//------------------------------//
// Chapter 4 - Diamond Tiara / Apple Bloom 
// Story: Unwanted 
// by Apple Blumpkin 
//------------------------------//

Chapter 4

This morning, a frazzled Hauteur Wreath had come to tell Diamond Tiara that her father had disappeared.  Diamond Tiara had a bit of trouble wrapping her hooves around the seriousness of the situation, and her first response simply nod in acknowledgement to Wreath that she heard correctly.  She agreed with Wreath because her father had disappeared long before.  Diamond Tiara never really knew where her father was, so the news was not all that shocking.  However, as the day went on, Diamond slowly started to realized why this was such a big deal.  Wreath was afraid that they would never be able to find her father; he might never come home.

Diamond Tiara's life wasn't all that affected by the change.  Diamond Tiara had a much harder time when she tried to imagine her father always being around.  It was hard to miss what you never had.  Of course, that idea was hard to explain to the average pony.  Wreath had just assumed her lack of reaction was just her being in shock.

Everypony knew of Filthy's disappearance.  When one of the richest ponies in Equestria vanishes from his own office, it tends to attract notice.  Diamond Tiara was annoyed that everyone felt like they needed to talk to her about it.

As Diamond sat in class and listened to Cheerilee drone on and on, her mind began to wander.  For some reason, even with all that was going on, Diamond Tiara began to think about Apple Bloom.  Diamond begrudgingly admitted to herself that having Apple Bloom over yesterday wasn't that bad.   Diamond Tiara had almost enjoyed herself, and considering how miserable she felt recently, it was a nice change of gait.

Diamond Tiara spared a glance to her right.  Apple Bloom's head was down, and she appeared to be sleeping.  The sight caused Diamond to give a small smile.  Diamond Tiara had no idea why Apple Bloom had even bothered to be nice to her.  Diamond wasn't dense.  She knew that she bullied Apple Bloom around.  Diamond spared another quick glance at Apple Bloom.  This time the glance was focused lower at her flank.  Blank.

Diamond Tiara didn't hate blank flanks.  They were just easy targets to blow off some steam.  Also, Diamond Tiara was not convinced that cutie marks even mattered.  When Diamond got her tiara cutie mark, she was told it represented what a strong leader she was.  Diamond Tiara was all too happy with that explanation, but over time, doubt had crept in.

Behind her, Diamond Tiara heard Silver Spoon trying to disguise her name with a cough, and Diamond Tiara was again brought back to reality.  Diamond Tiara turned around to face Silver Spoon who only gave her a look that seemed to say, "really?"

Archer, who sat next to Silver Spoon and behind Apple Bloom, appeared to be trying to stifle herself from giggling, while she looked anywhere besides at Diamond.

A confused Diamond Tiara turned back around and scribbled out a quick note to Silver Spoon, 'what did I do? And Y is Archer laughing at me?'

Diamond folded up the note and turned back around to Silver Spoon, who was still giving Diamond a funny look.

The reply took longer than Diamond expected, but after a few minutes, a tap and a note appeared at her shoulder.

The reply was much shorter than expected, 'Archer caught you staring at Apple Bloom's flank.  You were being really obvious."

Diamond's natural pink coat did little to mask her blush. In a vain effort to hide her embarrassment, Diamond adopted a similar pose to the sleeping Apple Bloom.  Diamond Tiara didn't know how to handle being accused of such a lewd thing.  Diamond knew that any denial would just make her look guilty, so she decided to ignore Archer's snickering.  However, Diamond Tiara made a mental note to be more careful where she looked when she spaced out.  She would clear it up with Silver Spoon after school; Silver would believe the truth.

*******
Even though she did not sleep well the night before, Apple Bloom was not very tired.  Sure, Apple Bloom had spent most of the school day pretending to be asleep, but Apple Bloom had a lot on her mind and needed more time to think.        

The evening before, after Apple Bloom saw the blood on Diamond Tiara's dresser, Apple Bloom had quickly excused herself.  She had made up a quick lie about losing track of the time, and her sister was expecting her.

