Water Lily reeled back in surprise. She sputtered, then did anything she could not to make eye contact with the guidance counselor. This was all the confirmation Starlight felt was needed. “Water Lily…” She said, the words falling slowly from her lips. “Please tell me, did your mother hurt your wing?”

“Um…” The pegasus fidgeted in her seat. She looked extremely uncomfortable, but surely she knew there wasn’t any way out of the corner she’d been backed into. “Well… I mean, she didn’t… I mean…”

Starlight grit her teeth. She wasn’t angry or annoyed with Water Lily. No, on the contrary. She was angry and annoyed by the whole situation, and that Tiger Lily had likely frightened this poor filly into not spilling the beans. Starlight didn’t notice it immediately but her horn had begun instinctively glowing. Just as a unicorn’s horn would in fight or flight situations. It took her a moment, but the intense stare she had and the lit horn probably wasn’t making Water feel any better about opening up. ‘Deep breaths,’ Starlight thought to herself. She inhaled and exhaled, and with great self control reeled in whatever she was currently feeling.

The unicorn let out a tired sigh and massaged her temples with her hooves. “Okay…“ She began. She erased any anger or frustration from her voice and replaced it with calming reassurance. “Water Lily, look… In only two days, I’ve come to suspect some things. Things I don’t want to say just in case somehow I’ve misunderstood your situation. But as your guidance counselor, as an adult, as an observer and… and as your friend if you’d allow it… I’m worried about you. Please tell me who hurt your wing. I can help you. But I need you to tell me what happened.” She observed Water Lily’s body language. It was unsure. Though wanting. Starlight had an idea. “Would you like another hug?”

That was the ticket. It was sudden, but not at all unwelcome. Like a switch had been flipped Water Lily’s eyes began to shine with approaching tears as she scurried towards Starlight. The filly threw herself into the mare, wrapping her hooves around her ‘as if her life depended on it.’

At that thought, Starlight cringed. Definitely not an idea she wanted to entertain. “Water Lily…?” she mused. “Are you okay?”

What she got in return was a sniff followed by a heart wrenching whimper. It’d been a long time since she’d heard a sadder sounding cry. Starlight wasn’t extremely versed in the art of physical comfort, but she did her best. With a kind hoof Starlight rubbed circles over Water Lily’s back. Making careful sure not to accidentally put pressure on her injury. “There, there,” she whispered. “It’s okay.”

The filly took in air in an effort to control the sudden surge of emotion bubbling it’s way through her. She nuzzled into Starlight's neck like it were her only solace. Well, Starlight supposed this was only the second hug the little pony had gotten in quite some time. As much as Starlight wanted answers to all the questions she had, it was fine to wait until Water Lily got herself sorted out.

It took several minutes. But Water’s eyes managed to dry their tears and she was in all likelihood able to speak again without shuddering breaths.

Starlight had the mind not to break their hug. But once Water Lily had stopped crying, she felt the urge to ask, “Water? Do you think you’re able to talk to me?”

No words, just a small nodding of the head.

Starlight took that to mean she could restart the questioning session. Now that Water had cried a bit, and was in the safe and secure hooves of a trusted adult, maybe she’d be more comfortable talking. The mare hadn’t stopped rubbing the little pegasi’s back. Water Lily seemed to like it, so she kept on. “Okay, Water Lily. I’m going to ask you again. Did your mother hurt your wing?”

Water Lily didn’t do or say anything. Not immediately at least. It took her awhile, but Starlight could tell the gears were turning within the young one’s head. Tightening her grip around Starlight’s neck, Water Lily mumbled a reserved little “Mmhmm…”

Starlight choked back a growl. ‘I knew it,’ she thought to herself. ‘That sorry excuse for a parent piece of sh-’ That line of thinking was cut short when she felt the gentle prodding of Water Lily’s little hoof against her chest. She shifted her gaze to meet the filly’s. “Yes?” It took considerable effort not to pay more attention to the bandaged wing than to the anxious stare of the little pony.

“Please don’t tell her I told you,” came Water’s mumbled plea.

“Of course not…” Well, that’s what Starlight said. But for something to really be done about the situation, confrontation with Tiger Lily was unavoidable. Twilight, being the Princess of Friendship, could appeal directly to Celestia and have Water forcibly removed from the home. But then a new home would need to be found for her. They’d have to sort out adoption, or track down her father perhaps. That was assuming her dad wasn’t anything like her mother. Which didn’t seem to be the case going off their conversation from the previous day. But one never knew. There’d be a lot of work going into this filly now that she had confirmation from the victim herself of abuse. It was already apparent she’d been put through some emotional abuse at the very least. But now hearing it from Water Lily that Tiger had been the one to hurt her wing, she had more evidence to warrant an actual investigation. “Water Lily, would you mind telling me how she hurt your wing?”

Water Lily noticeably winced. At the question or at the memory, Starlight couldn’t be sure. But what Water Lily said next sent a chill shiver down the unicorn’s spine. “Well, yesterday after Head-mare Twilight left, she um… s-she just told me not to bring others into our business. She said uh… she said not to talk to you anymore. Then she hit me real hard. It messed up my feathers and it really hurt but… it wasn’t like sometimes where she’s really mad.”

