In the Name of Harmony

Everfree High school is not known for being the best school in Equestria—quite the contrary. The school has a reputation for being one of the worst schools a person could attend. Sex. Drugs. Near constant violence. The school was dubbed a nightmare throughout the sprawling city. It didn’t help that most of the violence came from small-time gangs in the area, itching to start some mischief. It made the surrounding neighborhood of Ponyville Heights, which is already struggling with poverty, homelessness, and general neglect from the city, an even worse place to live. Few that attend EH graduate without battle scars. Instead, most either start their own clique and try to fit in with the status quo, try to become the most notorious in school or squeak through the three years under the radar and graduate. There’s the rare few that manage both. Twilight is someone that is somewhere in the middle.

She opens the big double doors into the school. The fluorescent lights scream in her eyes in an attempt to wake her. She blinks a couple of times as she strolls to her locker. While the hallway is energetic this morning many are quick to take note of the girl coming their direction.

Twilight Sheppard was a good student. A great one even. From the outside looking in, Twilight was an incredibly bright girl with a scientific mind that hadn’t been seen in decades at that school. Her academic comprehension was second to none in most regards. She was reserved, attentive in class, and turned in all her assignments on time. She should be valedictorian by all merit, but that’s not the reason most students steer clear of her.

Twilight makes it about halfway to her locker before someone who clearly wasn’t paying attention to where he was going bumps into her. She continues mostly as if nothing happened, trying her hardest not to side eye him and his small group of thugs. The former did not take it lightly.

“Hey, bitch. Watch where you’re going,” he spits, whipping himself around. The others in his posse quickly chime in.

“Yeah, you fuckin idiot, watch out,” one spouts.

“Get your eyes checked, dumbass,” the other chides. Their voices are irritatingly nasally. It’s clear they haven’t even finished puberty as they try to hide their subtle voice cracks. Twilight continues to walk down the hallway consciously ignoring the three behind her. That only works to anger them even more.

“Hey!” The first boy shouts. Twilight doesn’t look back. “Looks like you don’t know who the Diamond Dogs are,” he says. A mass of people start encircling the four as they wait for the inevitable.

The Diamond Dogs were a newer group of three freshmen that were still learning the pecking order. They already acted as if they owned the school after fighting half the freshman class. The freshman looking on didn’t know what was in store, but sophomores and up knew what was going to happen.

Diamond Dog One puts his hand on Twilight’s shoulder and spins her around. One look into her eyes and he saw the unmatched disdain for him and his friends. He, of course, found that irritating.“What’s the look for,” he growls, “Think you’re tough shit? This is your fault after-all. But we can fix that no problem. I’m not above showing women their place.”

“Go ahead and try,” Twilight says. That immediately prompts a punch from Diamond Dog One with fury in his eyes. A wild straight right flies toward Twilight but she dodges outside and counters with a left. She finds his chin and he crumples instantly. Diamond Dogs two and three stare in a daze. Their boss falling within seconds of throwing the first punch is a first for them. They couldn’t believe their eyes. They look back at Twilight as she waits for the other two nonchalantly. Seeing her just standing there with her guard down sends a shiver down the remaining Diamond Dogs’ spine. But they stand firm and rush the young woman. Twilight sees two of the same punches being thrown and rolls her eyes. She steps in between the punches and grabs the two boys' heads. Pausing, Twilight only sighs in annoyance before slamming the remaining Diamond Dogs’ heads together. Their skulls knock against each other and bounce away as they too lose consciousness. Twilight turns and walks away without skipping a beat.

