Chapters Celestia's School for Fearful Students
*CAST*
Sweetie Belle as Madeleine Masterson
Button Mash as Garrison Feldman
Pipsqueak as Theo Bartholomew
Diamond Tiara as Lulu Punchalower
Discord as Munchauser
Principal Celestia as Mrs. Wellington
Granny Smith as Schmidty
Canterlot High School sat on the edge of a forest. Exiting the school were three girls.
One tangerine with maroon hair, another with red hair in pigtails and butter yellow skin, and the third with white skin and curly pink hair. The third wore a belt of bug repellent and she wore a white veil that covered her face, but her face could clearly be seen under it. She was spraying a can of repellent around her.
Scootaloo sneezed and said, “Sweetie Belle, could you not spray that in my face? I think I’d like to avoid going blind today.”
“Sorry Scootaloo, but as I recall telling you for the last three months, I do not take kindly to insects.” Sweetie Belle said, her voice carrying the slightest inflection of a British accent like Rarity.
“What’s with this new fear of yours?” Apple Bloom asked, using her homework to fan away the fumes.
“I just don’t like bugs! Especially…” Sweetie Belle gave a shudder. “Spiders.”
The other two Crusaders stared at her. “What? You would be scared too if a spider crawled over your face.”
“Spiders crawl on my face all the time.” Scootaloo said with a hint of what sounded like pride. “There are always a bunch of spiders at my house.”
“Scootaloo, where do you live?” Apple Bloom asked.
Scootaloo opened her mouth to speak. “I live right by the…”
“Hey losers!” shrieked a voice.
“Oh no.” Sweetie Belle groaned. “Not them.”
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walked up to them.
“What the heck, Sweetie Belle?” Diamond Tara asked in mock horror. “Bug repellent? Even though it smells horrible, at least it’s a step up from how you usually smell.” Silver Spoon cackled at her best friend’s nasty remark.
Sweetie Belle saw a bright purple convertible pull up. “Sweetie Belle!” came Rarity’s voice from the car.
Sweetie ran towards the car and climbed into the passenger seat. “Rarity, has the car been fumigated today?” Sweetie asked. “Of course.” said
Rarity. “I do hope you’re not fibbing. I can tell, you know.”
They were silent for a few minutes. “Rarity, can I ask you for a favor?”
“Sure. What do you need?”
“I would much appreciate a grounding, maybe one that lasted all summer.”
Rarity laughed. “Sweetie, it’s going to be like camp. You’ll love it there.”
“But Rarity, camp is outside. With bugs and dirt. You hate those things, too.”
“I don’t go around with a veil and cans of repellent.”
Sweetie Belle sighed.
The next week, Rarity couldn’t find Sweetie Belle anywhere.
She went up to Sweetie’s room and opened the closet door. Sweetie was laying there, the mosquito netting from her bed wrapped around her.
“Sweetie, what are you doing?” Rarity asked.
“Sorry Rarity, but I’ve been kidnapped.”
“Who on earth would kidnap you?”
“Well, there was no one around to do it, so I had to kidnap myself.”
Rarity nodded. “Any reason in particular for the kidnapping?”
“Vice Principal Luna is making me go to school without my veil or repellant! It’s cruel and unusual punishment.”
“If I talk to Luna and convince her to let you keep your things, will you call off the kidnapping?”
Sweetie Belle considered this “I suppose.” she said.
Later the next day they got a call from the school guidance counselor, Fluttershy.
The two sisters entered the office.
“Hello. I am Ms. Fluttershy, the guidance counselor.” Fluttershy said.
“Fluttershy, it’s your best friend and her sister. You can skip the lines that I know for a fact you’ve been rehearsing.”
Fluttershy frowned. “Fine.” she said. Fluttershy locked the door and huddled close to the sisters.
“Sweetie Belle, what I am about to tell you is confidential and is not to be shared with anybody except me or Rarity.” Fluttershy took a deep breath.
