"This is dumb...!"

The other schoolfoals only giggled at Skidder's complaint. The colt of the story was seated on a stool, in the far corner of the classroom, and was accompanied by a dunce cap on his head. He sat, facing the wall, with a sour expression on his face.

The teacher, Miss Cheerilee, sighed, and trotted to his prison. This was the third time Skidder interrupted her lesson. "What did you expect, Skidder? You can't just scream to the school that the Princess is a thieving hag!"

"What happened to free speech?" Skidder argues over his shoulder, "Are you some sort of communist? Is that what you are, Miss Cheerilee, a no-good communist? Huh?!"

Cheerilee facehoofs at the foal's accusations. "No, Skidder, I am not a communist. And you didn't make it much better for yourself when you ranted for twenty minutes about the false stories of Princess Celestia's abuse!"

"They. Aren't. Stories." Skidder stolidly states.

"Then tell me!" Cheerilee demands, "Why, oh why, would Princess Celestia steal a bike when she can fly?!"

"Because she's a jerk!"

Cheerilee takes a deep breath to retain any composure she had left, "Skidder. I do not have time to listen to anymore of this nonsense. I have a class to teach. Will you stop your interruptions for the remainder of the day, or do I have to talk to your father?"

Skidder bites back a response regarding fascism, and reins in his bubbling resentment with obedience. Bothering his father at work was one thing Skidder did NOT want to do. "I will not interrupt the class anymore, Mam."

"Thank you." Cheerilee responds with a smile, remaining oblivious to his disposition. "Now, class, I believe it is time for lunch... and I broooooouuuught cupcakes for everypony!" The sweet revelation was met with joyful shouts of gratitude from the hungry class.

Cheerilee proceeded to lead the class out the door while balancing a box of cupcakes she procured from her desk. When the final foals walked out the door, Cheerilee stuck her head back in, "That means cupcakes for you too, Skidder!"

Skidder shoved himself off of his jail-stool, removed his Humiliation-Hat, and shuffled towards the open door. Even an angry colt like Skidder liked cupcakes.

"I'm telling you, Featherweight, Princess Celestia is a big, communist, fascist, bully!" Skidder spat on the ground in contempt as he walked Ponyville's dirt path. School was over for the day, and our colt had decided to spend his time with his best friend, Featherweight the pegasus.

"I'm not saying that I don't believe you," Featherweight hurriedly assured, "I just find it a little hard to see that Equestria's nicest pony would WANT to mess with you... or steal your bike."

"C'mon, Feather, you know how long I've been saving up for that bike! And that means you know I wouldn't lie about it!" Skidder lowered his head as he began to shake with rage, "Dear sweet Luna, I hate that princess...!"

"Calm down, bro, you've been really angry lately." Featherweight says with a frown and drooped ears, but then a thought suddenly squirms its way into Featherweight head, and he perks up, "Some shakes at Sugarcube Corner oughta change that!"

Skidder snorts, "Stopping that stupid princess is the only thing that would anything..." he notices his friend's falling face, and quickly changes the pace of tone, "... but a shake always helps!"

Coincidentally enough, the two had already reached Sugarcube Corner. The gingerbread-like building gave off a mixture of delicious scents, but they all had that distinct sweetness everypony loved so much. Skidder and Featherweight entered the sweet shop, to be immediately pounced upon by the premiere-party-pony-of-Ponyville who had an aptitude for appearing out of nowhere: Pinkie Pie. Of course, she had, without warning, let loose a seemingly unintelligible stream of dialogue.

"HEY! Skidder and Featherweight! Ohmigosh, I don't see you here too often, Skidder, it's so nice to have you! I just hope it's nice for you to have me here—wait, I'm doing that rambling thing the Cakes asked me not to do... Agh! I did it again, oh I hope they aren't mad. I'll ask them when I'm done with your order. What would you two like to munch on this super-duper-extra-fantabulous-day?"

The two colts could only ignore the insensible gibberish, as they were accustomed to. Featherweight held up his hoof, "One strawberry milkshake, and one chocolate, please!"

Pinkie salutes, "Yessir!" and bounced off with the same enthusiasm she had greeted them with. Featherweight snickered at her smile-charged antics, whereas Skidder only rolled his eyes.

Skidder and Featherweight took their places at a nearby table. As if on cue, Pinkie zipped to their sides with two milkshakes in tow. "That'll be three bits for each, please!" Before Skidder could say anything regarding his stolen cash, Featherweight had fished the required coinage out of his saddlebag, and paid the mare.

Featherweight chuckles, and leans in to whisper. "You already told me that Celestia took all your bits, remember?"
Skidder pauses in apparent surprise, and smiles.

Pinkie nudges Skidder's hoof. Skidder looks up to her with a raised eyebrow, and Pinkie winks. "How 'bout a smile for Aunt Pinkie? You don't need any bits to give those!" Skidder lowered his eyebrow, and only returned a shrug.