Despite being top of her class, Twilight was also an accomplished fighter in the school, but unlike most parties, she’s never started one. She’s always ended them relatively quickly. Few have seen Twilight struggle in a fight, and even fewer have seen her lose. All her acts of violence in self-defense netted her the nickname ‘The Sparkler’. Whether it was because she left sparkles in your eyes or if it was because she was harmless until you got her going was lost in the three years she had been going to Everfree High. She didn’t look like it either. The one-hundred-seventy pound, five-eight light skin girl wasn’t dainty, but she wasn’t buff. Rocking an average build, the eighteen-year-old was on the prettier side leading many to underestimate her fighting ability even more; however, the unspoken respect for her amongst the students spoke for itself. Everyone moves out of the way for Twilight as she finishes her walk to her locker and into her first class of the day.

It isn’t long into first period before the static hum of the intercom jerked all of the students' attention to the ceiling. All but one. Twilight was in the process of packing when an older female voice buzzes out of the speaker. “Twilight Sheppard, please report to the principal’s office.” Twilight’s teacher hears the door close by the time he looks toward her seat. Another trip to the principal’s office. She never enjoyed going. Everytime she went it was a long lecture about responsibility and the use of violence being unacceptable in a school setting, even if in self-defense. The only solace was that the Principal liked her. More accurately she sees Twilight as a shining prospect to lighten the terrible reputation time has given the school. Twilight could tell that was the only reason she was still in school, thankfully. Despite the attempted assaults lodged at her semi-regularly, she genuinely liked school. Moreover, she needed school to reach her dreams.

Twilight knocks faintly on the principal’s door before walking in. “Good morning Principal Mayer,” she says.

“Ms. Sheppard. Please, take a seat.” Principal Mayer gestures to the empty seat in front of her desk. She looks to be a well put together woman in her late forties to early fifties while boasting a full head of pink hair. She dyes it gray. Nobody talks about it, though. Twilight thinks Principal Mayer does it to put on a front — a weathered, mature woman starting to get up in years when she’s actually just getting out of her midlife crisis. The worst part is she still thinks nobody knows.

Twilight obliges and sits in front of her. Principal Mayer says, “You can guess why you’re here once again, Ms. Sheppard.” Twilight nods. “Good then I can start by explaining the underlying problem in this situation.”

Twilight raises an eyebrow. This situation? How is this any different than the multitude of other instances where she had to defend herself from the many violent characters in her school? Principal Mayer, seeing the confusion on the young woman’s face, clears her throat to continue explaining.

“While you know I understand that this, like all the other times I’ve called you into my office, was self defense. The problem lies with the who. I can overlook inter-grade squabbles but sending underclassmen to the nurse will raise unwanted attention from the school board if I let this go.” Twilight opens her mouth to protest. She wasn’t hearing that she was about to be punished for this. Was she? Before she could say anything to defend herself, Principal Mayer spoke again, “While your name has come up in both positive and negative lights, I embellish the negative aspects to make you seem more in the right.”

But she was right,Twilight thought. She almost cut-off Principal Mayer to say this but was once more interrupted.

“I however can’t cover up the truth. Even in self defense, sending Freshmen to the nurse when you’re a senior calls for disciplinary action, at the least. In truth, parents willing, this could land you in police custody.”

“You’re kidding me!” The words come out faster than she can process the thought. “What about the other two that started the fight?” Principal Mayer clasps her hands together and looks down at Twilight in disappointment.

“Of course, they too shall receive a proper punishment, but at this point, considering your history, I can not overlook this incident. Therefore, you will be sent home today and will receive two weeks of out-of-school suspension. While your time out of school will hinder your studies, I hope that you will reflect on the situations leading up to this moment. Your mother has already been notified and seeing as you are already a young adult I hope you can be responsible enough to go home on your own.”

Twilight sits dumbfounded. She’s getting disciplined? For protecting herself against jackasses? She runs through the effects this will have on her record. The suspension could keep her from getting into the college she wants. And If her name is already out there, as Principal Mayer states, then getting accepted to any good college is already going to be a challenge. This might ruin everything. And it isn’t even her fault. Twilight glares at Principal Mayer. She could say so many things to her right now. So many feelings to spill with vitriol, but she knows it won’t help. If anything, it’ll extend her suspension. She can’t take anymore hits at this point.

