Scootaloo opened her eyes as she heard three knocks on the door to her room. Her father was friends with Fluttershy, and she was often called upon by him to watch over the house when she was available. While Scootaloo could watch over their house herself, her social life was very active, so she was rarely home. Though Scootaloo was suddenly woken up, and she was still feeling the effect of the medication she was prescribed to help her bones heal and to reduce the pain, she was lucid enough to know that Fluttershy wouldn’t be here for a while. Which meant that there was only one Pony who could be knocking on her door.

“Come in,” Called Scootaloo with a groggy voice.

Her bedroom door opened to reveal a nine-year-old Earth Pony colt. He had a dark brown coat and a black mane and tail, both with a white stripe going down the middle of each. And living with him for his entire life, meant that Scootaloo was used to his different colored eyes. His right eye being a fiery orange and his left eye being an oceanic blue. Though she couldn’t see it, Scootaloo also knew that her little brother had a numberless clock face with wrenches for hands as his Cutie Mark. What Scootaloo could see however, was that Clockwork had a class of water in his mouth.

The average age for Ponies getting their Cutie Marks in Ponyville was already fairly high given that the town was small and rural, which meant that there were fewer activities for Ponies to try at one time, so it took longer for Ponies to figure out what it was that made them the happiest. But even in the metropolises of Equestria, it was almost unheard of for somepony to get his or her Cutie Mark at age five like Clockwork had. He had an article written about him that was the cover of both the Foal Free Press and the Ponyville Confidential that was the front page of both papers. His cuteceañera was the single largest party Pinkie Pie had thrown to date. And when Scootaloo’s mother, the head of the Royal Observatory, mentioned how proud she was of him in proximity to the Sun Princess, Princess Celestia wrote him a congratulatory letter which Clockwork kept framed in his room. It was Clockwork getting his Cutie Mark so early that actually sparked Scootaloo’s obsession with them.

Clockwork walked up to the table next to Scootaloo’s bed and set the water down, “It’s time for you to take your medicine,” He informed his older sister.

Scootaloo smiled and gave the young colt an appreciative nod. She sat up in her bed before reaching for the pair of bottles on the same table and got one pill out of each bottle before putting them in her mouth. She then grabbed the glass of water and downed every drop.

“Is there anything that I can do for you before I go to school?” Asked the Earth Pony hopefully.

“Nothing that can’t wait until Fluttershy gets here,” Answered Scootaloo.

“Okay,” Said Clockwork as he turned around and ran out of the room, “Have a good day Scootaloo!”

It always made Scootaloo happy to see her little brother happy like that, so much so that she didn’t care that he forgot to close her door. And with that bright note, the orange Pegasus went back to sleep.

As Clockwork galloped to the morning class period, he thought about his savior from the other day. He wanted to tell his big sister about what happened yesterday, but he wanted to wait until she was allowed out of the house before he even mentioned it. Clockwork doubted that his sister would believe him if he told her that a ‘snake-pony’ had saved him, unless he could introduce the two. Noblesse Oblige thought the young colt I have to thank him properly today.

As Cheerilee and Twilight were preparing their classroom for the noon class period, the older darker colored mare noticed that her assistant was deep in thought about something that troubled her. Twilight was doing her usual tasks without mistake or hesitation, but gone was her cheery demeaner and in its place, was a blank expression with eyes that betrayed her worrying.

Twilight fell into the state she was in now close to the end of the morning class period. Cheerilee was fortunate enough to have been looking at Twilight when it happened. Twilight adopted an expression of shock as she was helping the more slow-moving foals out the door, it was like she had realized that she forgot something important. Twilight had moved to talked to Cheerilee, but decided against it before she could sound a single syllable. Cheerilee believed that Twilight would tell when she figured out how to word her thoughts. e'>