To be honest, Apple Bloom didn't really know why the blood had freaked her out so much.  After all, there was so very little of it to begin with, and it was dried and old.  Living on a farm, injury was part of life.  Apple Bloom reasoned that she was already freaked out that Diamond Tiara was being halfway civil to her, which was a much better reason for alarm, and the blood stain was just the last straw.

The thing that frustrated Apple Bloom the most was that she cared at all.  Even if Diamond Tiara turned into the nicest pony in Ponyville, that didn't change the past.  Diamond Tiara had been mean to her for years.  Apple Bloom had started to care, if only just a little bit, and it made her very angry at herself for being so soft.

Apple Bloom had also heard about Diamond's father's disappearance.  It was on the front page of the newspaper Granny was reading during breakfast.  Apple Bloom's sleep deprived and paranoid mind briefly connected the blood stain and the disappearance, but when asked what happened, Granny had said that Filth was in Neighjing when he disappeared which was on the other side of Equestria.

With her paranoia abated, Apple Bloom couldn't help but feel bad for Diamond Tiara's situation.  Apple Bloom couldn't remember either of her parents, but even with them gone she still had her big sis, big brother, and Granny.  Diamond Tiara didn't have anypony else.

Apple Bloom had finally made up her mind.  She would try and help Diamond in whatever way she needed it.  She was unsure what Diamond Tiara needed but for now she would try and be friendly.   It was what a good pony would do, but Apple Bloom still felt like it was not what she wanted to do.  She would also leave Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle out of this.  There is no way that they would understand.

It was Friday, and Apple Bloom did not have a reason meet or talk to Diamond Tiara about their project until next week, so she would just have to get creative.  

*****

As the bell rang signaling the start of their weekend, Apple Bloom quickly packed; she knew the way that Diamond walked home now and wanted to be able to run into her there.  Before she could make it to the door, Scootaloo called out to her.

"Hey Apple Bloom! Where you off to in such a hurry? Let’s go to Sugarcube Corner and get some cake!”

        “Ah can’t, Mah sister needs help with… apples,” Apple Bloom replied back trying not to look guilty.  Mentally admonishing herself for lying to her friend, Apple Bloom ran out before anything else  could slow her.

         Diamond Tiara watched Apple Bloom from the corner of her eye, and briefly wondered why that filly seemed to be in such a hurry to leave everywhere recently.  Diamond and Silver Spoon made their way out of the classroom together.  Diamond Tiara noticed the goofy little smile on Silver Spoons face and gave an internal groan of annoyance.  She knew that she would be able to clear up the miscommunication, but knew that Silver Spoon would get in a few laughs at her expense before that happened.

Once the other ponys were out of earshot, Silver Spoon was the first to break the silence.

“Sooooo, Apple Bloom huh?” Silver Spoon said as nonchalantly as she could considering the impish grin that was plastered on her face.

Rolling her eyes, Diamond Tiara briefly noted that this was the first conversation of the day that wasn’t going to be about her father’s disappearance, and even though she definatly didn’t want to talk about her father at the moment, this conversation was going to be just as painful.

“Shut up Silver Spoon, I was just spacing out,” Diamond Tiara calmly clarified.

Silver Spoon was unperturbed, “Oh yeah? Spacing out thinking about Apple Bloom’s cute little flank?” Silver Spoon teased as she poked Diamond Tiara with a hoof.

“Wow, is that the kind of things that go on in your pervy head?” Diamond Tiara deflected as she took a cigarette out of her pack and offering one to Silver Spoon.

“No thanks, If my mom smells it, I’d be dead,” Silver Spoon politely declined, “but don’t change the subject! I always knew you liked Apple Bloom.”

The sudden jump of topic back to Apple Bloom caused Diamond Tiara to have a small coughing fit as she inhaled on her cigarette.

“I do NOT like Apple Bloom,” Diamond Tiara said a slightly less dignified tone.

“Really? I always figured that was why you picked on her so much…” Silver Spoon trailed off trying to feint deep thought.  Regardless of the accuracy of the statement it still brought a light blush to Diamond Tiara’s cheeks.

Before Diamond could refute what a ridiculous statement that was, Silver Spoon adjusted her glasses and pointed down the street, “Hey, speak of the devil, look.” 

Sure enough, Apple Bloom was a ways down the road trotting toward them.  

