Her residence and business are small because she chooses to have them that way. She has no butler nor servants because she chooses to do all those menial household chores on her own—that is how she keeps her magic as refined and fine-tuned as it is—and she wears little jewellery, again, because even though she can wear much more than your entire family combined, she chooses not to simply because she has neither the need, nor the desire, nor even the slightest INCLINATION to show it off or impress anypony, much less your parents. And because Dame Belle is generous, everypony wants to do business with her, and she makes more business and increases her wealth that way. All those garments she gives away? They’re merely a drop in the bucket compared to the amount she actually sells.” She looked down at the bully, and from her confused expression, it was clear that the filly had yet to fully understand what “generosity” meant. “You, however, only allowed the Cutie Mark Crusaders to enjoy your pool because you wanted to get close to Princess Twilight. And you would have disowned them the moment Twilight dedicated more time to you, am I right?”
Once more, the earth pony said nothing.
“So to summarize: you are not a wealthy pony, you are not a business pony, and the only wealth you enjoy is that which your father makes in his store. Do you still consider yourself a better pony than Apple Bloom?”
Hearing that name suddenly brought back Diamond Tiara’s pride with a vengeance. “YES!!! I’M TEN TIMES BETTER THAN THAT IDIOT!!!”
Luna again displayed the image of the young farmer. “Are you? You don’t work in your father’s store, nor do you assist him in any way, shape, or form. Apple Bloom, on the other hoof, works in her farm. And since she works in her farm, she gets paid for the work she does. How else do you think she gets all the material and supplies she and her friends use for their crusading?”
Another stagger at the presented information. “W-what???”
“What’s more, Apple Bloom actually OWNS part of Sweet Apple Acres; and the profits that the farm generates, well, she gets a percentage of that, too. The bottom line, Diamond Tiara,” another eye-to-eye glare, “is that Apple Bloom is MUCH richer than YOU.”
“NO!!!” The bully stomped, refusing to accept that.
“You don’t have to believe me. Just ask your father how many shares or holdings you have in his store. And since you don’t work there, nor assist your father, you have no income whatsoever.”
That was enough to make Diamond Tiara gasp and turn away.
“And there is something else you should know. Eventually, Apple Bloom will grow up and take over Sweet Apple Acres, or perhaps expand it, or perhaps start an orchard of her own, with all the bits she’s accumulating. And perhaps, in the future, you will take over Barnyard Bargains. However, every five years, Sweet Apple Acres and Barnyard Bargains renew their zap apple jam contract.” She leaned closer and whispered in the bully’s ear, “Do you think that Apple Bloom will actively want to renew the contract with you?”
Again, the earth pony didn’t answer.
She didn’t want to answer.
“What’s more, Applejack, Big Macintosh, and even Granny Smith are right now analysing plenty of offers of many other distributors, if not actively looking for other distributors, in order to cut off all business with Barnyard Bargains. The contract is coming up for renewal soon, and right now, Barnyard Bargains, your father, and you are in a very real danger of losing the zap apple jam exclusivity—in danger of losing money—BECAUSE OF WHAT YOU ARE DOING TO THE CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS, AND APPLE BLOOM, SPECIFICALLY.”
“NOOO!!!” The high-pitched scream seemed to resound all over the dreamscape.
Luna wondered if other ponies would be able to hear the echoes of that cry in their dreams tonight.
Diamond Tiara, meanwhile, just huffed and stomped over and over, snorting in rage, but again refusing to cry.
The Night Princess wasn’t done, unfortunately.
“I’ve also, sadly, detected some tribalist attitudes in you, Diamond Tiara. Are you proud of being an earth pony?”
The bully calmed down, breathing deeply for a few minutes, and she finally replied with a huff, “Of-of course. My father is an earth pony, and my grandfather was an earth pony, and my great-grandfather was an earth pony, too.”
“So you take your heritage very seriously. That’s a point in your favour, at least. But tell me, Diamond Tiara, how far do you gallop each day?”
She had lost track of how many times she had been stumped tonight due to all these non-sequiturs. “Huh? What do you mean ‘how far do I gallop’?”