She stands up while still glaring into Principal Mayer’s eyes. She sighs heavily, grabs her stuff and quietly but forcefully walks out of the principal's office and out of the school. She stops in the middle of the parking lot and all at once the storm of emotions surge forth in an anguished cry. Usually, Twilight finds a more private place to cry, but no one is around and she needs this now. Snot and tears run down her face as she balls up in between cars, muttering to herself. After a minute, her whimpers die down and she quickly recollects herself, continuing to walk off school property.

Twilight ponders if she should go home, but decides against it. Her mom was probably already back asleep and her dad was at work. She wouldn’t have much to do until her little brother got home and she didn’t want to be bored in the house waiting for her mom to wake up just to talk to her about the incident. She decides to walk a couple of blocks down the street using a public park as a shortcut to get to the Golden Oaks Public Library. She can collect herself fully there. Afterwards she could pick up her brother from school and they could walk home together. Best way to make the best out of the less than stellar day she was already having.

She takes her time, knowing the library most likely wasn’t open yet. She walks down the cracked sidewalks admiring the abundant amounts of graffiti of varying quality on the brick stores and apartments of Ponyville Heights. She’s seen most of them over the years, but new tags continue to populate more and more of the burrough. Twilight can’t help but feel conflicted on the implication. She likes street art. It gives the would-be stagnant industrial browns and grays of the neighborhood more life and color. That color comes at the cost of the more insidious crisis plaguing her home.

She walks past a few drug deals, before getting into the Everfree Forest Park: a sizable city park dense with trees and trails. Unfortunately, due to lack of funding, almost no actual maintenance is done, leaving most of the trees and the grass to become overgrown. The trees create a dense canopy that covers most of the park in shadows. It’s pretty difficult to see and easy to get lost in the tangle of foliage and reclaimed trails if you’re not used to it. It’s mainly used for people to do a lot of shady and illegal things. Twilight has both witnessed and heard many stories with the park as the setting. It sucks, but it’s the fastest way to the library from school, so Twilight frequents the park.

She decides to rest on a bench in one of the few clearings in the park to enjoy the sunlight for a change. She actually just checks her phone for a few minutes. She doesn’t notice the two people walking up to her until a gruff female voice clears her throat and speaks.

“Hey, I like your bag.” It takes Twilight a moment to actually understand the tone of voice. It wasn’t a compliment. She looks up at the two girls standing in front of her. A pair of green and magenta eyes look back with smug looks on their faces. They were both naturally tanned, but with completely different styles. The one with green eyes looked like a cowgirl, complete with Stetson. Her dirty black tank top exposes an intricate apple and pear tattoo on her left arm. She was taller than the other and Twilight could tell the girl was taller than her. The other girl gave off heavy punk and skater vibes with flat shoes, a white crop top under a studded jean jacket, a beanie loosely covering her multicolored hair, and ripped jean shorts showing off a thigh tattoo of a storm cloud discharging multiple bolts of rainbow lightning. Twilight could only see the red, orange, and yellow peeking out from the beanie, but she guessed it was the whole rainbow.

“Thanks,” Twilight deadpanned. She knew where the situation was going and started to tense up.

“Looks like it can hold a buncha stuff,” the skater girl continued to press, stepping forward. “Can I get a look at it?”

Twilight puts her phone in her bag and stands up, the two standing around the same height. She looks the skater in the eyes and says, “No. I’d rather you not.” The punk’s magenta eyes twitch a little through her fake smile.

“Oh? Why not?” She asks. Twilight keeps it blunt.

“I know what you’re trying to do.”

“Oh. Straight to it. I like you,” the skater chuckles, getting into a sort of fighting stance. She raises her guard, and starts bouncing on the balls of her feet. Twilight gets into her own, more grounded stance in response.