“There is a school not known by many, but it really helps cure fears. It is called the School for Fearful Students.”
Celestia's School for Fearful Students
Pipsqueak looked up at his mother with teary eyes. “What do you mean Grunkle Starstreak’s dead?” he asked.
“I mean.” said his mother calmly. “That he’s dead.”
Pip howled with tears. “Why?” he asked. “Why?”
“Because he was old, and that’s what happens to old people: they die.”
“But you’re old too!”
“Not that old.”
“Yes that old. Just look at those eye wrinkles!”
Pip’s mother rolled her eyes.
“I can’t believe this.” Pip said dramatically. “My Grunkle Starstreak’s dead, and my mother is on the way out!” These meltdowns were common in this particular household. Pipsqueak was indeed different from his siblings. None of them had a fear like this. Pip also had quite the knack for drama. He knew more facts about natural disasters than anyone else in the family. He also recorded down information about his siblings that could cause illness. Just this morning he saw his sister Colgate going jogging with nothing to keep warm. He begged her to get a jacket on, as she might freeze to death. He would always send texts to his older brothers and sister, asking them where they were and if they had sanitized or washed their hands within the last hour. He forced them to keep small first-aid kits with them at all times.
Finally Pip’s foster-parents decided that this fear of his was getting out of hand. After months of searching, they finally found a psychology professor whose son had overcome a fear of rugs after a summer course at Celestia’s School for Fearful Students. Like Fluttershy had, the professor had locked to door to his office and spoke barely above a whisper.
The next day Pip’s parents sat Pip down and told him what he would be doing for the summer.
“Celestia’s School for Fearful Students sounds like a cult!” Pip had exclaimed.
His mother sighed. “Pip, it’s like camp, not communism.”
“How can you even entertain this notion? They don’t allow cell phones! Have you no mercy?”
“Pipsqueak, there is no need for theatrics.” his father said as Pip dropped to his knees.
“Take a good look at this face; it may be the last time you ever see it.”
“Pip, they’re going to help you enjoy life more and worry less. Doesn’t that sound good?”
“Worry? I don’t worry. I am simply an observer of life, commenting on potential harms. That hardly constitutes worrying.” Pip said in an attempt to convince his foster-parents there was nothing wrong with him.
“Why do you wear that surgical mask then?” His mother asked.
“I only wear it during flu season. As any competent doctor will tell you, kids are much more susceptible than adults. There were ninety-three influenza-related deaths in 2003.”
“Is that what you’re afraid of?” his mother asked. “Dying?”
“All I need is someone who had passed to come back and tell me what it’s like, and so far Grunkle Starstreak hasn’t visited.”
“Pipsqueak,” said his father. “Let me explain.” His father started carrying on about many predictions of the afterlife.
Pip just sat and listened.
“There.” said his father when he had finished. “Don’t you feel better?”
“Not really.” said Pip. “But don’t you find it suspicious that the afterlife has more options than a salad bar?”
Celestia's School for Fearful Students
As any reasonable person would notice, Diamond Tiara is not the kind of person you would want as an enemy. But unfortunately, Diamond Tiara hated everyone except her best friend Silver Spoon. But even Silver Spoon was bossed around by the girl. Nobody knew why Silver Spoon put up with Diamond Tiara, or why Diamond Tiara had mild respect for the silver girl. Perhaps it was because Silver Spoon’s parents were rich, as was Diamond Tiara’s parents.
Diamond Tiara also knew something that nobody else knew. She was highly claustrophobic. Diamond Tiara also carried a purse around with her. It wasn’t to carry her make-up or phone, which she stored in her backpack. The only thing in her purse was a pair of handcuffs. Diamond Tiara never told anyone who found out about the handcuffs their true purpose. However, everyone saw what they were for when they went on a field trip to the space museum.
Of course, Diamond Tiara had called the museum before and checked to make sure there were stairs. Luckily, there were.
