Diaries of the Anonymous Filly

Once class resumed, I half expected that we would continue with the mathematics, but instead we moved onto reading a children's book that had been released within the span of the last year. When the teacher passed out the books, there wasn't enough for everyone, but the two earth ponies behind me—Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon—volunteered to read from the same copy, so that I could catch up. It was nice of them, but I immediately caught the trio to my right exchanging looks.

So they're not completely sold, or there's some history involving the two behind me?

Cheerilee took a moment to explain to me that most of the particular lessons centered around books involved having the students take turns reading aloud for a few paragraphs before taking some time to cover any moon-glyphs that they encountered. For me to catch up, she asked that I read through at a pace I was comfortable with, noting down any glyphs I was unfamiliar with—homework being to look up said glyphs, practice writing them, and then use them in a sentence. The class was currently at chapter eight of twelve.

I don't think the mare was prepared to witness just how quickly I was able to catch up. See, because my father didn't approve of me reading when I had free time, I learned to read quickly, on top learning how to hide my books. I'd set goals of reading oh so many pages before I put the book away... but every time, I was able to read just a bit quicker, and I'd get a bit farther. Mom was absolutely proud of how quick I was able to read, but always seemed bitter that she couldn't take my education further.

That said, early on in the story, I encountered my first issue; although the book was clearly written for this age-group, I noticed that the author did something I'd noticed more in academic texts or books at a higher reading level: expressing a pony's name with moon-glyphs. It was strange because the author themselves wrote their name as simply Apocrita in sun-glyphs. So before I had even gotten past the first page, I had three runes to look up. Admittedly, the author did have a Dramatis Personae in the end that actually gave the sun-glyph reading for the names, which made things simpler.

Honestly, the biggest complaint I had with the whole existence of moon-glyphs was that when using them for written names or compounding them to express a complex thought, you often needed an accompanying sun-glyph subtext/reading guide to ensure that readers derive the correct meaning. For example, depending on the reader, a name written with the glyphs for without and name could be interpreted as Nameless, No-Name, or Anonymous. Yeah, it's not all that intuitive, and I actually laughed the first time I saw a combustion engine expressed as explosion movement machine.

The story itself was interesting, though. It starred a pegasus filly by the name of Wind Tracer who, during a family vacation, got caught up in a wild storm near the ocean and was separated from her family. Marooned on a deserted island with an injured wing, Tracer was forced to fend for herself. It then detailed how she managed to construct some familiar-sounding fish traps, splinted her wing, and built a shelter over the coming weeks.

After being stranded for about three weeks, another storm swept through, wrecking her shelter. Once the storm was over, she went down to the beach to pick up the parts that had blown off the shelter, as well as to check to see what the storm surge had brought in. Lo and behold, a colourful insectile pony of some sort had washed ashore within walking distance of her camp. Surprisingly enough, the creature was still alive, though unconscious.

Having never seen anything like it before, she dragged the creature back to her camp and did what she could to wrap its broken chitin, and shared what potable water she could. But when the creature woke up and introduced itself as Allomyrina Dichotoma, a changeling. That word caused terror in the filly, and the author even described the image it elicited: a pony-like creature of black, pockmarked chitin, with holes in its legs, wings, and crooked horn—a vile shapeshifter that fed on the love of others. She immediately distrusted Dichotoma, and once he was capable of standing and moving, she banished him from her camp.

It was worth noting at this point that the author actually added a footnote to this chapter, explaining the filly's reaction through a short history blurb. At one point, prior to what the author described as the Elevation of Lingkind, the cruel leader of the species, Queen Chrysalis, attempted to conquer all of Equestria to enslave all of ponykind as a food-source. Changelings at that time thought they could only feed on the love of other races, and not their own. It was not until a rogue drone aided heroes of Equestria in the defeat the dread queen that their species was shown another way; All but Chrysalis evolved when they shared their love for one another, and that drone became the next King.

Assuming all of this was true, and not just the author contextualising for the sake of the story, it might be interesting to meet the author or the king mentioned. I could even ask Twilight or Starlight later if they knew this changeling. Such a being could surely provide an answer to my questions and concerns from Saturday.

By the time lunch rolled around, and Cheerilee went around collecting up the novels, I realised that I'd actually almost gotten past the point the class was at. The poor mare almost dropped the stack of books on her back when she saw my sheet of paper filled with all the glyphs—complete with page numbers and space for definitions from my dictionary—that I'd not yet encountered. She actually did drop the said stack when I revealed the other side of the page was just as full.