“Excuse me?” Starlight’s eyes narrowed. “What exactly does she do when she’s really mad?”

Water Lily tapped a hoof to her chin thoughtfully. Though Starlight figured it wasn’t that she was trying to think of answers to the question, but rather, wondering if she wanted to answer the question at all. Luckily for everypony she started talking. “One time, when I spilled juice on the carpet, she threw a vase. It didn’t hit me, but the loud crash was scary. Then she made me pick up all the broken glass. Mommy said it was because I spilled my juice, which makes sense I guess. But I still didn’t like it.”

The thought that anypony would make a small child pick up shards of broken glass after they themselves broke it was infuriating to say least. After actually throwing the previously unshattered breakable at the child no less. Starlight shook her head roughly from side to side. “No, it doesn’t make sense that she’d do that to you. Don’t you dare think that was an okay thing for her to do.”

“But.. I did spill my juic-”

“I don’t give a damn! That’s unacceptable and-”

Starlight stopped dead in her tracks when she noticed the filly blanch. Thinking on it for even a second, it was probable that Water Lily didn’t have a good track record when it came to adults raising their voice at her. Starlight’s heart broke at the look on Water’s face. Sucking in a sharp breath of air, Starlight forced down her urge to shout. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to raise my voice. I wasn’t yelling at you, I promise.”

Water Lily had increased the distance between herself and Starlight. But with the apology she seemed to recover relatively quickly. “O-okay… Sorry.”

“No need to apologize… Anything else?”

Water Lily went quiet. She was clearly thinking about something. The pegasus looked up at Starlight, then down at her wing. She eyed the bandaged feathers with a completely unreadable look.

“Um…” Starlight nudged the filly gently. “Water Lily?”

The little one’s eyes fell down to the floor beneath them. She pulled herself away from Starlight. Starlight wanted to ask what the matter was, but her voice hitched in her throat when she saw what Water Lily then revealed.

“Water Lily…” Starlight gaped. All the anger, all the frustration and resentment she’d begun feeling for a mare she hadn’t ever met… it was nothing compared to what she felt for that mare now. Water Lily had unfurled her wings, well, as well as she could. Underneath the uninjured wing and expertly hidden from observing eyes was a nasty looking scar. Starlight blinked. That wasn’t an ordinary scar. It looked like….

“Is your mother a unicorn?” Starlight asked. Emotion had been sucked dry from her voice. When Water Lily nodded in confirmation, that was it. The straw to break the camel's back. Starlight knew exactly what that scar was from. And she was not thrilled about it.

“That bitch!” Starlight hissed through clenched teeth. She raced down the hall from her office, towards the school’s exit. She’d been quick to cut her session with Water Lily short, writing her a note and sending her to whichever class she was supposed to be in. They departed with a quick and simple goodbye. Starlight had told the filly she probably wouldn’t see her until the next day, but made sure to promise that everything would work out.

After that, she was out of there. Guidance would have to close for the remainder of the school day.

Running through Ponyville, it only took a little asking around before finding the Lily household. Unsurprisingly, Tiger Lily didn’t seem to have many friends. But plenty ponies knew her, as she worked at the local art gallery. Ponyville was an extremely close knit community. Ask around and you’d sure to be able to track down anypony around town.

“Tiger, you’d best have rock solid evidence you didn’t use modica inpulsa on your daughter or so help me-” Starlight pounded the front door with firm and aggressive knocks. She didn’t immediately get an answer, but in her angered state she probably wouldn’t have hesitated to zap the door down had it not soon opened. It did though, and when it did she was met with an exhausted looking unicorn mare. True to her name, her colors resembled both that of a tiger and a tiger lily. Her coat was light orange, with white fetlocks much like Starlight’s friend Sunburst had. Her mane and tail were short and black, matching her charcoal colored eyes. Just like her daughter, her cutie mark matched her name. In all honesty, she was quite a beautiful looking mare. Too bad she was a scumbag, Starlight thought. “Hello, I’m looking for Tiger Lily?”

Though the orange unicorn sighed, she managed to put on a smile for her new guest. “Yes, that would be me. What can I help you with?”

“Actually, funny you should ask.” Starlight began getting closer to her older mare, starting to invade her personal space. If Tiger Lily was at all put off by it, she did a good job concealing it. “You see, I was wondering if maybe you were at all familiar with magic? I have reason to believe you know a little spell by the name of modica inpulsa, no?”

At this, Tiger did have a noticeable reaction. It wasn’t big, in fact, somepony not so well versed in reading others probably would’ve missed it. But with this, Tiger did indeed flinch. Be that as it may, she offered Starlight her best smile. “No, don’t be silly. What in Equestria would a simple filly like myself use that kind of spell on?” Now that was a lie that sent a prickle through Starlight’s skin.

Starlight sneered. “You know, most ponies probably wouldn’t be familiar with the spell at all. Yet, you seem to know what spell I’m talking about. Care to tell me where you’ve heard of it before?”