Twilight had realized that she had never spoken to Noblesse about the Dark Magic Grimoire he had given to Ruby Pinch, like she promised her, her mother, and Dinky she would. Twilight also realized it would be difficult to speak to Noblesse about it without Cheerilee being close by. Twilight knew that from the conversation she had with Berry Punch at the hospital, that she and Cheerilee were sisters, which meant that Ruby was Cheerilee’s niece. Twilight didn’t want to worry Cheerilee if she could help it, but at the same time Cheerilee had a right to know if her family was in dire straits. Twilight wasn’t sure how close Cheerilee and Berry were, and then there was the fact that Berry might simply not have had the chance to tell her younger sister about the recent developments in her daughter’s life. Twilight decided that she would approach Noblesse with Cheerilee, but was now trying to think of a way to involve Cheerilee without worrying her. If Berry had told Cheerilee what little she knew of Dark Magic, then it shouldn’t be too much of a problem, but Twilight really didn’t want to risk driving a wedge in the relationship between Cheerilee and her big sister.

Ultimately, Twilight decided that she would have to take the risk, “Hey Cheerilee.”

Cheerilee looked up from the paper she had just finished grading to acknowledge her assistant, “What is it Twilight?” Cheerilee internally winced as she failed to keep the eagerness out of her voice.

Twilight was given a moment’s pause as she was caught off guard by Cheerilee’s tone of voice, “We need to talk to Noblesse during recess today.”

“Is this about those colts he hospitalized?” Asked Cheerilee. Though the Spell Tag, the Unicorn of the trio that attacked Clockwork, was hurt the most, all three colts require several days in the hospital for their injuries.

“No,” Answered Twilight with a calm tone of voice and a nod of her head, “When was the last time you talked to your sister or your niece?”

Cheerilee blinked at the nonsequitur, “What?”

Cheerilee had no idea what Noblesse could have to do with her family. Cheerilee surmised that Twilight was talking about Berry Punch when she mentioned her sister, as she also mentioned her niece. Cheerilee could draw this conclusion from the fact that Berry was the only of the three sisters that had a daughter, there was also the fact that Pina Colada never had an interest in romance. It shamed Cheerilee that she hadn’t kept as in touch with her sisters or her niece as much as she would like, but that still left the question of what Noblesse had to do with Ruby, She doesn’t even go to school here anymore!

The clock in the room was behind Cheerilee, so Twilight could see it while talking to her, “I would tell you everything now, but we don’t have time.”

Cheerilee spun in her swivel seat so she could check the clock just as students started pouring in.

Time Turner was out patrolling the streets in his guard armor as he always did when he finished all of the paperwork he could do. Thunderlane’s right hoof noticed how the amount of paperwork slowly, but surely, increase with each passing day. He suspected that the Ponies in the Town Guard would have to quit their jobs soon, but which job they would quit was undetermined. Even Thunderlane, the head of the Town Guard, moonlighted, but with the increasing population from different trots of life moving to Ponyville, the amount of crime increased as well. It wouldn’t be long before guardponies would have to choose between their place in the Town Guard or whatever second job they had.

Cloud Chaser for example, works for the Town Guard. She has proven to be as effective as she was passionate at her career in law enforcement. Time Turner and Thunderlane had both talked about changes they would have to make to guard hierarchy with Ponyville’s imminent developments. One of these changes would be adding ‘Detectives’ to the guard hierarchy, and there was no doubt that Cloud Chaser would be the first to be offered the position. However, she also worked with the Weather Team. While she didn’t hate it, it wasn’t where her heart was lying at, so Time Turner was almost certain that she would resign from the Weather Team soon, if she hadn’t already.

Despite his increased workload in the office, Time Turn couldn’t keep his mind off of a specific concern of his, the only one he had kept from friend and superior in the Town Guard. Namely, his daughter’s relationship with the Heir-Apparent to Everfree Province. Noblesse Oblige came off as cold, and his position on the Noble Ladder made him a target for assassination attempts, especially now that Parliament had officially opened Equestria’s boarders. Time Turner simply couldn’t stop worrying about his daughter, it would be even worse if Noblesse hurt her for some reason. The Town Guard could be tricked into arresting an innocent Pony, if they were left with anything for an investigation. Then there was the possibility that somepony would try to hurt Noblesse through his friends, including Dinky. Time Turner and Ditzy Doo might never find out why their daughter was hurt, or find out what happened to her if she suddenly disappeared.