"Anon, are you really this far into the book already?" she asked, noting the most recent glyph I'd marked down. When I nodded, hopping down to help her pick up the spilled books, she let out a strangled sound of surprise. "That's incredible; and you've been able to read sun-glyphs for how long?"

"Completely? Almost a week," I replied, grabbing a stack of eight books with my hooves and walking it two-legged over to the teacher's desk. "Some maids in Canterlot were teaching me before I was mailed to—" I had to stop myself from calling Twilight Book Horse in front of Cheerilee. "—Princess Twilight for eating Princess Celestia's cake. There wasn't much to do around Twilight's castle, so by like Wednesday, I'd finished learning the sun-glyphs completely, and since then, I've been practicing whenever possible." I shrugged, returning to a quadrupedal stance. "It also helps that this is only around one-fifty pages and utilises a larger font."

I couldn't exactly tell her that I'd been reading in another language since I was the pony equivalent of two. Although Twilight and I had agreed that it would be best to be at least partially honest with others about my origins—being that I'd grown up outside Equestria and only recently come into the care of the crown—when applicable, there was an agreement that my being from another world wasn't something we'd share with anyone we didn't think needed to know. Unfortunately, after revealing that I'd gotten my reading speed up this fast in just five days, I was probably gonna have this poor mare convinced that I was some sort of savant. When she returned to her desk with the other eight novels, she had this look on her face I'd spotted on the faces of Twilight and Starlight when I vexed them to where I imagined they needed alcohol to calm their nerves.

When I returned to my seat, I watched Cheerilee dazedly walk out of the classroom with a bag that I reckoned she had her own lunch in... or maybe alcohol? I'm sure there were times where students could drive a teacher to drink. But that left us all rather unattended... Or maybe she always takes her lunch separate from the class.

So I took out my lunch of cucumber-watercress tea sandwiches, apple slices, and a banana. I also got out my thermos and started pouring another cup of tea. When I reached for my banana, I noticed that Scootaloo was whispering to the other two, giving me occasional glances. It almost seemed like they were getting ready to ask if we could talk, but before they could come to a consensus, I caught sight of movement in my peripheral.

"What's it like being related to a foal abuser?" came the smug voice of Ivory Crescent as he and his brother strode past my desk. For the first time, I actually got a good look at their marks. Ivory had a black mark, that looked like one half of the yin-yang symbol—was it called a Taijitu?—but where there would normally be a white dot, there was instead a white star. Conversely, his brother Ebony had a white mark that contained a black lightning bolt. If not for their amber eyes, they were completely monochrome, but honestly, they just looked malicious as they were. "I think I'd just die of embarrassment if that sort of news got out."

Ebony barked a cold, mocking laugh. "Yeah, I know, right?" he goaded. The sneer on his face made me want to rearrange it six ways to Sunday. "Our Mom and Dad would never dare think to put a hoof on a foal." I didn't really like that predatory look in his eyes as Apple Bloom began to tremble; he clearly wanted a fight, but didn't want to be the one to throw the first punch. Son of a bitch is trying to provoke her. "Of course, you wouldn't know anything about that, would you? Your dumb hick parents went and—"

How dare he. It wasn't exactly kept a secret from me that the Apples lost their Ma and Pa when they were young, so hearing these shit disturbers using such a sore spot to try to provoke a fight... It was infuriating seeing him tear into a girl that was clearly distraught over her sister's arrest, and then have the gall to bring up her parents... The resulting sadness I saw building in those eyes... It pushed me over the edge.

"Boy, I'mma give you exactly one chance to walk away with your teeth still in your mouth," I warned, repeating almost word for word what my father had said to me the only time I ever stood up to him. Sweetie Belle was straight up restraining the Apple filly, but they both looked shocked when I spoke. In fact, the entire room had gone silent. "You live in a town founded by earth ponies, yet you keep making very thinly veiled tribalist and specist comments. You look and sound well off enough that you shouldn't even need to scam ponies for free drinks at Sugarcube Corner... Pretty sure no-one other than maybe Cheerilee and your parents is gonna bat an eyelid if the two of you got put in your place."

I paused to blow on my tea. "So I say again, to make sure you're one-hundred percent picking up what I'm laying down here," I said plainly, marveling at the fact that my tea was still as hot as when it was first brewed this morning. "If don't walk your hoity-toity butts back to those seats over there and sit down—if you even so much as utter one more word to her—you're going to wish you'd taken the chance to walk away."