Tiger’s smile dropped a bit. “Oh I don’t know, here or there. Anywho, I really must be going now. My daughter will be coming home a little later and I really should begin dinner preparations or-” As Tiger began shutting the door, Starlight shuffled her hoof in and stopped it from closing. “Um, sorry miss. Could you please move out the way?”

“I’m sorry, am I inconveniencing you?” Starlight honestly didn’t care how menacing she sounded. Truthfully, she wanted Tiger Lily feeling a little threatened. Starlight had the habit of slipping into her villain bravado every now and then. Sometimes she wished she didn’t. Now was not one of those times.

“Um… I’m sorry, have I upset you in some way?”

Starlight snarled. “Oh, have you upset me? Have you upset me? That’s so funny, because yes you sure as Tartarus have. But I shouldn’t be the one upset with you. The one who should be upset, for some Celestia damned reason, isn’t. She’s too innocent and brainwashed to know any better.” Starlight stepped another hoof through Tiger Lily’s door. She was beginning to lose herself in her whirlwind of feelings as she continued to chew Tiger out.

Tiger Lily shrank back from the piercing glare. “Miss, please leave. If you don’t I’ll have to call law enforcement.”

Oh, at this Starlight chuckled. She couldn’t help the grin plastering her face. “That’s rich! The only thing I can think of as ironic as myself accusing you of brainwashing, is you threatening me with police! Guess what, I’m the personal student of the Twilight Sparkle, you heard of her? Well, I promise you if she were here she’d-”

“Yes, Starlight?”

Starlight Glimmer spun around to find a mildly vexed Twilight looking back at her. The alicorn strode up to her pupil, and wrapped her in a wing, gently pulling her away from their suspect. Starlight began to speak but was shushed with a magical zipping of the lips. With a careful nudge Twilight ushered angry Starlight away from Tiger and away from the front door.

The princess, after pulling Starlight away, shot Tiger a look made of daggers. Starlight wasn’t going to get the final word, but Twilight did it for her. “Ms. Lily, I apologize for Starlight’s behavior. But I’d like you to know that your daughter will be in my custody tonight and that you’ll soon be visited by several ponies from Foal Protective Services. Please cooperate with them, and have a nice day.”

Turning to leave, Starlight noticed Tiger’s face shifting between a rapid concoction of angry, distressed, and exasperated. Tiger Lily closed her apartment door maybe a little too huffily. As Twilight walked Starlight away from the scene, she lifted the simple spell she’d used to keep the unicorn quiet.

Neither said anything for the first five minutes or so of their journey back through Ponyville. Eventually it was Starlight who kicked off the conversation. “How did you find me?”

Twilight sighed. “Water Lily came and told me you stormed out your office. I asked her why, and she told me about the conversation you had, and that you’d left right after she’d shown you something.. Knowing you, I figured you’d go straight to Tiger.”

Starlight furrowed a brow. “Did she show you what she showed me?”

Twilight frowned. “I’m afraid not. I rushed out here to find you, I didn’t have time to ask her for clarification.”

“Well…” Starlight started. “Don’t freak out. Well, I guess I don’t really have the right to tell you not to freak out. But um… she has a really bad scar. But it was peculiar looking. It didn’t take me long to realize what it was. It was a magic scar, left by… well… I think Tiger used modica inpulsa on her daughter.”

Twilight hooves stopped, her trot skidding to a halt. “Wait, what!?” Her eyes widened. “Seriously? That’s… Oh Celestia, that’s…”

“I know..” Starlight sorrowfully agreed.

“How does Tiger Lily know that spell?” The alicorn wondered aloud. “It’s not a particularly difficult spell to cast, but it’s a weird one to know without being a student to magic.”

“That’s what I’m wondering.” Starlight thought for a moment. She thought about how only days ago she’d been sitting in her office waiting for something exciting to happen. How did that feel so long ago? “Listen, Twilight. When we get to the castle, I want to ask you about the conversation you had with Tiger last night. Then I’d like to talk to Water Lily some more. You said something about her being in your custody, right? Is she staying at the castle?”

“Yup.” Twilight hummed. “I sent a quick scroll to Celestia informing her of the situation. She sent a scroll to Foal Protective Services demanding I be able to look after her until this whole mess has been sorted out.”

“Great.” Starlight smiled the largest smile she had all day. “She won’t have to go back under that roof tonight. I’m glad.”

“As am I.”

This new development was a breath of fresh air. There was still plenty more to do, that was for sure. But at least Starlight didn’t have to worry about Water’s safety that night. Or until everything had been figured out. It was a heavy weight off her shoulders, and Water Lily’s too most likely. From here on out should be easy sailing.

At least, that’s what Starlight hoped.

Author's Notes:

While writing this chapter, I made very in the moment decisions that kinda change a lot of the stuff I had planned for this story. Hell, just yesterday I told someone in the comments of the last chapter that Tiger would soon be pulling Water out of school. Well, she can't really do it when she's not in her custody, can she? Oh well, now I know where I want the story going at least.

Modica inpulsa translates roughly to: mild/moderate shock

Oh, and I have a one-shot in the works. That should be up sometime in the near future.