As Apple Bloom approached, Silver Spoon leaned in close to Diamond Tiara, “This is your chance, tell her what a cute flank she has.”

Diamond Tiara couldn’t help but blush in embarrassment, but her only response was to push Silver Spoon away from her.  Now that Apple Bloom was closer, Diamond Tiara couldn’t help but notice that Apple Bloom looked a little nervous. 

         “Howdy Diamond Tiara… Silver Spoon,” Apple Bloom greeted.

“Apple Bloom, what a pleasure! Right Diamond? Isn’t it a pleasure to see Apple Bloom?” Silver Spoon gushed with a mischievous grin. 

Apple Bloom was a bit nervous about this whole situation to begin with and that nervous feeling was only increasing.

With Silver Spoon’s awkward greeting, Diamond Tiara stood slightly petrified.  The last thing she wanted Apple Bloom to know was why Silver Spoon was teasing her even though it was all a misunderstanding.

Realizing that she hadn’t said anything, not even hello, and both fillies were looking at her, Diamond Tiara gave Apple Bloom a half-assed wave not completely trusting her voice and not wanting to give Silver Spoon any more ammunition.

“So, what are you doing in this part of town?” Silver Spoon asked Apple Bloom to do nothing more than break the awkward silence, “seeing how the better half live?” Silver Spoon offers as an acceptable answer to her own question.  Diamond Tiara was being uncharacteristically silent, so somepony had to step up to the plate.

Apple Bloom took a quick breath.  She was already regretting her idea, but it was obvious that Diamond Tiara needed some sort of help, particularly with the recent developments in her life. Apple Bloom was a good pony, and if somepony needed help she wouldn’t let a little thing like overwhelming hatred get in the way.

         Ignoring Silver Spoon’s jab, Apple Bloom addresses Diamond Tiara directly.
 “So.. what are ya guys doin’ tonight?” Apple Bloom asked with what she hoped looked like a friendly smile but came out closer to a sheepish grimace.

The question immediately struck Silver Spoon as odd.  In-fact, the more Silver Spoon thought about it the more odd everything seemed.  Silver figured that the flank staring incident happened exactly like Diamond Tiara said, and it was just Tiara staring off into space.  Silver Spoon was just giving her a hard time about it in order to distract her friend from her inter-dialog. But, with the way that Apple Bloom was acting and Diamond’s Tiara’s lack of insults, Silver Spoon decided to take a step back and wait for Diamond Tiara to respond.

“uhh umm…” Diamond Tiara momentarily stuttered as she bought herself some more time to think.  She definitely didn’t want to admit to Apple Bloom that she had no plans and was going to probably spend Friday night in her room with her sad thoughts, “I haven’t decided yet,” Diamond Tiara finally settled on saying.

“Well, I was going to go drink some apple whiskey if you guys want to come,” Apple Bloom said as nonchalantly as she could with a gesture that said Silver Spoon was included in the invitation.

Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara could only stare at Apple Blooms uncharacteristic offer.

Apple Bloom continued, “Sweetie Belle and Scoots don’t drink, so Ah figured Ah’d ask and see if y’all wanted to…”  The truth of the matter was the Apple Bloom didn’t drink either. However, her big brother and sister would drink the stuff, so it couldn’t be all that bad, and it was certainly a good way to prove she wasn’t the immature blank flank that Diamond thought she was.

To Diamond Tiara, drinking with Apple Bloom sounded like a much better night than she had planned, but Silver Spoon’s teasing kept her from immediately accepting.  Diamond Tiara also didn’t want to head home in case Hauteur Wreath is still there.  Facing the real world was not something she was looking forward to.

While Diamond Tiara mulled over her thoughts, Silver Spoon was the first to get over her shock and answer, “uhh… I can’t.  My parents would never let me out… thanks though... I think…” Silver said with a bit of a sigh.

Both fillies turned to Diamond Tiara.

“OK,” Diamond Tiara said in a way that made it seem like it was no big deal that she was accepting an offer from her ‘enemy’.  “It sounds like it might be fun… maybe you aren’t so bad after all Apple Bloom.”

Apple Bloom knew she wasn’t bad, but that she was going to be bad in order to do good.  She gave a small gulp and a silent prayer that this whole idea didn’t blow up in her face.