Thursday, December 3, 2015

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Today's Horoscope (Virgo): Try to keep your foot out of your mouth today.

Early Morning

Maud left before breakfast. Pinkie returned the shirt she borrowed right around the time I woke up. As I put it in my laundry basket, I can't help but notice that it smells like rocks...

The mood at breakfast is anxious this morning. Everybody's nervous about what's going to happen today. Even though Cadance and Twilight Velvet have already agreed to work together to keep Pinkie in Canterlot...there's a lot of things that need to happen first.

Pinkie made an enormous breakfast, pulling out all the stops. I'm not sure if it's because she feels like celebrating, or because she's got too much nervous energy and needs something to do with herself. I'm betting on the latter, because she doesn't look excited or happy right now. She looks like she's about to throw up...

Rarity isn't eating any of the huge breakfast spread, opting for a simple cup of tea and a piece of toast. She doesn't look like she's feeling very well either.

"You okay, Rarity?" Applejack asks.

Rarity grimaces. "Ahem..." She glances briefly at me, then turns her attention back to her tea. "Just slightly...out of sorts," she says.

"She's OTR," Rainbow stage-whispers, earning a lethal glare from Rarity.

"Rainbow Dash!" Luna chides. "Honestly! Such things are not the subject of public discussion!"

Fluttershy frowns at Rainbow. "When are you ever going to stop?" she asks sharply.

Rainbow flinches. "Sorry," she says. "Sorry, Rarity."

"Hmph!" Rarity tosses her hair and sniffs haughtily.

When Twilight and I head out to walk Spike, I comment, "Rainbow's feet must taste like blueberries."

Twilight lets out a snort of disbelieving laughter. "What?!"

"Well why else would she constantly be sticking them in her mouth?"

Twilight takes a minute to think about this, then doubles over giggling. "Flash!"

Spike lets out a happy bark and chases his tail.

Morning

The morning drags on...

My worries over Pinkie make it difficult to focus on classes.

Afternoon

During sixth period, I receive a message asking me to head for the principal's office. The teacher receives the message as well, and excuses me.

When I reach Principal Celestia's office, I find Vice-Principal Luna, Pinkie, Cadance, and Twilight Velvet there. "Hello, Flash," Celestia says. "I asked you to join us because you have a vested interest in Pinkie Pie's situation."

"How'd it go with Mr. Pie?" I ask.

Celestia frowns. "That man is...stubborn, angry, and infuriating," she says. "He refused to even speak about Pinkie. Even when I threatened him with legal action." She shuffles some papers on her desk. "I decided to speak to Mrs. Pie instead. She at least would talk about this, but..."

Pinkie looks like she wants to cry. Velvet squeezes her hand. "So what did she have to say?" Velvet asks.

Celestia sighs. "Nothing that bears repeating," she says. "I don't understand the level of...of outright hatred these people have for their own daughter, who has done nothing to hurt anybody...Pinkie's never been in trouble, has no criminal record, does nothing but try to help people and make people happy...and from what I hear, has sacrificed a lot of her personal time to help out the owners of Sugar Cube Corner, especially during Mrs. Cake's pregnancy."

"They just don't understand me," Pinkie says. "And anything they don't understand, they hate."

"I don't think that's very fair to them," Celestia says mildly. "After all, they did enroll you in Canterlot High School and spend quite a bit of money boarding you at the dorm."

"To get rid of me," Pinkie says poutily, folding her arms.

"Yes, well..." Celestia coughs. "Mrs. Pie did indicate that she had convinced her husband to send you away to school when she realized you simply...didn't fit the Pie family mold. The bone of contention seems to be that, well..." She grimaces. "That video from the Halloween party upset them. Severely."

"Everything I do upsets them severely."

"I tried to mediate the situation," Celestia says. "Upon seeing the video, I agreed that perhaps you did not exercise the best judgment that night—and quite honestly, you didn't—but the best solution would be to talk to you and explain to you why you should be more...modest, have more of a sense of, well...propriety..." Celestia shakes her head. "But Mrs. Pie wasn't having it. She said, well..." She grimaces.

"We need to hear this," Velvet says.