Time Turner was brought out of his brooding by a familiar Pony calling out to him, “Hey, Time Turner? Can we talk in private?”

Time Turner looked up to see a see a stallion with a light green coat and a red-orange mane and tail. Time Turner recognized this stallion as Crab Grass, Wheat Grass’ oldest nephew. Time Turner and Crab Grass went to the same Law Enforcement Academy in Trottingham and made fast friends. Crab Grass would most likely still be in law enforcement, but he took an injury during a hostage situation and could no longer run or gallop. It was nothing short of a miracle that he didn’t need a crutch for more than a few months and that he could safely put weight on his bad leg, which allowed him to work on his family’s farm after his recovery.

“Sure,” Replied Time Turner, happy to have been excused from his dark thoughts. Time Turner lead his friend into a nearby alleyway, “What’s wrong?”

“You know that snake freak that beat up my cousin and his friends?” Asked Crab Grass.

“I know of the incident,” Replied Time Turner, attempting to maintain a neutral position on the matter.

“That monster put three colts, all older than him, in the hospital without a horn and two of his legs,” Explained Crab Grass, “He’s also apparently blind.”

Time Turner was unable to completely contain his shock, “I had heard that he was injured prior to the incident, but I didn’t know it was that bad,” Was there a breach of security in the Everfree Palace? Wondered the high ranking guardpony.”

“Wheat Grass told me all about,” Said Crab Grass, “He went to Cheerilee’s office to find out exactly what happened, and ran into the thing. He was about to put that freak in the ground when he did… something. He couldn’t explain it completely, but he was paralyzed by ‘intense feelings of malice,’ as he put it. The colt walked up to him with his crutch and wrapped his leg around Wheat’s neck like a noose, and threatened to kill him if he tried anything.”

“What did the school do?” Asked Time Turner. Time Turner knew that they wouldn’t be able to do much, if anything, thanks to Noblesse’s rank on the Noble Ladder, but he didn’t know the official story that they would be giving until his coronation.

“Nothing,” Answered Crab Grass, “That thing is abusing technicalities and loopholes in the Code of Law to avoid persecution, in addition to having Lemon and his friends locked up.”

“Weren’t they attacking a foal?” Asked Time Turner.

“Yes,” Admitted Crab Grass, “And while they do need to be punished for it, they’re just kids. Plus, no one’s doing anything about that snake thing’s ‘Excessive Use of Force in Self Defense.’ He put all three of them in the hospital, if he can paralyze a full-grown stallion in fear, then he didn’t need to hurt them all so badly.”

Time Turner had to admit that Crab Grass had a number of points. The only reason Noblesse wouldn’t be facing legal action for hospitalizing those three colts is because MRF’s (Members of the Royal Family) can’t be guilty of ‘Excessive Use of Force in Self Defense’ since their existence is rooted in governance, making an attack on a MRF’s person an act of treason. But if Noblesse could have handled the situation without causing Grievous Bodily Harm, then, why didn’t he? Was he intimidated by their numbers, or maybe it was the fact he was protecting another Pony aside from himself.

“Wheat Grass has been trying to get Ponies together to deal with this snake-Pony hybrid,” Said Crab Grass.

“What do you mean ‘trying to get Ponies together?’” Asked a distressed Time Turner.

“Turner, that thing put three colts in the hospital and the law can’t do anything about it. The whole Grass Clan, in addition to Spell Tag’s and Water Vapor’s families, are all making plans to take care of him.” Explained Crab Grass, “If the law can’t do anything about this, what other things won’t the law be able to help us with?” Asked Crab Grass, “If Ponies don’t do anything, how much will this monster get away with? We simply can’t afford to let him go free.”

“Why are you telling me this?” Asked Time Turner with an incredulous look.

