Out of the Darkness...

At the teacher-parent conference

"Thank you for coming, Miss Rarity!" beamed Miss Cheerilee. She was there with her sister in the schoolhouse, seated across from the teacher in the now-empty classroom. Rarity glanced around the room with the look of a hawk tracking its prey.

A very, very hungry hawk...

"Where are the other parents?" she asked with a frown, "I was led to believe both parties would be attending?" The teacher's smile, which had already seemed forced, now faltered a bit.

"Oh, they'll be joining us shortly!" she assured her, "but I really wanted to spend some time discussing your sister's behavior before they arrived." Rarity's heart began to race as her nostrils flared, but she managed to keep her voice even.

"Indeed?" She spared a glance at Sweetie, then "brightly" asked, "Please. DO inform me of the issue, for I haven't the foggiest notion how my sister did anything untoward..."

Cheerilee sat back as if slapped, then slowly explained, "She...struck...another student, Miss Rarity! Furthermore, I had to take her to the local hospital, where she required stitches!" She leaned forward, staring at both Rarity and Sweetie. "Stitches, Miss Rarity!"

But the white unicorn was unmoved. "As I understand it, my sister was surrounded by no less than four other students, all of whom made their hostile intentions known." This time, it was she who leaned forward. "Surely, Sweetie has the right to defend herself, wouldn't you agree?"

Cheerilee blinked. "I...I apologize, Miss Rarity...that...wasn't the recounting I was told." Just as she was about to respond, the classroom front door banged open, and a mare barged in, followed by a filly and a police pony.

She pointed. "There she is, officer! Arrest her!" But the police pony gave an apologetic look to Rarity, Miss Cheerilee, and Sweetie.

"Ma'am, I'm only here to take a report; we do not have evidence of a crime being committed."

"Evidence?!" she shouted. She yanked her daughter up by the hoof as the filly cried out in pain and pointed to her mouth. "Here is all the evidence you need!" She whirled and struck an accusing hoof at Sweetie. "That...that...harlot beat my baby without provocation!" She turned and glared back at the officer. "She's a menace! I demand that you throw her in the deepest, darkest prison you have and throw away the key! That's where her kind belongs!!"

Ponyville was not known for its criminal element, but even so, its small police force kept themselves fit and ready for duty. This was well, for only the officer's sharp reflexes saved the mare from Rarity, as she had launched herself across the room and was within a hair's width of having her hooves around her throat. He read her face, moved, and tackled her in mid-leap as the other mare fell back, her eyes wide with fright.

"You see? You SEE?!" she shouted. "She attacked me! Right in front of my daughter!" She grabbed her filly and gripped her to her chest as the girl's face began to turn blue. "They're insane! Keep them both away from us!"

Rarity stopped trying to free herself and said, "You can release me, Officer; I give you my word I will not attempt to hurt her again."

The sincerity in her voice was enough for him, but the mare shouted, "What are you doing?! Cuff her! She can't be trusted!" while her filly began to struggle and kick her legs. But Cheerilee had left her desk and rushed up to her side.

"Ma'am, you're choking your daughter! Please! Let her go!" The mare looked down as if surprised she was holding something living and then immediately released her. The filly fell to the floor and inhaled sharply as the color returned to her face, then started coughing. The mare patted her daughter on the back, then glared at Rarity.

"Do you see what YOU made me do?!" She pointed again while shouting at the officer. "Arrest her! Arrest them both! I pay your salary, and I WILL not—" but she was cut off as another stallion entered the classroom.

"Will not...what?" he asked, staring down at her.

Her face blanched as she recognized him, then stammered, "H...Honey! I...I thought you were going to be away for the evening!" Her eyes darted to the others, then back to her husband. "There...there was no need for you to come here...I had the situation perfectly—"

"So I see..." he said, turning away from her and approaching the rest. "You must be Rarity," he looked down, "...and you are the one who almost broke my daughter's nose." He sat down in one of the chairs and said, "I would like to hear your side of the story."

When Sweetie finished speaking, the stallion nodded. "That is understandable. Had that been me, I would have done the same thing." His wife's eyes grew wide.

"Surely you don't believe her?! Over your own daughter?! What kind of father are y—" he held up a hoof and looked his daughter in the eyes.

"Did you call her that word? And did you and your friends gang up on her?" The filly looked up at her Dad, trying to hold his gaze, then her bottom lip trembled, and she burst into tears.

"Yesh! Yesh, I didth, Daddy! I'm THRORRY!!" She held her mouth where the bandages were covering her stitches to ease the pain but kept crying. "Pwease forgith me for lying!" He picked her up and held her to his chest, but as he patted her back, he gave his wife a stern look.

"You and I will talk later." He turned to Rarity and Sweetie. "Your sister drew the blood of my child, and that is not an easy thing for me to forgive." At Rarity's indignant expression, he held up one of his hooves and quickly added, "But, under the circumstances, she had good reason!" They both watched as he bent down and whispered in his daughter's ear. She nodded, then he set her down on her hooves.

Her face completely red, she walked up to Sweetie and quietly said, "I...I'm very throrry, Thweetie...I with NEVERTH call you that worth again..."

Sweetie stared at her, looked at her mother, then back at her. "But, you'll still think it, won't you?"

The filly's eyes grew wide, and she stepped back. "Da...Daddy?" The father frowned but gathered up his daughter, placed her on his back, and turned to leave.

Just before he got to the door, he turned back and said, "I know she's been through a traumatic experience, so I know she's not at fault." He pointedly looked at the teacher. "I'm pulling my daughter out of this school immediately, and we're moving from Ponyville."

"BASTARD!!" screamed Rarity as she rushed forward but was stopped by the officer.

"Let it go, Miss...there's nothing else to be done..."

"Nothing? NOTHING?!" She pointed back to her sister. "That FILTH just told his daughter to apologize, and THEN blamed my sister for EVERYTHING!!"

Her chest heaving, she turned to Sweetie and said, "Just ignore them, Sweetie! As I was telling you, they don't...don't...Sweetie...?"

But the little unicorn was unresponsive. Her eyes were fixed in a thousand-yard stare as she kept her gaze on the place where the stallion and his family had gone. Rarity bent down slowly and waved a hoof in front of her face. "Sw...Sweetie?" Then, she gently wrapped her hooves around her and drew her in for a hug. "...no...oh, no...not again! Sweetie...don't do this...come back to me...come back to me..." Rarity closed her eyes and wept softly as she rocked her silent sister back and forth.

As hoofsteps drew near, Rarity heard a voice begin, "Is...is there anything I can d—"

"DON'T TOUCH HER!!" snarled Rarity up at the teacher. The unicorn's eyes were blazing, and her teeth were bared. Cheerilee stepped back out of safety and looked over at the officer, who seemed to be just as at a loss as she.

But he came forward and asked, "Does...does she need an ambulance, Miss?"

Rarity shook her head as she continued to weep and hug her sister. "Just...leave us alone...this is something that...happens..."

As they sat there for some minutes, Rarity felt a blanket being draped over her shoulders. She looked to see Miss Cheerilee sitting next to her. "We'll wait her out together, Miss Rarity...take all the time you need."