Celestia sighs. "She said, and I quote, 'If she wants to prance around naked like some whore, she can do it on the corner with all the other whores.'"

Pinkie buries her face in her hands. Cadance rubs her back.

"WHAT?!" Velvet shrieks. She's trembling with rage. "How could ANY mother say such a..."

I cough and hand Velvet my phone, where I've already pulled up the video in question. She blinks and looks at it. Her cheeks turn red.

"Alright, if Twiley had gone out in public like that, I'd definitely have a long talk with her, because that's..." She coughs. "But really, Pinkie Pie is a teenager, and teenagers do silly, stupid things!" She hands my phone back to me. "That's still no excuse for...for a mother to say something like that...!"

"What happened next?" Cadance asks, looking at Celestia.

Celestia adopts a mildly sheepish expression. "Well..." She coughs. "After that, I...left."

"Sister," Luna says in a stern tone. "Tell them the truth..."

Celestia ducks her head. "I slapped Mrs. Pie, screamed at her for about ten minutes, then told her she didn't have to worry about Pinkie Pie anymore because decent human beings offered to take care of her. Then I left."

"Good for you!" Velvet says viciously.

Celestia looks at Pinkie. "Pinkie Pie...if I had known what kind of home life you had before now...I would have done everything in my power to help you..."

Pinkie sighs. "Thank you," she says.

"You don't have to worry about anything else," Velvet says soothingly. "Just be yourself and keep doing what you always do. Nurse Cadance and I will see to things."

Pinkie looks up and smiles. "Thank you," she says. Her eyes are still troubled. "I do appreciate it, and...and I'm kinda glad I don't have to deal with my mom and dad ever again. I just..." She sighs. "It...it still hurts...that they'd do something like this."

"Of course it hurts," Velvet says, pulling Pinkie into a hug. "If you ever need to talk, you just call me, okay?"

"Or me," Cadance says.

Pinkie sniffles. "Thank you." She buries her face in Velvet's shoulder.

Celestia smiles. "Pinkie Pie...you're excused for the rest of the day. Why don't you go with Mrs. Velvet and...do something fun? We can finish ironing out the business end of things tomorrow."

"Come on, dear," Velvet says, guiding Pinkie to her feet. "I'd love to do some shopping in Canterlot while I'm here." She smiles. "I've heard an awful lot about this Sugar Cube Corner place where you work."

"Okay," Pinkie says.

After they leave, Cadance stands and stretches. "I should get back to work," she says. "School day's not over yet." She too leaves.

The bell for seventh period rings. The sounds of students stampeding in the halls shakes the office. Luna leaves to monitor the halls.

"Well, Flash," Celestia says, "it seems you've done quite the good deed. I appreciate you bringing this situation to everybody's attention the way you did." She smiles. "You truly are dedicated to your friends...Pinkie Pie is very fortunate to have a friend like you."

"There's still one thing that bothers me," I say. "How did Pinkie's family get hold of that video?"

Celestia looks down at the desk, frowning. "Yes, about that..." She grimaces. "I didn't want to say anything in front of the others, because I believe this falls into the realm of the investigation into the attacks on Applewood Dorm." She adjusts her sun brooch. "I asked Maud Pie about how this all started. The video was e-mailed to every member of the Pie family," she says. "She said that the sender was anonymous...she admits she knows very little about how e-mail works, but the headers didn't look normal to her."

"And the sender's name?" I ask. I feel a gnawing dread in my stomach...

"The sender used the name 'Mephistopheles'," Celestia says. She studies me intently. "Does that mean anything to you?"

Mephistopheles...

"No," I say, shaking my head.

Celestia frowns, eyes narrowing. "You were expecting to hear a different name, weren't you?"

I take a deep breath. There's no reason not to answer...even though I can't explain the answer...

"Yes," I say.

"You do realize Sunset Shimmer would not sign her own name when perpetrating a cruelty of this nature, do you not?" Celestia asks sharply.

I shake my head. "No, I wasn't...that isn't the name I was thinking," I say.

"Then what is?"

Principal Celestia is expecting an answer...