Much to nobody's surprise, that only elicited a snort from Ivory. "Pffft, what are you gonna do about it, shrimp?" he said in a mocking one. "You're just an pint-sized nopony with a redundant talent. You got nothing on us." Magic coalesced around his horn in an orange cloud as an unseen pressure pushed me back so I was sitting upright in my chair. He didn't stop there, though; I watched as the lid of my thermos unscrewed itself and the thermos began to levitate. "Why don't you be a good little filly and go back to your tea."

Everypony in the room gasped as he tilted the thermos over my head. Pain erupted across my back and the top of my head, and a familiar ringing sound filled my ears. The next couple of minutes were honestly a blur. One moment, he was pouring my scalding tea over the top of my head and I had screwed my eyes shut. The next minute, I was being hauled off of the dark-furred pegasus by Cheerilee, spitting and swearing through a mouthful of feathers. The entire top of my head, my face, and a good portion of my back back were burning, and although it hadn't gotten in my eyes, opening them just made them sting.

"Scootaloo, go as fast as you can and get to the guard station," Cheerilee instructed, her forelimb snaked beneath my own forelegs as she held me back. "Tell them to we need them, Crescent Helm, and Princess Twilight to meet us at the hospital." Next, I heard her say to someone else. "Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, Sweetie Belle, gather up their belongings and follow behind. Ebony, is your brother conscious?"

"No ma'am," I heard him whimper. Who knew how many feathers I'd gotten? God knows that probably hurt. "That little psycho knocked him out cold when she knocked out a bunch of his teeth."

By that point, I was no longer struggling. "Anon, are you going to try anything if I let you go?" I shook my head, and she released me. "Are you good to walk to the hospital?"

"My eyes sting when I open them, and I've been scalded, but I can manage," I grunted. On a scale of one to ten, the pain wasn't all that bad, but that might've been a bad sign for all I knew. "Although, I'll need someone to guide me."

"Apple Bloom, I need you there with Diamond and the others, since you were all witnesses," Cheerilee said. "Can you guide Anon?"

There was a moment of silence, as the filly seemed to consider this. "Of course, Ms. Cheerilee."

~ 10 ~

"I can't believe you two!" bellowed a green unicorn in the bronze plate armour of a royal guard. He was looming over the two brothers as they sat atop the hospital bed across from me. "Not even in Ponyville two months and you're already getting into fights?"

Ivory muttered something, but it was incomprehensible with the front seven or so teeth missing, one of which had yet to be removed from my hoof. Plus, he had a mouthful of gauze to keep him from bleeding everywhere until a dental regrowth potion could be brought in. "She threw the first punch, not us!" Ebony protested. "You and Mum always say we're allowed to defend ourselves as long as we aren't the ones to throw the first punch."

"Don't you try to use our own words to justify yourself, you disingenuous little—" The stallion cut himself off before he swore, not realising that I probably had a fouler mouth than he did. "You're lucky your mother is out on deployment right now, because if she heard you were up to the same crap here in Ponyville that got you both into juvie back in Canterlot, what that little filly did to you both would seem like a warm summer breeze. Oh, and don't think I didn't stop to listen to the witnesses with the actual guards handling the case before coming to check on you two, so don't even try to spin a tale."

Although he was getting worked up, I didn't feel as scared as I thought I would. He was a dad putting the fear of God, or Celestia in his case, into his two brats who've been pushing their luck. Still, he hadn't shown any indication of aggression towards me. I didn't think he'd try anything with the teacher here, either. "If you're lucky, the schoolboard won't suggest immediate expulsion when Cheerilee presents the case to them for consideration; Celestia knows you'd deserve it after this stunt." He looked from Ebony, back to Ivory. "Honestly, a thermos of tea!? Do you use your head for anything more than a horn-rack? You could've blinded her if it'd gotten in her eyes!"

Honestly, I was thankful that Cheerilee was in here with us, if nothing else than so Twilight wouldn't blow a gasket thinking I'd been left unsupervised with the parent of a pair of foals I'd just trounced. Although I wasn't intimidated by him, being near still made me nervous, despite his non-aggression. The light tranquilizer—Or was it a painkiller?—I'd been dosed with so that I wasn't struggling while being treated, left me feeling slightly foggy-headed, and I found myself keeping close to Cheerilee when Helm had entered.

For all that I'd managed, It wasn't like I'd gotten out unscathed. In the scuffle that had broken out after I punched in Ivory's pearly whites, Ebony ended up socking me in the face repeatedly and then biting into my shoulder in retaliation for stripping his right wing of a good portion of his feathers. I'd also somehow ended up with a split lip in the process. Nurse Redheart had not been particularly amused to have me muttering and swearing while she salved and bandaged me.