“Yes, young filly, how far do you gallop? You do know that earth ponies are well known for their long distance endurance galloping, right?”
A very confused equine replied, “I…I don’t gallop. My butler takes me to school every day in the family’s carriage.”
“Oh, but then, at school, you gallop in the playground, right?”
“I…uh…no,” she replied, even more confused.
“In the playground,” Luna insisted, “do you jump, buck, romp, prance, or even trot?”
“N-no. I mean, why would I need to do that? I…I don’t understand any of this, Your Highness,” she said, now genuinely wanting to know what Luna was trying to expose here.
“Do you even roll on the ground, or over grass, at least?”
“What?” Now, instead of confused, she was downright disgusted. “Ew! Why would anypony want to do that???”
Once more, the Princess of the Night sighed at her young charge.
“Diamond Tiara, if a unicorn were to use his or her horn only occasionally, would he or she still have magic?”
The filly looked at the princess for a moment, and replied, “I…I guess he or she would.”
“But would his or her magic be comparable to that of the Canterlot Mages?”
Now thinking logically again, she said, “Well, no, that unicorn’s magic would be weak, if he or she only used it once in a while.”
And it was here where Luna delivered another blow. “Diamond Tiara, you have just described yourself. You, an earth pony, THINK that you have strength and endurance, but you have never bothered to strengthen your connection with the Earth. As an earth pony, right now your magic levels are so low and weak that you couldn’t grow a single blade of grass IF YOU TRIED.”
The bully angered once more.
“With your earth pony magic level being so low, there are plenty of other earth ponies right now who wouldn’t hesitate to label you…” Luna leaned closer again, “…a cripple.”
“NOOOOOO!!!” Her scream was loud and long yet again, in a pathetic attempt to emulate the Traditional Royal Canterlot Voice™.
Luna remained unfazed. “Not only that, even if Scootaloo was indeed handicapped, her disability would still be less restrictive and problematic than yours.”
Diamond Tiara again enraged and screamed in the princess’ face, “THAT’S A LIE!!! I HAVE MY CUTIE MARK, AND THAT SCOOTALOOSER DOESN’T!!! I’M BETTER THAN HER AND YOU KNOW THAT, PRINCESS!!!”
The older pony wasn’t angered, just saddened at the reply. “Are you? Even though you have a cutie mark, you would have plenty of problems finding diamonds or silver buried in the ground, if you even bothered to try.”
“That’s NOT what my cutie mark means!!!” The bully paced in circles in front of Luna. “My special talent is to shine, to lead, and to stand out, unlike those stupid three blank flanks!!!” She stopped, and pointed at one of the still images. “And I stand out much more than that stupid Apple, too!!!”
“Do you, now? Let’s compare facts, then.” Luna dissolved the three still images, and conjured another viewing window, which displayed a moving image that corresponded to her exposition. “After Apple Bloom is done with school, she goes home, and once she’s done with her homework, she does the work she’s assigned at the farm. She’s constantly trotting, galloping, and romping, and now that she’s older, she’s helping out in the apple bucking, and, I might add, they get three apple harvests per year due to the four earth ponies’ magic infusing every single tree and the ground with nutrients. Just recently, Apple Bloom has started bucking zap apples, too, so her connection with the Earth has augmented by leaps and bounds, and what’s more, the lessons that Zecora gives her further strengthen that connection as she grows herbs and prepares formulas that will enhance plant growth. If their zap apple harvests were large before, they will be immense in the future. What you have to ask yourself now is…”
A dramatic pause…
“…Do you want to take part of that explosive harvest? And if you do, what will you do to ensure that the Apples will keep their contract with you?”
The filly could say nothing.
Nothing whatsoever.
“I’m sure you recall Apple Bloom’s bout with the Cutie Pox?”
At that, the bully openly laughed, “Hee hee hee, that stupid LIAR made us think she got not one, but TWO cutie marks, but I saw through her!!! I KNEW they were all FAKE!!!”
Luna ignored that last declaration, “And she kept getting more and more. Tell me, Diamond Tiara, what did you think was going to happen to her?”