“Look, I won’t ask you to join in on this, and I’ve made sure that the rest of my family knows not to take it to you,” Said Crab Grass, “But, if we could keep this out of the eyes of the law-”

“You want me to sabotage any investigations into his murder?” Time Turner guessed deadpanned.

“If we do this right, there won’t be a body to connect to a murder,” Said Crab Grass, “I just thought it would nice if we could not have the Town Guard questioning Ponies about taking ‘equipment’ with them.”

“Why would I go along with this?” Asked Time Turner.

Crab Grass winced at the fact that he would have to play dirty with one of his oldest friends, “That ‘colt’ spends a lot of time around Dinky, right? Surely, he can’t be the kind of Pony, especially a colt, you want around your daughter.”

Time Turner was given pause. He was just thinking about all of the bad things that could happen when Ponies realized that Noblesse and Dinky were friends. It would be worse when it came out that Noblesse was the one who put those three colts in the hospital, it’s not like the media wouldn’t omit the fact that he was defending somepony in the papers. And this was a legitimate chance to nip this problem in the bud. Not to mention any other problems that would arise with a Pony like Noblesse being a member of the Nobility.

Time Turner really thought about what he wanted to do about this. He thought of his oath to the law, he thought of his family, and he thought of the town that had been so kind to him and his family. Finally, Time Turner’s eyes hardened as realized what he had to do. Time Turner looked back at his longtime friend, “I’ll see what I can do.”

Twilight braced herself as the students were taking their seats. She knew that Noblesse had molted, and was now closer to a snake in appearance than he was any sort of equine. Amidst the info dump Discord and Noblesse had brought to school the previous day, Cheerilee had also spoken a little about Noblesse’s new form, and the bits of his past he had shared with the class. Twilight didn’t know how she would handle seeing somepony she had met previously after undergoing drastic mutations, and even worse was her irrational ophidiophobia. Twilight had rarely even seen a snake before she moved to Ponyville, let alone get close enough for one to touch her, but fear almost never answered to reason. Princess Celestia’s best guess as to why her student had such a severe fear of snakes, was because they were unlike anything she could have possibly encountered while Canterlot. She had also theorized that Twilight growing around the palace gardens kept her from developing phobias of other creatures that would not been seen in the streets of the capital city.

Either way, the very sight of snakes frightened Twilight to irrationality, and she knew that the Serpicorns among Noblesse’s staff were part of the reason why she was so panicked during her first visit to the Everfree Palace.

Twilight was surprised when Noblesse walked through the door and headed for his usual seat, not because of any amount of that she felt, but the unusual sense of calm Noblesse’s appearance brought her. While Noblesse’s eyes still unnerved her, if she concentrated on his skin, she was comforted by a feeling of familiarity that lightened the mood for her. Did he cast an enchantment on himself? Twilight knew nothing of what magic Noblesse had learned or could use, so it would make sense if he had enchanted himself to counteract any distress his new appearance would bring others.

Twilight also noticed that he seemed to be smiling wide. She attributed this to the fact that Noblesse no longer had fur to obscure his facial features, which would exaggerate the aforementioned features. The lavender Unicorn briefly considered what the consequence of this would be, when she, like most of the students present, had her attention taken by Cheerilee tapping a ruler against her desk.

“Alright my little Ponies,” Said Cheerilee, “We will be continuing our lectures and discussions about the darker facets of our nation’s history.”

Cheerilee stopped when she saw Diamond Tiara raise a hoof into the air and waited to be called on, “Yes Diamond Tiara?” Despite what she thought of the duo of bullies, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were two of the only students who almost never needed to be reminded or reprimanded for interrupting the class. Most of her students, in all of her classes, often just said whatever came to their minds without hesitation. Because of this, Cheerilee was happy to encourage this habit by not ignoring the two of them. It also helped that they often had legitimate questions.

“I was wondering if we could revisit the topics we discussed yesterday,” Answered the pink bully.

“Oh?” Asked Cheerilee, “Whatever for?”