Still, if not for Cheerilee's presence, I'd have felt a lot more intimidated by the yelling. After already having gotten into the scrap, my fight-or-flight was on a hair-trigger now, and that was after being medicated. If anyone touched me without permission, or looked at me the wrong way, I felt like I might puke. No small wonder that I dove under the bed the moment the door slammed open.

I wasn't surprised to see Starlight or Twilight enter the room. Honestly, that was to be expected. The white unicorn stallion and the pink alicorn mare accompanying them were, on the other hand, quite unexpected. And is that a baby alicorn sleeping on her back?

"Anon!?" Twilight demanded, looking from the guard-stallion and his shithead sons to Cheerilee. "Where is she?"

Pain lanced down my back as it grazed the underside of the bed when I stepped out. "Now, I know what you're thinking," I said, not meeting anyone's gaze, "but I swear, it's not as bad as it looks. Lip's split, I got a black eye, and a bite on my shoulder... the rest is just some burns." I held out the hoof I knocked the moron's teeth out with and grinned, feeling a bit of giddiness as I showed off the tooth still lodged in the bottom of it. "Nurse Redheart said I'm cleared to leave once the doctor takes care of this."

The white stallion let out a low whistle, looking from me to the two boys, and then their father. "Do I even want to know how one little filly did all that?" he asked in a voice that carried the slightest hint of amusement as he shook his head. His eyes lingered on Ebony's almost completely defeathered wing. "Helm, I thought you and Moondust were raising future guards, not delinquents."

If Crescent Helm looked horrified when Twilight stepped in, he really started sweating when he saw this dude. "P-princess Twilight, Princess Cadance, C-captain, sir..." He collapsed to his haunches and then stared at the ceiling. "I'm going to lose my job, aren't I?"

"Psst, Anon, come on, let's let them have some time to talk," Starlight said in a hushed voice, waving her hoof. She was staying close to the stranger alicorn, but since she wasn't nearly as tall as the Sun Horse, I wasn't feeling too intimidated. "We can have the doctor look at that outside, but I think Twilight might be about to violate several noise ordinances."

My ear twitched, and my attention drifted back to Ivory, who was starting to groan and look a little green around the gills. "Can't leave just yet," I said, a tone of excitement filling my voice. "This is the best part."

It was almost like the sound of rain and hail filled the room. Bile, gauze, teeth, and a bit of blood splattered against the formerly sterile hospital floor. Tears streamed down Ivory's face while Ebony, Helm, Twilight, Cheerilee, and the unnamed unicorn looked on in surprise or disgust. The teacher murmured something that sounded suspiciously like, "So that's where the other six teeth went," before fainting on the hospital bed.

"Okay, now we can go," I explained in a singsong voice. Despite my burns and the wrappings, I strode between the Starlight and the unnamed alicorn and out the door. Speaking loud enough for everyone still conscious to hear, I said, "That is for trying to bully Apple Bloom about her sister and then bringing their parents into it," before giving a flick of my tail and exiting the room with only the slightest of limps.

Out in the hallway, I was met by the unicorn doctor who was supposed to remove the tooth from my hoof. At first, he was a bit shocked to see me out in the hall, along with Starlight and the other alicorn who'd followed behind me. That said, his mouth shut awful quick when he saw a dome of purple magic appear through the door, followed by very muffled yelling. After that, he was more than content to take us to another room to remove the tooth and make sure there was no damage to the tissue beneath, leaving me with a warning to keep the hole free of debris while the keratin grew out.

Starlight was horrified when I asked the doctor if I could keep the tooth to make a necklace out of, and immediately shot it down. If this Princess—Cadance, I think Mr. Helm called her—thought there was something wrong with me before, she probably thought I was completely fucked now... and it wasn't even like I could blame the medication... or could I? I honestly wasn't really sure what sort of effect the meds they used on me were having on my filly-brain. Regardless, the mare just watched me with an unsure look about her.

Besides dealing with that, the doctor informed Starlight that there were concerns about damage to my eyes and tear-ducts due to burns found on my eyelids during examination. In addition to a salve that I was to have applied to my burns, and fresh bandages, there were lubricated and medicated eye-drops that were to be applied if I so much as started to experience dry-eye. Of course, if the symptoms persisted for more than a few days...