A group of forty-seven kids walked into the museum.
There were normal goings-on happening in various places. Silver Spoon was taking selfies on her phone; Sweetie Belle was fumigating the place, and Scootaloo was labeling the different parts of the unicycle she had drawn on the back of her hand.
She was put into Mr. Cranky's group.
“Alright, kids.” he had said when they got there. “It’ll take about three trips to get us all into the elevator-“
Diamond Tiara’s hand shot up. “Mr. Cranky.” she said. “I’d much rather take the stairs.”
“I apologize, but the stairs are being painted today. We will have to take the elevator.”
Diamond Tiara gulped nervously, but tried not to let anyone see. “I don’t care if they’re being painted. Won’t the fumes just up my immune system or whatever?”
“We have not got time for this. You will get into the elevator.”
“I refuse.” said Diamond Tiara, her anger rising. Cranky walked over. He stepped behind her, put his hands on her shoulders and forced her to walk toward the elevator. Diamond Tiara forced her heels into the ground, making the rubber soles squeak on the tile floor.
She knew this day would come. She never knew when it would come, but she knew that eventually someone would try to force her into a confined space.
Quickly, Diamond Tiara ducked and dashed between Cranky's legs and ran. He tried to keep up with her, but her slender and lanky form gave her more speed. She ran to one of the rocket exhibits and as fast as she could took out the handcuffs. She cuffed her ankle to the rocket before anyone could do anything.
“There.” she said, panting for breath. “If you want me to get into the elevator, you’ll have to take the rocket, too.”
Cranky stood up. He had tripped over part of one of the exhibits and hit his shin so hard he might have broken the bone a bit.
In the end, Luna confiscated Diamond Tiara’s handcuffs and forbade her from going on anymore field trips. Diamond Tiara was to stay at school and write an essay on the elevator.
Filthy Rich and Spoiled Rich were not bothered by the fact that their daughter was doing more work. But the Riches’ were the kind of parents that liked to brag about their children’s accomplishments, and Diamond Tiara’s museum escapade hardly ranked as an accomplishment.
Filthy Rich was close friends with Big Macintosh, whose wife was the librarian at CHS. She had heard about what Diamond Tiara did and immediately knew how to help.
Cheerilee was one of the only teachers in CHS who knew about Celestia’s School for Fearful students. The only others who knew were Luna and Fluttershy.
One morning Diamond Tiara woke up and looked out the window to see her mother and father waiting by the mailbox, looking around as if they were waiting for someone.
Turns out they were waiting for someone: the mailman. Rather odd, as Diamond Tiara’s parents never went near the mailbox until it was overflowing with letters. The mailman looked around to see if anyone was watching before giving Filthy Rich a bright pink envelope. Filthy Rich shoved it in his pocket and started walking quickly into the house, followed by Spoiled Rich.
Diamond Tiara opened her door a crack and watched as the two came inside. Filth Rich pulled the letter out of his pocket and looked around. Spoiled Rich whispered something to him. She took the letter and put it in the empty teapot.
She started to glance in Diamond Tiara’s direction, and quickly Diamond Tiara flung herself onto her bed.
Spoiled Rich’s voice rang through the halls. “Diamond Tiara, we’re going off to work now.”
“Um, okay.” Diamond Tiara said quickly, wanting to see what was in the letter.
She heard the front door open and close. She looked out her window and watched as her parents’ cars pulled out of the driveway.
As soon as she was sure they were gone, she ran into the kitchen and took the empty teapot. She pulled the bright pink envelope out and stared at it.
In fancy gold printing were the words Celestia’s School for Fearful Students.Diamond Tiara carefully opened the letter not wanting to rip it. She read the letter and gasped. It said she was to report to the Canterlot bus station at 9:00 A.M. on Monday, May twenty-fifth.
She licked the letter shut, returned it to its hiding place and sat on the couch.