Pinkie Pie's mane slightly deflated, and her smile faltered. "Uh, that's alright! Maybe next time...?... or the next." she bounds away, with a little less spring in each hop.

Skidder paid no attention to the effects of his frown, and set upon slurping the chocolate shake before him. Featherweight had noticed, however. His eyebrows furrow as he examines Skidder's expression. Being the school's paper's photographer and editor, he was able to pick up on the little things. Skidder seemed placid, but the slight squint and faint hint of a frown were signs of the hate he constantly bore.

Skidder notices Featherweights examination. He ceases slurping to question his friend's behavior, "What's up?"

Featherweight tentatively opens his mouth, as if he were unsure about asking, but he asked anyways, "Skids', you alright? You look... angry."

Skidder sighs, and pushes his milkshake aside. He rubs his temples with his hooves. "I am angry. Angry, and tired. I'm so tired of walking alone, knowing that stupid princess could be there to harass me again. I'm angry because I know that no one will believe me, and that she isn't gonna stop."

"... so you swear that all the times you said Princess Celestia was bullying you were not stories...?"

Skidder's eyes squint, unsure of where this was going, "... yeah... it's no lie."

"Then I believe you."

Skidder's ears flop up, and his eyes widen, "Seriously?"

"Yup, that's what friends are for! But..." Featherweight quickly interjects, "...if you want Celestia to stop, I suggest this..." Featherweight rummages through his saddlebag and pulls out his prized possession: his camera.

Skidder immediately shakes his head, "No, no way, I can't use your camera!"

Featherweight places it on the table, "Yes you can, it's pretty simple actually. Since you can't exactly fight an alicorn, blackmail is the only way. Take a picture of her stealing something of yours the next time you see her. If you're lucky, you can get a picture of her on your bike!"

Skidder begins to put the pieces together as a plan formulates in his mind. He slams a hoof on the table, "Of course! That way, the other ponies will have to believe she's acting like a jerk! Then I could threaten to show the photo to the rest of the world, and then she's gotta stop!" Skidder smiles, and directs his gratitude back to his friend, "Thanks, Feather, this means a whole lot to me."

Featherweight waved the matter aside with a hoof, "Don't worry about it. Anyways, let's finish up here, and go to the park later." Skidder nods in approval. The two pals hoofbump, and divert their attention back to their milkshakes.

Skidder confidently sauntered the path back to his house. It was nightfall, and Celestia almost always harassed him in the night since he was usually alone then (Featherweight had to be home before then too), which he needed for his plan to work. Of course, Skidder didn't keep Featherweight's camera in his saddlebags, otherwise, Celestia could find it. He had kept the camera stashed in the bushes next to his house, that way, he could easily retrieve it when he caught her red-hoofed.

Skidder finally reached his home, and to his delight, saw that Celestia was already there... with his bike too! However, he had to wait for the picture. It was too risky now. He marched closer, and saw that Celestia was spraying slanderous graffiti on his home. It was a caricature of Skidder himself, with accentuated, dopey eyes and buck teeth, along with crude male genitalia outlined over his feature.

Celestia drops the cans, and turns to face the colt. "Hey, Skidmark. Thanks for the bike, it's totally lame, but it'll have to do." she approaches him, and her wings flared dramatically. She sweeps him up with one wing, and painfully noogies him with her free hoof.

Pain flowered in Skidder's sore head as she ground her hard hoof into his skull, "Agh! Agh! Stop it!"

Celestia releases him, letting Skidder hit the ground. She looms over him with a sadistic smirk, the shadows adding a menacing leer over her face "Then you better pay up. Let's see what you got for me tonight."

The Princess committed to the same routine of magically shaking him down. His saddlebag flopped open, and a Joyboy, a miniature gaming device popular among the colts, fell from its confines.

She whistles appreciatively, and lifts the game machine to her eye's view. "Oh-ho-ho, I knew you've been holding out on me, Skidmark. This'll do nicely... I oughta thank you." Celestia quickly grabs Skidder in a magic hold, brings him inches to her face, and releases a noisy burp filled with smelly miasma.

Skidder squirms to run away from the Princess's noxious breath as she blew more of the foul air over him, "Gross! Let me go! Let me go!"

Celestia cackles at his pain, and complies with his demands. "Gotta run, dinner is waitin' for me. Later, Skidmark!" She heads back for the stolen bike, and proceeds to ride away with the paint cans in her magic's grasp.

Once she is a good distance away, Skidder grabs the camera in the bushes behind him. He quickly works the controls, and captures a perfect image of the riding princess. Skidder silently cheered. This was it! All his troubles were over. Well, he would have thought that had Princess Celestia not suddenly blinked behind him.