Even with Twilight on guard the girl is quick. She closes the distance and throws a fast jab at Twilight. Twilight manages to dodge but is on the back foot as the girl throws another. Unable to dodge, Twilight quickly puts up her hand and blocks. Twilight steadies herself and launches a straight punch of her own. The girl back steps away from the would-be victim before it can connect. The girl looks slightly impressed as Twilight rushes her down with more tight swings. They all miss their mark. One swing goes wide exposing a hole in Twilight’s guard. The skater girl capitalizes on the opportunity and hits a counter squarely on Twilight’s jaw. Twilight staggers just enough to not react to a strong kick to the thigh. Her knees almost buckle, but seeing an oncoming overhead punch snaps Twilight back into the moment and she jumps back.

“You’re pretty good,” the skater says as she dashes in for a low kick. Twilight jumps and tries a two-footed stomp on her assailant. Once more she’s too fast and rolls out of the way of Twilight’s sneakers and springs a kick straight up toward Twilight’s face. Twilight barely dodges and stumbles back once more. Slow footsteps start walking toward her. Heavier footsteps. Boots. The cowgirl was moving closer.

“I got this RD,” she says calmly, a thick country drawl sliding out of her mouth. RD wasn’t so pleased.

“Oh c’mon, AJ. I was doing fine,” She whines, but AJ only waves her off. Twilight quickly puts her guard up again and sizes up her next opponent. AJ was tall and built and her thighs were massive. If she got hit, she would mostly likely be done for, so she had to go on the offensive before she was stuck running away. With a new sense of determination, Twilight lunges toward AJ and before she can react throws a strong hook into her body. Twilight felt like she hit a brick wall. AJ doesn’t react either. She just gently, but firmly grabs Twilight’s shoulders and brings her into a soul shattering knee to the stomach. Twilight gasps but can’t find the air. She gets dropped to her knees and she clutches her abdomen, struggling to breathe. Saying she felt like she got hit by a truck would understate the amount of pain Twilight was in. How could anyone put that much force into a knee? The pain expands around the impact site. She wonders if anything ruptured or if she was bleeding internally. She can do nothing but gawk at the farm boots in front of her. Her mouth stays agape, as she sucks in as much air as possible with each breath, but none of it is enough. Spit trickles out and falls onto the dirt. While she’s wheezing, AJ and RD make their move toward the bag.

“See? That wasn’t so hard,” AJ chastises picking up the bag. RD rolls her eyes.

“Not everybody’s a brick shithouse like you.” Twilight watches, still sputtering, but slowly she gets back on her feet, hunched over in pain.

“I’m not letting you rob me today. This day is not getting any worse than it already is,” Twilight spews. Her eyes lock onto the two with renewed fervor. She gets back into a fighting stance, sluggishly. AJ and RD look back at the pitiful girl in slight surprise, then back at each other. RD goes back in to finish the fight once and for all, but AJ stops her and shakes the bag.

“I’ll tell you what. Since you seem right impressive,and seemingly having an already terrible day. I’ll do somethin’ for you. We’ll give you a chance to get yer stuff back tomorrow.”

RD looks at AJ confused, ”We are?”

“Yeah we are. We’ll be back here tomorrow at ten in the morning.”

Twilight calls out “How do I know you're not lying.”

AJ looks back at Twilight and declares flatly, ”I’m an honest gal, and you’re just gonna hafta trust me.” Bewildered at the statement just said, Twilight watches as AJ books it further into the Everfree Forest Park followed right behind by RD. And as the two girls disappear into the shadows, Twilight falls to her knees once more. She’s been suspended for something that wasn’t her fault, jumped, and mugged in the middle of a public park, and now she’s just sitting there with pain flaring in her cheek and abdomen at around eight-thirty in the morning. Not that she could know because her phone was in the bag that got stolen. Twilight takes a moment for it to process, and for the second time in this long morning, Twilight bawls her eyes out.