The earth pony smirked and chortled, “She shouldhave dropped dead—I mean—she could have dropped dead, um…” Again she shuffled her right hoof on the non-existent ground. “I mean…she was going crazy and wasn’t stopping, I’m sure she was already exhausted half-way through the ordeal, right?”
One more royal glare. “Diamond Tiara, the only reason why Apple Bloom survived an ordeal which would have downright killed a full grown pegasus or unicorn is because she stayed close to the leylines, so her connection to the Earth was never in danger, meaning she instinctively channelled power and strength from the ground that enabled her to endure the onslaught of non-stop involuntary strenuous exercise. And her previous conditioning at the farm gave her even more endurance that prevented her from suffering a cardiac arrest. Those are the reasons why she was able to recover in less than one minute, when any normal full grown pegasus or unicorn would have needed at least one week to recover from chronic magical and physical exhaustion.”
Diamond Tiara stared at the screen.
Would SHE have been able to survive the Cutie Pox?
Luna resumed her exposition, “Right now, Apple Bloom is the second strongest earth pony foal in your entire school—and I’m quite sure you know who the strongest foal is. You call her stupid and illiterate, but she rebuilt the crusader’s clubhouse, she built the stage scenery for the talent show, she not only helped build her parade float, she came up with the plans for it, too, and she helped assemble her pet fur dryer. All of those feats require the knowledge of plenty of mathematics, Diamond Tiara. Would you have been able to do anything similar?”
“I…uh…don’t know…after…after all, I have my dad, or my butler to help me in all of that…”
“And what if you didn’t have them? Or what if they couldn’t help you because they were busy with something else? Tell me, how are your grades in mathematics?”
The filly blanched once more, and refused to reply.
She didn’t see my report card, did she?
Luna continued her berating, “Not only do you have very low grades in mathematics—and are in peril of repeating the grade because of that—if you took an Earth Pony Magic Test right now, your score would be the lowest in the whole school. Why, right now, even Pip Squeak is physically and magically stronger than you!”
“NO!!!”
“You haven’t felt his strength directly, Diamond Tiara, but I have, during Nightmare Night. He’s quite strong and heavy for a foal his age, but with you, without even touching you, I can sense that you have a very weak Earth Pony Magic Level.”
“NO!!!”
“And going back to you playing with fire: you do know that the entire Apple family is, generally, a very friendly clan.”
The infuriated filly only ground her teeth and grumbled, “…stupid hicks…”
Another royal sigh. “It’s truly sad how you insult your own tribe. But yes, the Apple family is quite friendly, they’re always willing to make new friends, but all of them are also very keen on being honest, not just Dame Applejack. They value honesty to a high degree, and will welcome in their homes anypony, or anyone, who also values honesty as much as they do. That is why they threw those two crooked business ponies, Flim and Flam, from Ponyville, and that is why your father is very careful to not cheat the Apples in any way, shape, or form, lest he lose his contract…prematurely…” she hissed.
Diamond Tiara still grumbled.
“Not that they’re without faults, unfortunately. The entire Apple clan is plagued, sadly, with VERY short tempers. Sure, some have been able to hold back their anger during times of stress, but others, unfortunately, just seem to explode in rage whenever they feel cheated, or threatened, or are deliberately attacked, and things get worse if the attack is on their hard earned profits, AND EVEN WORSE IF IT’S ON THEIR LOVED ONES.”
The bully suddenly stopped grumbling and gulped in fright.
“During the Gabby Gums problem, both Dame Applejack and Big Macintosh became very angry. Dame Apple channelled her rage by refusing to speak to the Cutie Mark Crusaders, but Big Macintosh scolded the three in a way that few ponies have ever seen.”
The grumbling returned, “…serves them right…bunch of jerks…”
Luna seemed to ignore that comment. “Do you know why Dame Applejack kept quiet and didn’t join in the berating her brother was doing?”
The earth pony calmed down slightly, honestly wondering why. “Uh…I guess…she was just so mad that she didn’t want anything to do with her sister then?”