Before Skidder could react, she kicks the camera away, and slams it to itty-bitty pieces with her gilded hoof shoes. Skidder could only watch in horror as his best friend's utmost treasure was destroyed before his very eyes.

She glowers over her shoulder and rasps, "Next time I catch you doing something stupid like this, I'll go after whoever had it before." she snorts, "I know it ain't yours, otherwise I'd have stolen it already. See ya, Skidmark." with that haunting threat, she teleports away.

Skidder stared down at his friend's utterly ruined camera, and felt hot tears drip from his eyes, splashing onto the remains. Skidder gritted his teeth, trembled with hatred, screwed his eyes shut, and roared to the heavens, "GRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! CELESTIAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!"

The following three snowy weeks were hellish for little Skidder. Featherweight was devastated at Skidder's account of his camera's demise, that camera had been a gift from his passed grandfather. His trademark cheerfulness had slowly waned away, and failed to support Skidder's further descent into hatred.

Cutter began to take notice of his son's darkening disposition, but nothing he did seemed to help, causing his everyday smile to erode in a matter of days. The rising bills did not help either, and he could do nothing but work his tail off to keep the tax-collectors at bay.

Skidder himself grew more and more bitter, and more and more sad. Princess Celestia's "visits" had grown increasingly frequent and increasingly aggressive. Once, she hocked a smelly loogie in his muzzle, and another time, she broke his bedroom window with his body. What made these visits worse, was that Skidder could do absolutely nothing about it. Ever since she destroyed Featherweight's camera and left behind a threat, he had no room to stop any of her bully tactics. It was done, he lost, and that just made him angrier. Skidder only hoped that she would leave him alone on Hearth's Warming Eve. He had enough to deal with on that holiday.

Skidder and Featherweight happened to be partaking in the school's recess. Skidder grumpily kicked at the sand while Featherweight lazily fluttered around a nearby tree.

Skidder rubbed a bandaged spot on his flank, "She's starting to get worse Feather."

Featherweight lightly flapped down next to him, "What do you mean?"

"She's getting more and more violent! Look!" Skidder got to his hooves, and displayed the bandaged area to his friend, "Last night, before she left, she shanked me! She stole my dad's chisel, and shanked me! Look at it!"

The demands to eyeball his rump appeared to have extended beyond Featherweight's ears. A nearby Apple Bloom glanced in his direction, met his eyes, furiously blushed, and shuffled away.

Skidder grimaces and curses, "Well, shi—"

"—nice flank, Blank-Flank! I think I liked your lies better though." Diamond Tiara snarks as she walks by with Silver-Crony. She stops for another shot at the colt whose mounting rage she was clearly oblivious to, "You know, your stories are so hilarious, that you should have a little puppet show! Maybe I can get my dad to finance it, and you'll be seen aaaaalll over Eques—eep!" Her quips were quickly cut off by an enraged Skidder who decided to bowl her over in the sandpit.

He snarled and stood over her, nostrils flaring. "Listen, you stupid twit! Since your mind is obviously too small to tell, I haven't been in the best of moods lately."

"Hey," Silver Spoon cried, "Get off of..." She was quickly shot down by a murderous glare from Skidder. He was going to finish his monologue, and no one would interrupt.

He turns back to the trembling filly beneath him, "Like I said, I do not want to be messed with... now, grab your only 'friend', and get your prissy-perfect attitude the BUCK out of here, because Luna knows I'm not the only one who wants it gone! Make it fast, before I have to DO SOMETHING! Do you HEAR ME?!"

The terrified filly shakily nodded, "Y-y-yes! P-p-please, let me go!"

Skidder feels a hoof on his shoulder. He looks up to see Featherweight frowning and shakes his head disapprovingly. He looks back to the now-crying Diamond Tiara and came upon a startling realization. The situation he placed himself in looked very familiar to one Skidder had been in many times before this past year. Except this time, he was seeing it through the other pony's eyes.

Skidder gave a gargled gasp, and scrambled to get off of Diamond Tiara. She immediately rose to her hooves. Skidder raised a hoof, and attempted to utter, "I-I'm...!" but it was too late. She had already galloped off with Silver Spoon, tears streaming behind her as she wailed. It was also at this time that Skidder noticed the sizable crowd of foals congregating around the spectacle. Skidder also noticed the furious teacher pushing her way through the crowd.

Ms. Cheerilee calls to the horrified colt with a volume that could have split marble, "SKIDDER CARVER, COME HERE THIS INSTANT!"

This was the first time someone had used Skidder's full name in a while, and it usually meant he was in serious trouble. However, the only thing that his mind kept returning to, was the words he couldn't finish. "Sorry..."

Author's Notes:

Well this chapter was a bit heavy, but it was still very fun to write. Anyways, the next and final chapter should be about tomorrow. Don't worry, it will end humorously.

Hope everyone's enjoying it!