“I’m not sure we can believe everything that was accepted,” Replied Diamond Tiara.

Cheerilee was curious. She had long since learned of the tactics the pair of them used to bully their classmates. The cerise teacher was intimately familiar with the belittling tones of voice they used to put down her other students, so she knew that this wasn’t an attempt to get a rise out of Noblesse or his friends.

“Why is that?” Asked Twilight. She knew a great deal of what Noblesse had said was true, she learned it from the Princess herself. So, she had no reason to doubt the other things he and Discord had said in her absence.

“Well,” Started Diamond, “Noblesse is literally a snake and he has admitted to murder and war crimes, if he can be believed. And Discord is known for all kinds of trickery. All I’m saying is, they’re not exactly reliable narrators.”

“Art thou accusing me of lying?” Asked Noblesse in a calm tone of voice. Though both Cheerilee and Twilight were familiar enough with the world and the Ponies in it to know that his words had barely contained anger behind them.

Diamond Tiara turned around in her seat, either not noticing or not caring about how mad she had made him, “What proof do you have? Why isn’t there any information in our textbooks about that ‘Creator-God?’”

Noblesse’s pupils narrowed into lines, “After they defeated Discord, the Diarchs needed to use the idea that they were deities unite the scattered populace. And they would be ignorant of Bucephalus’ existence because of their background.”

“Their background as Princesses?” Challenged Diamond Tiara.

“They were not royalty until after they petrified Discord,” Answered Noblesse, “They were born to a single mother who was a maid for a lesser noble that ruled his fiefdom from his private retreat in a township founded at the base of Mt. Equiss.”

Twilight winced. Celestia had told her about her foalhood when she felt that Twilight was old enough, and it was not a pleasant story.

Diamond Tiara simply raised a brow at that, “Oh? And what of their father?”

“He had no part in their lives,” Answered the incognito noblepony, “There are conflicting accounts as to who their father was. Some stories say that he died before they were born, some say he was captured by slavers, some say that their mother was raped. I have never asked either of them, nor have I researched the topic in great detail. The only thing that all of the stories can confirm, is that their father was an Earth Pony.”

“That is true!” Said Twilight suddenly, hoping to change the subject before Noblesse lost his temper, “Their father was an Earth Pony and Luna was also an Earth Pony before her ascension.”

“Aye, and because of that, they had a hard life,” Said Noblesse, taking up where Twilight left off, “Children born of mixed heritage or out of wedlock were not treated well in early Equestria.”

“Still doesn’t explain why they didn’t know about our ‘Creator-God,’” Taunted Diamond Tiara.

“Their mother was executed for birthing two foals of differing Tribes, and so they were sent to an orphanage in their infancy. Because they were bastards, they were denied entry into any temples erected in Bucephalus’ honor and were chased away from ‘holy sites,’” Explained Noblesse.

Twilight knew this was true. Twilight had learned of the way bastard foals were neglected, if not outright abused, in her history lessons with the Princess. The Princess had also told her that she was barred entry from many places due to the circumstances of her birth. So, this certainly explained all of the apparent holes in her history lessons. Worship of gods who did little to nothing for the Ponies of Equestria died with the appearance of two god-like figures who did much for the young nation.

Filthy Rich’s daughter was not buying it however, “So, all you can offer is your word?”

“Isn’t another’s word all that is offered in history textbooks?” Asked Noblesse wryly.

Diamond Tiara blushed fiercely as most of the other students tittered or laughed at her expense, “Well, I have plenty of evidence that you’re lying!”

Noblesse briefly adopted an expression of pure rage at the accusation of him lying, “Indulge me,” He ordered lazily.

Diamond Tiara’s eye twitched, “First off, your stories contradict each other. You say you were an infiltrator, but you also said that you lost your legs in your first deployment. Spies aren’t ‘deployed’ they’re planted, how do you explain that?”