“Oh, it was much more than that, Diamond Tiara. Dame Applejack was afraid of losing her temper and then flying into a violent rage, but she held herself back, and instead expended her anger later that day by bucking several boulders into sand.”
Again, the bully chuckled, “Apple Bloom would have deserved that, too…”
“Would she?” Again Luna came nose to nose with her charge. “And what if Apple Bloom had been angry at you, as much as her sister was with her?”
Now that was downright insulting, at least for Diamond Tiara. “Oh, please, don’t make me laugh…Your Highness,” she quickly added. “Apple Bloom is nothing but a cry-baby and she wouldn’t raise her voice to an insect.”
“You are so sure of that? Let’s say that one day, your harassment and bullying reach a tipping point with her, and, tragically, the unthinkable happens: Apple Bloom suddenly loses her temper and attacks you, physically.”
The shudder that overcame her was sudden, and impossible to repress. Still, Diamond Tiara tried to stand firm and keep her voice from sounding nervous. “I…uh…she…she wouldn’t dare!!! My daddy would defend me if she laid one hoof on me!!!” She honestly didn’t want to find out what would happen if Apple Bloom lost her temper with her.
“But what if neither your father nor your butler nor your mother were there to defend you? After all, you and your minion spend a lot of time away from their protective surveillance, I might add. So if you and Apple Bloom got into a physical fight, and nopony was there to intervene, who do you think would win?”
Once more did the coward turn tail on her princess.
“Do you think you could use your Earth Pony Magic to defend yourself and fight back?”
The filly seethed at being unable to answer, much less put a spin on what she knew would happen if a fight occurred.
Suddenly, another viewing window appeared in front of the young pony, and Luna narrated, “This is Scootaloo’s nightmare:”
Diamond Tiara looked at the screen…
…and saw herself walking along the streets of Ponyville when suddenly, Scootaloo came out of the sun, swooping down and scooping the pale pink filly up like an eagle would with a rodent.
“What’s wrong, Diamond Tiara? I thought you LIKED looking down on others…hey, stop that!”
The real bully cringed in horror as Scootaloo’s dream version of her shrieked and struggled and squirmed in the pegasus’ grasp. She wanted to tell herself to stop or she would—but it was too late. She had freed herself from Scootaloo’s airborne embrace and then her screams of horror became a shrill cry of terror as she hurtled down to the earth below…and promptly missed it. She fell into an open well, tumbling into the darkness below where her descent came to an end with a loud wet splash.
Out of nowhere, the Apples’ dog ran up to the well and barked at it.
Mayor Mare came out of a rapidly congregating crowd and spoke to the canine. “What’s that, Winona? Some rich brat fell down the well and got her overrated flank stuck? This calls for immediate action! Somepony call Ditch-Digger! We need a new well dug immediately!”
As the other ponies ran about, Scootaloo peered down the well and spoke softly:
“Would it help if I told you I was sorry?”
“…And all of this happens with Dame Dash’s approval,” commented the Princess of the Night.
Diamond Tiara could only gasp at the nightmare.
Suddenly, the window’s image changed with a flash of blue light. “This is Sweetie Belle’s nightmare:”
The point-of-view of the dream led Diamond Tiara through Carousel Boutique, but this time the dream included a rank odour hitting her nose, reminding her of something burning. She heard a strange rapid rasping sound, and the point-of-view pushed its way past a rack of petticoats, to find Sweetie Belle furiously scrubbing a Diamond Tiara-shaped blast shadow off Carousel Boutique’s wall.
“Didn’t mean it…didn’t mean it…didn’t mean it...” The white unicorn frantically gasped the words almost as if they were a mantra. Then she stopped when the shadow of her big sister Rarity was cast over her.
“Sweetie Belle! What have you done?”
“Rarity!”
“Sweet Celestia, how could you? The drapes are going to smell like overcooked bisashi for DAYS!” Rarity puffed out her chest and snorted. “Get some hot water, get some disinfectant, get some lye soap!”
Sweetie Belle started to run to do her sister’s bidding but paused a moment to look at the rather surprised-looking blast shadow that had once been the school bully:
“I didn’t mean to.”