She whipped out her cell and called Silver Spoon. The ring sounded four times before Silver Spoon picked up. “Hello?” she said in a voice that suggested she was still half asleep.
“Silver Spoon!” Diamond Tiara exclaimed. “My parents got this letter in the mail and they’re trying to hide it from me. It says I’ve been accepted to Celestia’s School for Fearful Students and I don’t know what it means! I hope they’re not shipping me off to some summer school but I think they are. It says I should report to the bus station on May 25th!”
Silver Spoon was quiet for a minute.
“Diamond Tiara.” she finally said. “It’s 6:50 A.M. on a Saturday morning. I don’t care if you’re parents are sending you to a different planet for summer vacation. I want to sleep in!” Silver Spoon hung up on her end.
Diamond Tiara groaned and shut her phone off. She was in deep trouble. Nothing good ever started at a bus station.
Celestia's School for Fearful Students
In the Canterlot airport, people were bustling around trying to get everybody and everything they needed to take with them. It was noisy and crowded. It was exactly how you’d expect an airport to be. Then everything was silent as everyone’s head’s turned towards two figures.
Rarity and Sweetie Belle were walking into the airport, with a cloud of repellent lingering above Sweetie Belle’s head.
Rarity blushed and tried to ignore everyone, but Sweetie Belle was totally oblivious of everyone staring open-mouthed at her.
She marched ahead with Rarity following behind. Then they came to the plane. Rarity didn’t want anywhere near it. It looked absolutely dreadful. Not to mention it looked like a torture device.
The left wing was crooked, it was missing several wheels, and the windows were held together by silver duct tape.
Sweetie Belle acted as if this plane were in normal conditions. Rarity hesitated for a moment but didn’t want Sweetie to go by herself.
The plane ride was more than bumpy. Sweetie Belle sat thinking, not even bumping around with the plane.
She looked over at Rarity, who was shaking and biting her lip. Her hair was out of place and frazzled.
“Rarity, are you alright?” Sweetie Belle asked. “I do not want to die on this plane.” Rarity said using the voice she used when a dress wasn’t turning out how she wanted.
“Don’t you get it? This plane will kill us! Me and Fancy Pant’s wedding is in a few weeks! And because of this, I won’t be there for it!” She then collapsed into a wave of dramatic tears.
“Come on, Rarity. It’s so not that bad.” Sweetie Belle said. It was the first time she had spoken during the flight.
“I can’t believe this school is all the way in Everfree.” Rarity grumbled.
Luckily for Rarity the flight was not long. They spent the night at a nearby motel. It took Rarity a few hours to recover from the flight.
“Rarity, are you coming to bed?” Sweetie Belle asked through a cloud of repellent.
“Just once the room stops spinning.” said Rarity, who was leaning with her head against the wall. “If it ever does stop.”
The next morning they got on a bus that would take them right to the other bus that would take them to the school.
There was only one other passenger besides Sweetie Belle and Rarity. And that boy was Button Mash. Button Mash was the champion of all video games. He was also good at sports, but he didn’t do that as often as video games, which he played 24/7.
Somehow in all his years at Canterlot High, none of the teachers had ever found him playing under his desk.
But his skills and good looks made him one of the popular kids. But of course Diamond Tiara made sure that he wasn’t more popular than her.
But Button Mash was also known for moodiness, often snapping at classmates.
One day after a baseball game (which Button Mash had won for his team), two of his classmates, Snips and Snails, approached him.
“Man, that was awesome the way you beat those guys!” Snails said excitedly. “Yeah, you totally led us to victory again!” Snips added.
Button Mash gave a small nod. He was used to being praised for his skills on the field.
"So anyway, we found this lake in the woods behind the school, and we were wondering if you’d like to ditch and come swimming with us.” Snails said.
Button Mash gulped. “N-No thanks, guys. Maybe another time.”
“Aww, come on.” Snips begged. “The lake is huge. It’ll be awesome.” Button Mash’s vision became slightly blurry and his knees shook with the effort of trying to stand.
