Diamond Tiara wandered up the long driveway of her father's mansion, the large house that sat amid the other similar mansions in the wealthy section of Ponyville. Russell had since finished the berries he was eating, and looked at her with a quizzical expression. "Whatcha thinking about?" he asked. He had seen quite the improvement in her over the last several hours, and intended to keep that going.
"I never took care of a pet before," Tiara responded. "I thought it would be difficult and demoralizing, like being a window washer or a schoolteacher, or a blank flank." She shuddered at the thought.
"Sometimes it's not about how many bits you earn or what kind of social status you have. It's just about doing what you love doing," Russell said. "Why do you think Silver Spoon is so happy with working at the pawn shop? It's not glamorous, but she gets to use her talents."
"Maybe." Tiara said. "But I still don't like it." She was a pony of high cultural upbringing, and as far as she concerned, social standing WAS everything.
Diamond Tiara entered the house, and the next few hours went swiftly. Russell polished his quills, and Tiara asked the housekeeper to research hedgehogs for her. Upon being declined, for certainly the housekeeper had been informed of the consequences at stake, Tiara was subsequently forced to continue reading the books she'd taken home from the Library on her own.
When the buzzer downstairs rang, Tiara jumped. "I'll get it!" She yelled, and ran for the door. She wanted to get there before the housekeeper did, since her friend had promised to be over around this time. Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon exchanged a long overdue hug, and for a moment, things were almost like they were when they were fillies. "Come on, Russell." Diamond said.
Russell looked surprised. "You want me to come?" He asked.
"Of course I do. What else am I going to do, leave you here by yourself? Hop on."
The hedgehog looked as if he might cry for a moment, and did just that.
The movie, while fairly uneventful, was the first thing that the three did together, and by extension, the first thing that Silver and Diamond had done together without fighting in quite a while. By the time that Invasion of the Saddle Snatchers ended, Diamond was laughing so hard that she couldn't see straight.
"That was ridiculous," Silver Spoon rolled her eyes, beginning to walk away from the viewing platform.
"Yeah, although it's to be expected. It's a stupid movie, what did you think, it was going to be serious?"
"Totally." Silver Spoon grinned, and did something she hadn't done in years. "Bump, bump-"
"-Sugar lump, rump!" Diamond Tiara finished, bursting into superior laughter. But her attention was deflected by what was on her flank. Or, more specifically, what wasn't.
"Where's Russell?" She asked suddenly, glancing about. He wasn't anywhere to be seen.
"I thought you had him!" Silver Spoon insisted.
"I did! He was right there, I swear!" Tiara frowned. "I can't go to military school, I can't! They make you follow orders, wear tacky uniforms, I can't do that, Silver! I can't!" She protested, breaking into tears before Silver slapped her with a hoof.
"Snap out of it! We'll find him! Where's the first place you look when your friend goes missing?"
"The roof?" Tiara asked, with a bit of a grin.
"Just because it worked for a bunch of stallions in Las Pegasus doesn't it works every time." Silver snorted. "Think. Pretend you're a secret agent. What do you do? When did you see him last?"
Diamond Tiara thought about it. "He was on my back most of the way through the movie, maybe he went to the marketplace to get more food," she offered.
"Good idea, let's check there."
The two returned to the marketplace, calling Russell's name. He didn't answer. Diamond Tiara looked increasingly frustrated. "We can't tell my dad about this, he'll kill me!"
"He's not going to kill you. We'll find him. He couldn't have gone that far," Silver said. "He's a tiny little hedgehog, his legs can't get him to go that fast!"
"Don't underestimate a hedgehog," Diamond warned. She paused, reflecting on her words. Was she actually starting to care for that spiky little creature.
"Alright, alright, I'll stay here and keep looking for him. You head back to the house in case he wandered back there without you. If I find him, I'll come tell you immediately," Silver Spoon promised.
"Good idea, thanks so much," Diamond said, and and raced back to the house. She really hoped that nothing had happened to Russell, he was slowly starting to grow on her. When she reached the house, she frowned, for the door was cracked open. She didn't remember leaving it open. In fact, with so many valuable pieces in the house, she was certain she had locked it. She entered the house, and immediately stifled a gasp.
"We've been robbed!" She exclaimed, for it certainly looked that way. The entryway had been trashed. A loud crash came from the study, and Tiara growled, running up the stairs and throwing the door open. "Stop right there!" She demanded.
The inside of the study was completely covered with paint, and the strangest monkey that Diamond had ever seen froze in her tracks. That is, until she saw the piece of jewelry perched on top of Tiara's head. "SHINY!" She exclaimed and tackled it off of Tiara's head and onto the floor. Tiara shrieked.
"Give that back at ONCE!" She demanded. "Who do you think you are?!"
The monkey paused and looked at her, as if it was the silliest question she'd ever been asked. "Minka!" She said calmly, and threw a glob of blue paint at Diamond Tiara, getting it all over her face. This was absolutely unacceptable. The pink mare had just about had enough of this.
Diamond Tiara screamed in rage.
***
DIAMOND TIARA WILL RETURN IN...
BLUNDERBALL!
***