“That filly, whom you think has very weak magic, dreams that she learns how to cast Princess Twilight’s Energy Blast Spell™—used during the changeling attack, I might add—and she uses it against both you and your minion.”
The coward’s light pink coat almost became bleach white when she realised that a blast shadow was all that was left of her.
Another blue flash, and a new nightmare displayed on the window. “But this is Apple Bloom’s nightmare:”
“Whatcha gonna DO about it, hayseed? That’s right, you tree-bucker. I’m talking to you…horseapple!!!”
The real Diamond Tiara saw the little red-haired pony suddenly whip around, and with speed she never thought was possible, slam her right hoof across her face with a powerful roundhouse blow. The sound was like a bag of walnuts being smashed all at once, and she saw the dream Tiara fly across the schoolyard into a pile of barrels that fell on top of her, hiding her from sight.
The scene dissolved into a hospital room where various doctor ponies surrounded a bed, and a soft beeping was in the background. Diamond Tiara was lying on the bed, her entire head surrounded by bandages…with her tiara on top.
One of the doctors began to cut the bandages, “Now let’s see how ve did with ze reconstruction…shall ve?”
The bandages dropped away and the doctors recoiled in disgust with a loud gasp. They parted to reveal…
…that Diamond Tiara now had her head identical to the grey buck-toothed mule that she always saw wandering around town…and wearing a tiara.
It didn’t help when one of the doctors held a mirror up to the filly.
Dream-Tiara screamed as she pressed her hooves against her face, “I’m hideous! I’m ugly! I look like some old MULE…!!!…no offence.”
“None taken,” said the mule who somehow just happened to be one of the doctors present.
Filthy Rich then entered the room with Silver Spoon, and spoke in a clear tone. “I was just walking by with my ONLY daughter, Silver Spoon, when I heard the tortured screaming of some hideous little creature. Oh, she looks so terrible…let me fix that.” He snatched the tiara off Diamond Tiara’s head and placed it on Silver Spoon’s brow with a smile. “There…MUCH better.”
As everypony left the room, Diamond Tiara saw Apple Bloom sitting out in the hallway with a look of abject pity on her face. She said two words just as the scene faded to black:
“I’m sorry.”
Luna commented, “She loses control…she loses her temper…and, in a rage fuelled by YEARS of suppressed anger, attacks you with a fury few ponies, including myself, have ever seen.”
This time, Diamond Tiara staggered back in terror.
“To summarize, their greatest fear is neither you nor your bullying. Their greatest fear is losing control and hurting you and your minion, and by the way things are going, it can happen. And right now it’s very likely that the Apple family will refuse to renew the zap apple jam contract with the Rich family, and you will lose, if not everything, then a great deal of what you own, and what you think you own.” The window vanished, and Luna was glaring into her eyes once more. “Furthermore, the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ magic continues to develop at an accelerating rate, so it’s likely that they will reach the potential to lose control sooner than you and I think it possible. Why, they may even need safety devices, like Princess Cadance, my sister, and I have.”
“Safety devices?” asked the little pony, confused yet again. “You don’t have any safety devices…do you?”
The Princess of the Night raised her right hoof, bringing it to Diamond Tiara’s eye level. “You are familiar with my regalia, are you not?”
The filly stared at the glittering shoe, and replied, “Yes, your regalia is made of silver, or something similar, and Princess Cadance’s and Princess Celestia’s are made of gold…I think.”
Luna turned her hoof a few times so the earth pony could see the shoe from all angles. “These artefacts we wear have two purposes: to show that we are royalty…and to protect our subjects,” she added flatly.
“Protect? How?”
“Diamond Tiara, Princess Cadance, my sister, and I wear the hoofshoes, the peytral, and the crown in order to help regulate our magical output. Without them, our magic—Earth Pony, Pegasus, and Unicorn—would explode out of control every time we were to cast a spell, flap our wings, or even walk. One zap of our horn would vaporize houses, one flap of our wings would create hurricanes, and we would leave craters on the ground by merely walking calmly. That is why we sleep with our regalia on; it would be too dangerous for the castle and the castle staff if we took them off.”