“I was a spy for the Under-Cities, but ‘twas not only the Under-Cities I served,” Answered the metal colored Serpicorn, “Religion is taken very seriously in the Under-Cities, so much so that the Under-Cities will allow religious orders to borrow their people for wars.”

“Don’t the Under-Cities Worship Princess Celestia and Princess Luna,” Though Diamond Tiara’s words suggested she was asking a question, it was clearly a triumphant taunt.

“Admiration of all Alicorns is required by the state to prevent an event like Nightmare Moon’s seizure of the heavens from happing again, but very few actually hold them as gods,” Explained Noblesse, “However, anyone in the Under-Cities that hasn’t fallen to nihilism worships at least one of the deities venerated in the pantheon of the Black Faith, a union of different sects of separate religions that worship one of the conceptual deities.”

“Like Discord?” Asked Pipsqueak.

“Precisely,” Said Noblesse, “Conversion to the Black Faith is popular because Conceptual Deities can interact with the world more often and more profoundly than Ascended Deities. Vicereine Deluge has gone as far as to join priests and even the gods themselves in military alliances.”

“You didn’t mention this before because?” Asked Diamond Tiara, rotating her hoof.

“It was completely and utterly irrelevant to the history lesson and no one was interested in the inner workings of a military dictatorship,” Pointed out Noblesse in a dry tone of voice.

“Do you have any proof that this religion even exists?” Asked Diamond Tiara, beginning to become annoyed with Noblesse.

“Yes, in fact I do,” Answered Noblesse, happy to silent this snob, “Though I will need permission from Cheerilee to show my bare back to the class.”

This shocked everyone, “Why?” Asked Cheerilee.

“I have markings akin to tattoos on my back that mark me as a member of the faithful.”

Everyone was silent for several moments before Cheerilee beckoned him to the front of the class. Noblesse obliged without question and trotted to the front of the class. Noblesse faced the chalkboard as he slid his cloak off his body. True to his word, Noblesse’s back bore a power circle with the apex of the triangle in the ancient symbol facing up word. All three points on the triangle had smaller circles with symbols that Twilight assumed were the insignias of religious orders or deities. The circle at the apex had a stylized depiction of what was clearly the head of a dragon. The bottom left circle had a comedy mask with a blade sticking out of the smile in place of a tongue. The bottom right circle had gavel or hammer with the head shaped stylized into a dragon’s head from a side-view, though similar, the stylization was distinctly different from the dragon head at the apex. The single most foreboding feature of the mark however, was that ever single circle that made up the mark were snakes eating themselves.

“What is that?” Asked Twilight, who would be in shocked silence like everypony else in the classroom if her excitement at learning something new hadn’t completely overwhelmed any and all distress she was feeling underneath.

“This, is the ‘Brand of the Faithful,’” Answered Noblesse like he was telling someone how his day was, “A mark given to those who have sworn themselves to the pantheon of the Black Faith. While the Under-Cities fetishize Alicorns, that is only done to prevent another Nightmare Moon incident. Few people in the Under-Cities actually worship Alicorns as gods, and even then, they are all almost stationed in garrisons that are below Mt. Equiss.”

Twilight had summoned a notepad and quill with her magic and started feverishly writing down notes, “Could I talk to you after class about Under-City religion? While I’m sure a lecture here would be welcomed, Cheerilee and I have planned lectures for the rest of the school year.”

“Without reservation,” Answered Noblesse as he pulled his cloak back onto his body. Noblesse turned to face Diamond Tiara, “Have I quelled any doubts thou hast to mine honesty?”

Diamond Tiara said nothing as Noblesse walked back to his seat, smug that he had silenced someone who had slandered him so blatantly in public. Now if I can just get through the class period without falling asleep thought Noblesse as he suppressed a yawn.

Author's Notes:

And so concludes Chapter 35 of Culture Shock. Please feel free to share your thoughts or opinions of my story in the comment section, I just ask that any and all negative comments be supplemented with constructive criticism. Also, I need to apologize. My first update in a long time, and it's being used to setup stuff that happens later. Though, I will say that we're close to the end.