Author's Note

I’m finally back! I apologize for taking so dang long to upload the next chapter, but stuff has been pretty hectic. My phone also stopped working, so I had to get a new phone, which meant I had to go about two weeks (two and a half, maybe?) without a phone. But now that I have a new phone, I’ll be able to upload!

Chapter XII: A Chat with a Madman

Skipting, Sunset, and the others were all gathered in Principal Soleil's office, with the three young girls sitting across from the woman, looking down at their laps.

They had already been given their punishment, with guidance from the Prince.

It was decided that they would be banned from using the school computers unless supervised by an adult, Sunset or one of her friends, or one of a certain group of people Principal Soleil and Vice Principal Mond trusted with the task.

They would also be banned from all extracurricular activities, but would still be allowed to attend events like dances and games. The girls would be taken out of all of their classes and put in Miss Zecora Younger's Study Skills Intervention class, where they would be given schoolwork. They would also have to go to Vice Principal Mond's office three times a week.

"Announce an assembly in the gym and have these three confess. Identify everyone who physically tormented Sunset or used violence, and send them to the lobby, where I will confront them,” Skipting instructed. “Inform the students in the gym of their foolishness, tell them that many of them are also responsible for Anon-A-Miss. After the assembly, send the students who sent in secrets to Vice Principal Mond's office."

A small smile appeared on his face.

"I believe it is finally time to put the alliances I have formed to use. Contact Chrysalis, and tell her to gather her children and bring them here. They will supervise the assembly. I would like Soren to help me with confronting the worst offenders in whatever way he can or wants."

Vice Principal Mond nodded and left the office.

"Meanwhile, I want Discord to—"

"Did somebody say my name?"

Everyone in the room except Skipting and Blóðþrá jumped, before turning towards the source of the voice.

On the flatscreen TV mounted on the left wall of the office, smiling at them with a gleeful expression and looking rather pleased with himself, was the image of Discord Kaos.

"I had a feeling someone was talking about me, so I connected to your TV to talk to you," he said.

"For all of our sakes, please don't ever do that again, Discord," Celestia said, steadying her breathing.

The man just laughed.

"But what would be the fun in that, Tia?”

“Have you done what you said you would, Discord?” Skipting asked, his tone unamused and serious as he looked at the man.

Discord looked at the Prince with a shocked expression.

“Of course I did! I’m a man of my word! Why, I’m offended that you would ever think I would go back on it!”

He chuckled a little.

“Anyhoo, I did a little digging, and I was able to identify everyone who sent secrets to Anon-A-Miss. Thirty-five, exactly. I also reviewed footage on the security cameras around the school. Only seventeen students actually physically tormented or assaulted Sunset, and eight of them are among the thirty-five who sent secrets to Anon-A-Miss.

"Honestly, I thought there would be a bit more. No offense, Sunset."

"None taken," Sunset said.

"Well, since you're here, I would like to make a request of you," Skipting said.

"And what would that be, Your Highness?" Discord asked.

"I will soon confront the seventeen who harmed Sunset, and I would like you to broadcast my confrontation to the gym. I would also like you to block signals to prevent the students from attempting to get any kind of help from any sort of… unsavory characters."

Discord laughed.

"Sorry, old chap! I'm afraid I can't do that—blocking signals to prevent communication, I mean. For one thing, people need to be able to communicate in case of an emergency. For another, blocking signals to prevent that is a federal offense."

"Very well. Then perhaps we could simply temporarily confiscate students' phones?"

"We can do that," Celestia said, looking up from her computer. "Discord just sent me the names of the students who sent in secrets, and the ones who have been physically bullying Sunset. So we can confiscate the phones of those students for a little bit."

"That's definitely a good idea," Gilda said. "I know some of the dorks here have ties to the Avellinos, and a few pretty shitty gangs. If they're able to make calls, then they could contact one of the big shitheads running their operations, or some of the gangs, and ask them to come to the school."

"Even if that were to happen, Gilda, we would be fine," Celestia assured. "They know better than to try and cause trouble on school grounds. If they do try to cause trouble here, then they'll have several other local gangs and a few particular groups of people to deal with, not to mention a few certain individuals."

"Why would people working for the Avellino family and some of the gangs have to deal with other local gangs and stuff if they try to cause trouble here?" Sunset asked.

"Quite a lot of gang members have children attending school here. They want to make sure their children are safe at school. And the Avellino family and the criminal gangs do their best not to get on the bad sides of any of the other gangs, because the other gangs have very well known reputations around town. Especially the Howlers and Solana."

"That sounds like a solid plan," Discord said. "Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Skipting turned to his cousin and politely asked her to step out of the room for a few minutes, as well as the Crusaders. They obliged and left, as did Gilda.

"Before the man known as Violenza left Rarity’s house, he spoke to my counterpart, Soren Mond," Skipting began. "He asked him to visit a place called 'Blackhaven,' and mentioned 'Her Imperial Majesty.' Soren said he would visit, and asked Violenza to 'give Mr. Rorke his regards, should he see or hear from him.'"

"Your point?"

"I know who Violenza is, I know what Blackhaven is, and I know who 'Her Imperial Majesty' is—at least in Caeleste. But I am curious as to who exactly Soren was referring to. Do you have any idea who this 'Mr. Rorke' is? A specific person. From the way Soren spoke when he mentioned the man, he sounds important."

Discord nodded, taking a drink from his soda.

"I know exactly who Mr. Rorke is. He's an associate of the Black Hive and myself, and a close friend of Soren. He and his allies are also associates of La Sociedad Oscura. I assume you are familiar with it?"