“But…if alicorns need to wear those safety devices, why doesn’t Princess Twilight have them?”
“Her ascension was rather recent, so she hasn’t reached her full magical strength yet.” The keyword being “yet”, because during Tirek’s attack, they had no time to prepare safety devices for Twilight, so Celestia, Luna, and Cadance didn’t transfer all of their magic, but instead channelled part of it to the sun, the moon, and the Crystal Heart before Twilight arrived, in order to prevent the purple alicorn from overloading. Luna continued, “Princess Cadance’s regalia is smaller than that of my sister and I, because while her magic levels are high enough for her to need them now, they’re not so high that she would need the large ones that my sister and I wear. But eventually, she, and Princess Twilight, too, will need to wear large regalia. And something similar could happen with the Cutie Mark Crusaders. If their magic continues to grow at the rate it has, in a year or two they, too, will need ‘safety valves’ to keep them from hurting others…” She leaned down, “…to keep them from hurting you, despite all you’ve done to them.”
The bully grit her teeth, but said nothing.
Luna then looked up, apparently being alerted by something the filly didn’t detect. “‘Tis almost morning, so I’ll be quick now. Tell me, do you have any friends?”
Again, the earth pony thought that was a stupid question. “Of course! Silver Spoon is my best friend!!!”
“No, Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon is your minion. I have called her your ‘minion’ all this time I’ve spoken to you, and you have yet to correct me of my ‘error’. What’s more, all throughout our talk, whenever you have talked about the both of you, you mention yourself FIRST, and Silver Spoon SECOND. That, my dear little pony, is not only a breach of grammar, but also a symptom of downright selfishness, disdain, and contempt for the filly you THINK is your friend. If her family became richer than yours, you can rest assured that it would be she who would turn on you and she would be the one leading the bullying attacks. And if her family were to move away from Ponyville…” Another glare, “…she wouldn’t give you a second thought.”
“NO!!! SHE’S MY FRIEND!!! MY BEST FRIEND!!!”
“Then why did she turn against you when Granny Smith gave her speech in class? Why didn’t she help you at all with Gabby Gums?” Her eyes glowed briefly, “Why didn’t she join you in the zap apple jam ritual, or even comfort you after you were humiliated in front of the Apple family?”
“I DON’T KNOOOOOOOOW!!!”
Silence, except for laboured huffing and grinding of teeth.
And only now did Diamond Tiara start to cry, albeit slowly.
“You have no true friends, Diamond Tiara. And you need friends, not a minion who can turn against you if the circumstances are right. And just so you know, the Cutie Mark Crusaders—anypony at school, in fact—is perfectly willing to be your friend, if and only if you are willing to treat them as equals, and with at least some of the Virtues of Harmony, which you have yet to display:
“Kindness? Constant mockery, berating, insults, blackmail, and harassment only shows that you are cruel.
“Generosity? You have shown nothing but selfishness and greed, and this was proven by your theft of their milkshakes.
“Loyalty? You caused Babs Seed to become treacherous by turning her against her cousin and joining you in your bullying.
“Honesty? You have lied to me, to your teacher, and to your father, in an attempt to make yourself look like the victim of bullying.
“Laughter? Your words and mockery have been so hurtful that you have caused much sorrow and weeping on your victims, when they have done NOTHING to deserve it.
“Magic? Please, your power levels are so low, even Pip Squeak would have the upper hoof in a physical battle against you.”
Silence.
For once in her life, Diamond Tiara felt shame, both from her actions, and from her very own self.
Luna straightened up and shook slightly, as if to remove from herself any bad vibes she might have picked up from the bully. “In conclusion, I will say this again. I care about all my subjects. I care about the Cutie Mark Crusaders. And despite the impression I gave you tonight, I care about you. And because I care about you, I came to warn you that you are very close to triggering the demise of yourself, your father, his business, and your entire estate. Because I care about you, I’m here to implore you to step away from the precipice of your own making, lest you fall, and take your father, his business, his wealth, and your estate into the abyss of destruction. And to repeat: you have already been banned from many establishments, you are very close to being magically BLOCKED from entering those establishments, you are currently under observation by educational authorities, and rest assured that your father AND YOUR MOTHER will know absolutely EVERYTHING that happened here tonight.” Leaning closer one last time, she added, “Though from what I’ve heard about your mother, I think that she will also need an even more thorough intervention concerning her own attitude and her method of raising you.”
