A Stern Talking To (Of Foppish Foals and Cutting Words)

It was Shining's third day staying at the castle, and he was absolutely loving it. It was all at once cute, funny, heartwarming, and somewhat sad to hear him explain how he enjoyed such things as the warm, soft bed, the abundant hot food, and the ability to completely shut out nasty weather. He also mentioned repeatedly how much he enjoyed being able to walk down a couple of hallways and see Celestia any time he liked.

On this particular morning, he had slept in, and by the time he awoke, Celestia would already be on the throne, tending to some duty or other. He knew that she would be busy, but he felt good being near her, and he usually checked on her before going about his own business anyways.

This morning, when he walked in, he noticed a fancily dressed pony, complete with top hat, tuxedo, monocle, and snobby expression. He also noticed that Celestia looked plainly upset, and so he immediately tuned into the conversation and began listening in earnest.

“No, I denied the request for a reason. You can’t call half the land the ‘uneducated and oft-barbaric inhabitants of the lower regions!’”

Looking more closely, he noticed that her eyes were glowing slightly.

Well, that’s... different.

It clearly wasn’t about the court and the request anymore, so there was no reason to pretend that it was. “She told you it was rejected, and she told you why. What is the problem?”

"The problem? The problem here is that her Majesty, if she might so be called, is making a mockery of the courts of our land! You don't care how you run this place, do you? That is why your incompetence reigns so freely!"

Shining had seen enough. "Stop that. Right now. Celestia is a fine ruler, and you know it. You just want to grab for some status, but you won't be getting any of that here. Now leave."

"Oh, I know you!” The stallion’s face twisted into something to the tune of arrogance mixed with insanity. “You’re the impoverished mud pony that found its way to defile this court! A fine ruler? Why, she doesn't care for you or me or anypony! She'll just outlive us all anyways, so why even bother?"

Celestia was stunned. She was clearly enraged, but there was hurt beneath it. A very deep, very real sort of hurt. And that fancily dressed stallion knew it

That knowledge must blinded him, however, for he took no note of the sun itself going slightly dimmer, or the increasing glow of Celestia’s eyes and general person. The changes were small for the moment, but increasing all too rapidly, and the combination of them was frightening. Shining noticed even her mane and tail beginning to sparkle like a crackling flame.

Oh, that is bad. That is very, very bad.

One the stallion’s attacks had connected at last, in his attempt to find a weak spot on Celestia.

And it would get him killed if nothing changed.

"You're making any attack you can, aren't you?"

The pony turned his obnoxiously disposed, ever-snobbish face toward Shining. "Pardon me?"

The sunlight strengthened, and Celestia’s glow dimmed. Good. It’s working.

"It's not that you didn't hear me; you just wanted a moment to think, and you hope that I'll back down, or slip further into some ridiculous caricature of something that you can consider below yourself. I said it before and I'll say it again: You're making any attack you can, no matter how low. And why? Maybe you think that everyone does. Oh, right, they don't. Anyone who is witty or clever or who has the moral high grounds, they win without that, don't they. Really, you're fully aware that every time you do that, you've already lost. But it doesn't matter, does it? Because every time you do it, you do it to someone who can't stand against your fat bags of money."

The pony looked disgusted and outraged. "Oh, are you getting upset? I'm sorry, you're about to tell me that you earned that money, or that you deserve it, aren't you? That's what daddy always told you, isn't it? Daddy who never had time for you, but always had time to explain that you had money because you were better than everyone else, so of course you should use it to show them that you are.

I'll let you in on a secret. He never really bought that trash, and neither did you. But you liked the idea. Just like him, your selfish, crude instincts bought right into it. But not without a cost.

The decision made you lose someone, did it not? I know it made you lose something. Because you come in here with all the rage of a stallion who poured his blood and soul into his work and lost the results. And you know you're losing them, don't you, moneybags?

And not just that. You're losing yourself. You come in here, and act confident, and superior and intelligent. You know you aren't those things. You're a rich, lazy pony who gets by on what might be charm or what just might be other ponies' greed or fear - you can never tell for sure. You can't even tell if your closest friend is really there for you as a person. You say things to sound smart, and no one knows that you stole those things from others, and that every time you're agreed with you worry that it's just because you're rich.

It eats away at you, does it not? And it's been eating away at you so long there's nothing left.

And you still can't let go of the money, the status, the power. It's stolen all you are and you cling to it like a foal clings to its mother."

The pony was now backing away, his eyes wide, his monocle dangling beyond his notice. By this point he was being spoken to by eyes of burning coal perched atop voice of cold steel.

"And guess what else? Your home life is empty. Your wife? She doesn't care about you. She just wants another fancy dress to wear to the Gala, and perhaps some Ponesian rugs to adorn your sparkling floors. Sparkling floors, I might add, which nopony has ever danced upon freely, because no one has fun in your enormous, empty house.

All you're left with at the end of the day is a cold room, with a greedy, lifeless thing that probably pretends to love you, and the cold realization that you have become an empty husk of what you once were and could have been, only following a dull, empty routine of conniving and backstabbing and bullying on your way to a cold, lonely grave.

Tell the worms I say hello."

The stallion stood wide-eyed, mouth open, and twitched. "What... WHAT ARE YOU!?"

Shining positioned his own face in front of the other stallion's, and looked him dead in the eye with a piercing gaze. "I am everything that strikes fear into your cold and empty heart. I am the symbol of all that you despise. I am the picture of need, of nobility, of aggression, of loyalty, and of all that stands between you and your petty goals. I am the lens that lets your pathetic mind look at all that is around it, and sends the protective dome of your own ignorance crashing down around you."

The fancily dressed pony shook, and shivered, and went pale. His mouth quivered as if he was about to say something, but nothing came out.

"You will leave, immediately, or I will hurt you. And you will never, ever attempt to bully any of my friends, or anyone I ever see you taking advantage of, or I will make very certain you can never bully anyone ever again.

Now go."

The stallion turned slowly, and had a sort of staggered, wooden walk as he exited.

Celestia looked on with her mouth partially open, and saw as Shining heaved a large sigh and appeared noticeably more tired.

"Shining, how did you just do that?"

Her face was concerned, and slightly shocked. Shining found looking her in the eye to be painful.

"Years of reading ponies and practicing clever words and wit, Celestia. This isn't me... or at least not who I want to be. I just can't stand ponies who attack ponies' vulnerabilities like that, and when he did it to you, I decided I had seen enough. Don't worry, part of what I said will fade away when he realizes I was just tearing into him, and the other part will probably wake him up a little bit. At least he'll think twice before doing this again."

She waited for a joke to come from his mouth, for a smile to form on his lips. None did.

"Celestia, I'm... I'm sorry you had to see that. I think took it too far, and I hate being that cold and cruel. I don't usually look at ponies in that way, so you know. It's just when... when I feel like I really have to." He looked away, then turned back and looked her in the eye. “And to be honest, Celestia, I was worried you’d make a mistake if I didn’t do something.”

Celestia nodded weakly, and a long moment passed between them.

Finally, she met looked him in the eye and put on a small, genuine smile. "It's alright, Shining. I won't hold it against you; in fact, thank you for helping me. I think you right to intervene; it’s been a long time since I’ve been that angry, and he would likely have received much worse if he had continued and you were not here."

She got off her throne and walked to him, finally bringing a curve to his lips as she pulled him into a hug.