Skipting nodded.

"Yes. Very familiar. In fact, a cousin of mine is the current ruler of La Sociedad Oscura in Equestria," he responded.

"Now, as much as I would love to tell you who Mr. Rorke is, I'm afraid I can't. I'm under strict orders to keep quiet about his and his allies' identities. However, I'm sure I'll be able to convince Mr. Rorke to meet with you. I've been keeping him informed of the situation, and he and his allies have been closely monitoring you ever since you came to this world."

"So they are aware of what happened to the Diamond Dogs?" the Prince asked.

The man laughed.

"'Aware?' Oh, you're very wrong, Your Highness. They aren't just 'aware' of what you did. They're like the city watchdogs, you could say. Most people are too afraid to draw their attention. And you'd have to be out of your mind to do that."

"When will you contact him?"

"I sent him a message just a few moments ago. He agreed to meet you."

"When does he want to meet?"

"He and his allies are heading out as we speak. I assure you he'll be very helpful in keeping the students in line. His methods are…"

He paused and idly stroked his beard.

"... unique."

With that, the video cut out, and the screen went black. The door opened, and Vice Principal Mond entered.

"Chrysalis and the others are on their way," she said.

"Thank you, Luna," Skipting said. "Now would you kindly tell Sunset and Gilda they can come back in, then take the Crusaders to your office?"

She nodded and left again, after which Sunset and Gilda came back in.

"Skipting," Gilda said.

"Yes?"

"Just so you know, I called a couple buddies of mine while you and Discord were chatting. They'll be here sometime soon."

"Do these friends of yours know about what's going on?" he asked.

"Yeah. Several of their really close friends go here, one of them has a kid who goes here, and one's sister goes here too."

The Rainbooms were shaking now, unable to look away from the massive women before them. They radiated pure power, and their auras could practically be tasted in the air. These two were no mere mortals, nor demigods. They were literal goddesses.

"Where is Sunset Shimmer?" the one who looked like Vice Principal Mond demanded.

"Canterlot—" Applejack answered fearfully.

"Hold the fuck on, AJ!" Rainbow Dash hissed, cutting the farmgirl off and glaring at her. "Why are you telling them where Sunset is?! They'll probably have to go through all the students who had a hand in hurting her! These two might even kill them!"

The Principal Soleil doppelgänger raised a hand, which became enveloped in a golden aura. Rainbow Dash yelped as she found herself lifted into the air and pulled towards the woman. She was forced to stare, close up, into the miniature suns. The goddess raised her other hand, and brought it to the athlete's face.

A loud smack seemed to almost echo through the building, and the girl was sent flying through the air, crashing into a table. When she slowly and shakily stood up, rubbing her face, the other girls saw, to their horror, an imprint of a hand on her cheek, the skin slightly burned, and strands of her hair were singed.

She didn't look any worse for wear, which was surprising, since she had just been sent flying into a table. But Rainbow was a fairly durable young woman with a long record of both injuring herself and somehow coming out of various situations practically unscathed.

"My only desire at the moment is to find my daughter, to know that she is safe and sound, to see her again," the goddess said coldly. "If you refuse to tell me where she is…"

Her hands became enveloped in a golden aura again.

"... I have other ways of making you talk."

"She's at Canterlot High School! It's right in front of the portal statue!" Applejack cried.

"Sister, please, calm down," the Vice Principal's counterpart said. "Sunset is with Skipting. She is more than safe with him. Leave these girls be. They shall get their comeuppance later."

Her sister growled, glaring at the girls, but nodded.

"Very well. I assume Sunset will want to talk to them later," she said. "She cannot do that if they are dead."

She looked back at Rainbow Dash. The goddess could feel an aura of darkness surrounding the girl, an aura she was quite familiar with. She raised her hand once more, and the rainbow-haired athlete was again surrounded with a golden glow.

She used her magic to keep the girl still, then removed her jacket. Rainbow Dash struggled to move or escape, her eyes widening in fear as she looked at her right arm as her jacket was forcefully pulled off of her.

Then the girls gasped upon seeing the state of their friend's arm.

Rainbow Dash’s veins had turned pitch black, looking like tendrils of shadows crawling along her arm. The area around the raven and lightning bolt mark was as black as her veins, and the untouched skin appeared extremely pale.

"Skipting Lunam has branded her with the Curse of the Harrowed," she said, her voice venomous as she said the Dark Prince's name. "A fitting punishment for a monster such as him to bestow upon another. She should be grateful that it has not progressed any further than it already has."

The Vice Principal's counterpart glared at her. Her face was a stone mask, but the Rainbooms could feel her anger.

"Do not speak about my child like that," she snarled.

"He has essentially doomed that girl to a slow and agonizing death, then to a fate worse than death!" the elder one retorted. "He doomed many with that foul curse before my imprisonment. I can only guess how many more he has damned."

She looked back at Rainbow Dash.

"Killing her would be a mercy for her. A quick death before the curse can fully take hold would be far better than letting her suffer like she is."

"She will be fine, sister," Vice Principal Mond's doppelgänger assured. "Skipting did not use the true power of the Curse. The Curse has only spread because that is what it was created to do. He has no intention of killing any of these girls. The specific way in which he branded her with the Curse will not kill her, nor will it harm her in any way. It is simply an intimidation tactic, and a way to encourage those he brands to right their wrongs.

"But let us cease to focus on this at the moment. We have a more important matter to take care of."

"Very well.”

Another flash of golden light emanated from the goddesses, and when it faded, they were gone.