“Uh, are you okay?” Snails asked. “I’m fine.” Button Mash said angrily. “That was just my impression of you.”
“That’s harsh.” said Snails, and the two walked away.
Button Mash knew his secret wouldn’t stay hidden for long. It was becoming obvious. So late into the night when his parents were asleep,
Button Mash logged in to the only computer in his house.
He searched everywhere for something that might help him, but he found nothing. Until he found a website that had many stories people had written about how they had conquered their fears. Button Mash was particularly interested in one boy’s who had overcome his fear of the sun by taking a summer course at Celestia’s School for Fearful Students.
Just as he was about to click the arrow for more details, a box popped up. Just where the story had been was a notice from the law offices of D. Draconnequus saying that what he had read was not a real story.
Had he imagined the whole story? He hadn’t had sleep all night. It was possible. But why would a law office have any interest in a boy who went to some place to get over his fear?
Soon the first ray of sunlight was peeking over the ocean. Button Mash’s father walked into the room. Before he could ask what button Mash was doing, Button Mash said. “I need your help.”
Button Mash and his father looked up the people who had gotten over their fears and had written their story. Button Mash called all the people he could and asked them about Celestia’s School for Fearful Students. Some just hung up right at the start. Some denied that they’d heard of such a place.
Only when Button Mash called Dr. Ernestina Franklin did the call prove useful. “Have you heard of Celestia’s School for Fearful Students?” Button Mash asked.
He waited for the woman’s reply. He was ready to give up. He had done this many times before with many negative responses.
“Yes.”
Button Mash sat up straight. “You’ve heard of it?”
And twenty minutes later Button Mash and his parents were pulling into the driveway of Dr. Franklin. An old woman rushed out to greet them.
The woman greeted Button Mash with a warm hug and kiss on the cheek. Her actions were made clear when she asked “Billy” why he hadn’t visited his grandmother sooner. But Button Mash was desperate, so he hugged his newfound grandma and continued the conversation about the infamous School for Fearful Students.
Dr. Franklin’s demeanor altered as she vaguely explained the mysterious institution. Button Mash absorbed the information and attempted to ask questions, but Dr. Franklin refused to answer them. She did, however, agree to write “Billy”-who Button Mash’s mother had explained liked to go by his nickname Button Mash-a letter of recommendation.
Letter in hand, Button Mash and his parents were walking to the front door, letter in hand, when Dr. Franklin halted them.
“Wait!” the frail woman shouted as she opened the door to a dresser. She held up a wrinkled photograph. Button Mash gasped at the sight of a man’s face.
He had bright red and yellow eyes that were different sizes. There were dark lines under his eyes. They seemed to stare right into Button Mash’s soul. He appeared to have what looked like horns growing out of the top of his head. He had grey skin and an evil smile that spread across his cruel face. Also, it was very alarming that there were two actual horns poking out of the top of his head.
“Once you send that letter, he’ll be watching you… everywhere you go, everything you buy, anyone you call, he’ll know; he knows everything.” Dr. Franklin said ominously.
“Who?” asked Button Mash.
“Discord.”
Celestia's School for Fearful Students
Dear Applicant,
I am pleased to inform you of your acceptance to the summer course at Celestia’s School for Fearful Students. As you already know, Celestia’s School for Fearful Students is a highly select institution run by the elusive Ms. Celestia, aimed at eradicating children’s fears through unorthodox methods. The small group of parents, doctors, and teachers aware of our existence vigilantly maintain our anonymity. It is at the discretion of this small group that students are referred. We strongly advise all incoming applicants and their families only to discuss Celestia’s School for Fearful Students in the confines of their home with the television on, water running, and dog barking.
On behalf of Ms. Celestia and the entire School for Fearful Students staff, I welcome you.
Warm regards,
DISCORD DRACONNEQUUS
Lead counsel to Ms. Celestia and the School for Fearful Students