She paused to let everything sink in, hoping everything would sink in.
“Have I made myself clear, Diamond Tiara, or was there anything that confused you, or that you simply don’t understand? Just tell me, and I will clear your doubts and confusions as best as I can.”
The filly was downright weeping by now, so again she refused to answer, much less turn and face her monarch.
Luna knew that, of course, from the way the filly’s barrel was heaving. “I have done all I could, then. You have been informed, and you have been warned. If any harm befalls you from now on, it will be on your own head. And I had better hear only good reports from the citizens of Ponyville when they mention you. Have a good day, Diamond Tiara.”
The bully blinked some tears away, but the moment her eyes opened, she was no longer in the Dreamscape, but was staring at the ceiling of her room instead.
She sat up on her bed, startled by the sudden change in scenery, and wiped her eyes, as she was still crying. And despite her efforts, her dream with Princess Luna—every instant of it—refused to vanish from her memory.
There was no way she would be able to forget it.
EVER.
Grunting, she got up, and prepared for another school day.
While she prepared for school, she took a good look around her room and bathroom and everything in them, and once she was ready, she walked down the hall to the main dining room. As she did, she took in every detail of her lavish surroundings: her bed, her bedsheets, her comforters, her clothes, her jewellery, her clothes, her toys, her expensive soaps, shampoos, and perfumes, her towels, and later all the carpeting, paintings, tables, vases, potted plants, chandeliers, and curtains.
And she now knew that she had done absolutely nothing to buy ANYTHING of what was around her.
Truly, the only things she owned were her tiara, and what few toys she had received as gifts.
She didn’t even own the bed she slept on nor the covers that kept her warm.
At breakfast, she and her father sat on opposite ends of the table.
Her mother was once again absent.
She barely noticed her butler serving the food in expensive plates and cutlery—again, none of them bought or acquired by her, much less cooked by her—but she focused on her father, instead.
Filthy Rich seemed engrossed by the finance section of today’s newspaper.
Perhaps he was pondering on how to extend his business beyond Barnyard Bargains because he knew that the Apples weren’t going to renew the contract with him?
So engrossed was he that his daughter assumed that Luna hadn’t spoken to him yet.
She dreaded to come home and find out that her father had been thoroughly informed.
She didn’t even dare ask him what shares or holdings she had in Barnyard Bargains…
A few minutes later, her butler took her to the schoolhouse. Looking out the window of her carriage and seeing the distance travelled, she realised that she truly would have no trouble galloping, or even walking, to school at all. Still, she let her butler do his job; after all, her father didn’t pay him to just look at her leave the house to go to school.
When she stepped off the carriage and stood with her four hooves on the ground, she remained there for a moment, and looked down.
What did Earth Magic feel like? Was she feeling anything at this moment? Or maybe she couldn’t tell she was channelling magic because she had always done so since birth?
Stepping onto some grass, she stood there and felt the blades bending against her hooves.
And now she was getting very concerned.
She could feel no difference between the dirt and the grass, magically speaking, that is. Or was she actually supposed to feel anything? Any tingling? A surge of strength? Perhaps her muscles would feel like they were bulging and swelling? Or even more, what would she need to feel, conjure, or even THINK in order to make grass grow?
She stepped away from the place she had been standing, and looked at the four spots where her hooves had been.
There was no change whatsoever in the grass, save for some minor squishing, as if anything BUT an Earth Pony had just stood there.
Her magic levels couldn’t possibly be that low, could they?
Continuing her brief walk, a sign just in front of the school building proclaimed a special event for today.
Today was the Student Body President election!!! She had totally forgotten!!! And she had only half the school day to prepare and carry out her campaign!!!