Eventually, Starlight conjured up a collapsible umbrella and led me out into the waiting room. I was sorta surprised that Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were still waiting there, sitting alongside Rarity and Big Macintosh; from what I understood, the guards ponies that had come had already taken witness statements, but given that the fillies were minors they needed guardians present. There with them were my saddlebags, and presumably my other belongings.

"Anon, darling," Rarity exclaimed upon seeing me. "Are you alright?"

"I'll live," I replied, not meeting her eyes. "Might hurt like heck tomorrow, but they dosed me with something so they could treat me, so it doesn't hurt nearly as much as it should right now."

Apple Bloom stepped forward, my saddlebags held between her teeth. She looked tired, conflicted, and maybe a little scared. "Anon, Ah..." Her voice hitched in her throat. She'd let me lean on her while guiding me to the hospital, but she'd never spoken to me on the trip.

"You okay, Bloom?" I asked, reaching my injured hoof out to pat her shoulder. "I know what it's like to lose family, and seeing them do that to you... They knew full well what they were doing, and they were looking to goad you into a fight." I glanced at Mac and then sighed. "You and your kin have been through enough grief, so the least I could do was take their attention off you."

To my surprise, the filly actually began to laugh. "Ah cain't believe ya actually made him eat his own teeth." Apple Bloom, without warning, reached out and pulled me into a one-legged hug. I squeaked in pain, and I thought I heard Starlight gasp. Probably thought I was about to do something. "Even though Ah was givin' ya the cold shoulder, even after ya gone an' helped Scootaloo durin' recess, ya stood up fer me."

I shrugged out of the hug and stepped back slightly. "I'm paraphrasing slightly, but a wise being once said that if you remain neutral in times of injustice, you are choosing the side of the oppressor," I explained. "If I just sat back and did nothing, just because you gave me the cold shoulder, how would I be any better than them?"

I'm not, a part of me whispered back. My body sagged as my limbs seemed to lose all their strength. I keep saying I'm an adult, yet look at what I did to those boys. What adult beats the crap out of two kids like that? One with the brain of a child, maybe, but still! Surely there could have been other ways to deal with that without doing that. Could that even be considered self defence?

Screwing my eyes shut, I began to idly scuff my hoof as my mind began to race. The cold realisation had set in that regardless of whether Ivory's teeth could be regrown with magic or Ebony's feathers would regrow on their own, I had maimed two children. Twilight's gotta be pissed, and when Princesses Celestia and Luna find out, they're going to bury me in a hole at the bottom of the deepest hole they can find.

The next thing I knew, there was a gentle warmth around my chest, not unlike someone hugging me. At the same time, though, it didn't feel restricting as if I were actually being held. It didn't even seem to agitate my injuries. When I opened my eyes, I found that apple bloom had backed off, only for Princess Cadance—complete with her still-sleeping foal on her back—nestled beside me, but respecting my space. A blue cloud of magic danced about her horn, and I caught sight of a similar blue glow encircling my chest.

"Anon, breathe," the pink princess instructed. She no longer looked scared of me; in fact, there was a worried kindness about her that reminded me a bit of Fluttershy. "You're having a panic attack."

Following her instructions, I began breathing in and out slowly. As her spell continued to do whatever it was it was doing, I started to feel semi-normal again. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Starlight zap my bag with her magic—no doubt sending it back to the castle—before conferring with Mac and Rarity.

Once I started to relax, the princess released whatever magic that was. "What kind of spell was that?" I asked, struggling to stand up, even as a wave of dizziness hit me. "Never seen Starlight or Twilight do that before."

Cadance smiled at me and chuckled. "It's a 'hug' spell I learned back when I used to babysit foals," she explained, rising to her own hooves and helping me up. "I've cared for all sorts of ponies with anxiety problems, and although a real hug can be quite calming, they can just make some panic attacks worse."

Once I was on my hooves and steady, I rubbed the side of my head, looking at her. "Spike mentioned you, I think," I murmured. Despite what little caffeine I'd had from my tea, I was beginning to feel kinda dozy. "You're Twilight's sister-in-law, and he's her brother, Shining Armour, right?"

The trio of fillies waved goodbye as they began to follow the two older ponies out of the waiting room, out into the rain. "That's right," she replied. Angling herself slightly so I could get a better look at the little white alicorn on her back, she said, "And this is Flurry Heart."

Jesus, those wings are huge.

"Come on, let's get you back to the castle, Anon," Starlight said, levitating me suddenly and placing me on her back. "You can get to know the Princess more after we get back."

Suppressing a yawn, I just sagged on Starlight's back. "Fine, I'm taking a nap."