If I tell the truth, she's going to ask questions I can't answer...

If I lie...she's going to know I'm lying...

"The name I was expecting to hear was Eris," I say.

Celestia raises an eyebrow. "Eris?" she asks. "Would you care to explain that?"

Damn...

How do I answer that...?

Celestia fixes me with a penetrating stare. "You understand that I can't help you if you don't help me help you," she says.

I take a deep breath. "The week before Thanksgiving, I was confronted by a girl wearing a mask who called herself Eris. I have no idea who she is, but she's connected to the attacks on me and my friends."

Celestia's eyes widen. "And you didn't tell me this before why?"

"Because it was a girl in a mask," I say. "How stupid would that have sounded two weeks ago?"

Celestia sits back. "Point," she says. She frowns. "If this masked girl confronts you again, you will tell me," she says in a tone that brooks no argument.

"Yes ma'am."

"Good."

Celestia sighs. After a moment, she asks, "This masked girl...do you think it was Sunset Shimmer?"

"I honestly can't be sure," I say.

"You'd best get to class. I'll let your teacher know to excuse your tardy."

I head for class.

After School

I don't feel like going to Music Club today...I decided to head back to the dorm early.

Evening

Before dinner, Luna visits me in my room.

"My sister told me you've had an encounter with a...girl in a mask?"

"Yeah," I say.

Luna frowns. "This whole situation is getting stranger and stranger," she says. "And frankly...that's a bit too theatrical for what I assume to be Sunset Shimmer's modus operandi..." She shakes her head. "Now, this 'Mephistopheles' business...that sounds more like what we know about Sunset Shimmer's tactics."

"I can't imagine why anyone would do something like that, though," I say. "It's just...I mean, bullying people and making them look like fools on Canterbook is one thing, but this is..."

"I know," Luna says, sighing. "If Sunset Shimmer is responsible for what happened with the Pie family..." She shakes her head. "I wish I only had to deal with students running in the halls, or smoking in the restroom, or...you know, ordinary high school infractions. This year...it's been terrible, and I honestly don't know how to deal with this." She looks down. "I feel like...I know who to punish, but I can't do anything...it's frustrating."

"She'll slip up," I say. "Sooner or later, she'll slip up."

"They always do," Luna says. "I just hope it happens before somebody gets hurt..." She rubs her arms, an uncomfortable look on her face.

After dinner, Twilight and Cadance drag me into the secret headquarters.

"You told Principal Celestia about Eris?!" Twilight cries, shaking me. "Are you crazy?!"

"I didn't mention Zodiac, or...or anything else that's been going on," I say. "I just said I was confronted by a masked girl."

"Flash, WHY?" Cadance moans.

"I backed myself into a corner!" I say. "She said that Pinkie's family got that video through an anonymous e-mail, and I asked how it had been signed. She...she could tell I thought I'd recognize the name..."

Cadance sighs. "Well...what's done is done. Be more careful in the future, okay?"

"Yeah..." I look down. "Sorry."

Twilight frowns. "But this...actually raises even more questions," she says. "It's bad enough we've got this Eris to deal with, and we know Sunset Shimmer is screwing with Canterbook, but now we've got this Mephistopheles?"

"Which could still be Sunset Shimmer or Eris," I point out.

"Assuming Sunset Shimmer isn't Eris, you mean," Twilight says.

"I really don't think Sunset Shimmer is Eris," I say.

"How can you be so sure?" Cadance asks. "Just because she told you?"

I cough. "Well...there's another reason," I say.

"What?" Twilight asks. "Tell us!"

I look down. "Eris...the outfit she was wearing when we fought was pretty...form-fitting," I say. "Her...her chest isn't big enough for her to be Sunset Shimmer."

Cadance covers her mouth and giggles. Twilight gives me an evil stare.

"What?" I ask. "Guys notice things like that, okay?"

Twilight shakes her head and leaves.

"Nice one, Flash," Cadance says with a smirk.

I sigh. "I shoulda kept my mouth shut..."

"Yep!" Cadance pats me on the shoulder. "She'll calm down."

Seems like foot-in-mouth disease is contagious today...

I decide to go to bed early.