Just then, she was greeted by her minion, Silver Spoon, at the front gate.
Her MINION.
Not a friend, but an accomplice in her torment of other foals, or at least, that’s how Princess Luna saw her.
Would Silver Spoon stick up for her, help her, or—she dared think—defend her, if things turned ugly with Apple Bloom?
What was eating at Diamond Tiara was that, thanks to last night’s talk, she honestly had no idea what Silver Spoon would do, now that she knew that she was not a true friend, as she had assumed until now.
She pondered on this as they went inside, while the grey bespectacled filly began chatting about the election campaign, and then about more mundane matters, such as what were the latest shampoos and jewellery they could try to buy—that they could try to get their parents to buy for them—and Diamond Tiara listened half-heartedly, because the memory of the dream refused to fade.
She heard some galloping nearby, and turned to her left to see Pip Squeak run past them as he galloped the perimeter of the school yard, either chasing another pony, or being chased himself.
As brief as their encounter was, Diamond Tiara was able to notice a few details on the colt. Despite being pudgy, as he ran, she was able to see the outlines of a few muscles and tendons in the pinto’s legs and chest. Looking down at herself, she took a deep breath and tensed her chest and front legs, but no muscles nor tendons stood out, or at least, none from her point of view.
Could Pip Squeak indeed be physically AND magically stronger than her?
Just then, she heard three familiar voices, and she looked up.
There, in the middle of the playground, were the Cutie Mark Crusaders, and they were discussing what today’s after-school crusade would be.
At first glance, the three fillies seemed to have the exact same body shape and build, save for the difference in the horn and the wings for the unicorn and the pegasus. But then, Apple Bloom paced in front of her friends, apparently pondering one of the given ideas.
And from that distance, Diamond Tiara could plainly see muscles and tendons rippling on Apple Bloom’s neck, legs, chest, barrel, and flank.
Not as huge as Bulk Biceps, of course, and they only showed up when she walked or trotted or galloped, but they were still there, clearly indicating that Apple Bloom was indeed the second strongest earth pony filly in the entire school, if not the entire town. The strongest of them all, however, was another filly who tried to keep her freakish strength a secret, but few foals had been able to keep secrets from the school bully.
Until now.
Still, Diamond Tiara now knew perfectly well that Apple Bloom would be able to beat her to a pulp if she ever lost her temper.
She scowled.
She remembered the visions that Princess Luna showed her.
She remembered the information that was presented to her.
She remembered the warnings that were given to her.
She remembered the possible future that her present actions might bring about.
And she remembered that she had been offered several choices: continue bullying them, choose new victims, or start the Path of Harmony.
“Di?” asked her minion, when she saw that the filly wasn’t answering one of her questions.
The bully thought.
And thought.
And thought some more.
Finally, taking a deep breath, and with her head held high, Diamond Tiara walked out to the playground and made her decision.
THE END / DAS ENDE / DIE EINDE / EINDE / EL FIN / O FIN / LE FIN / IL FINE / SFÂRŞIT / KONIEC / КОНЕЦ / BEIGAS / LOPPU / ΤΈΛΟΣ / סוף / TAMAT / LIAU LIAU / DANEH O’ / 剧 终 / おわり / UXUL / TLAMILIZTLI
Author's Note
All characters and places are © Hasbro. Used without permission.
The idea of the princesses’ regalia being “safety valves” was inspired by Codex Ex Equus’s story “To Dethrone a Princess”.
Special thanks:
The Incredible Werekitty
Able DuSable
Nathaniel T. Freeman
Extra special thanks:
Lauren Faust
Amy Keating Rogers
Cindy Morrow
Meghan McCarthy
M.A. Larson
Merriweather Williams
Corey Powell
Dave Polsky
Scott Sonneborn
Jason Thiessen
Jim Miller
For all your great inspirational writing.
¡Zacatepóngolas!
Until next time, remember:
I
AM
THE
J.A.M. (a.k.a. Numbuh i: “Just because I’m imaginary doesn’t mean I don’t exist”)
Good evening.
[WARP!!!]