As her eyes fluttered awake, Sweetie Belle groaned. That alarm was so annoying! The Beep! Beep! Beep! of her clock gave her a headache. She groaned again and pulled her pillow over her head. She was drifting back to sleep when Rarity burst into her room. "Sweetie Belle! You need to get up! School starts in an hour!" Rarity scolded. "We would not want you to be late on your first day back, would we now?" Rarity shot Sweetie a cold, hard glance that made Sweetie shrink back. You did NOT want to anger Rarity, especially in the morning, when she was at her worst.
"Yes Rarity," Sweetie Belle mumbled, only to avoid a fight with her sister that would result in her getting grounded. She dragged herself out of bed and out her door. She trudged downstairs with a sullen attitude. She did NOT want to go to school. Maybe... maybe she could pretend to be sick! Then she wouldn't have to go to scho- Sweetie's thoughts were interrupted by Rarity.
"Sweetie Belle! You have barely eaten anything! Eat your eggs! And don't slouch in your chair! That is not good posture!" Rarity instructed while pouring her morning coffee. Sweetie Belle wasn't in the mood to listen to Rarity's antics. She scarfed down her breakfast and quickly brushed her mane. The sooner she got to school, the sooner she could leave. "Here are your saddlebags Sweetie! Now, have a good day at school!" Rarity said cheerfully as Sweetie walked out the door. "Goodbye!" Sweetie didn't reply. She wasn't in the mood. She wasn't in the mood for anything, for that matter. Especially not school. As she made her way down the path to school, old memories came back. The ones she had sealed in the back of her mind. She remembered last Hearts and Hooves day, when she and her friends had tried to set up Big Mack and Cheerilee together. She also remembered one time when they had been trying to get their cutie marks as journalists. They had definitely knocked Diamond down a peg then. Cutie Marks. Sweetie Belle sighed as she remembered all the random things her and the other CMCs had tried to do to get their marks. Sweetie Belle sighed. She missed the wild, crazy group she used to belong to. After IT, she and Applebloom broke apart, and without Scoots, well, they weren't the Cutie Mark Crusaders anymore.
Sweetie looked up, snapping away from her jumbled thoughts as she grunted an Oomph. "Sorry," she muttered to the pink pony she had bumped into. Wait, pink pony-
Sweetie's thoughts were interrupted by a curt, "You will be." The pink pony jumped in surprise as she realized who she was talking to. "Sweetie Belle! Wha- what are you doing here! You've been gone for months! I thought-"
Sweetie Belle interrupted her. "Well, whatever you thought, you thought wrong." Diamond Tiara flinched. When had Sweetie Belle, the NICE one, become so mean?
"Hmph, you must have lost your common sense along with your friend! Or have you forgotten, I rule this school, Sweetie Belle! And you will pay for what you said!"
"Whatever," Sweetie mumbled and walked off. She didn't want to deal with Diamond Tiara right now, and the meaning of her words hadn't been realized by the half-asleep, miserable Sweetie Belle.
"WHATEVER!" Diamond screeched, causing some ponies to glance at her, then quickly look away when she shot them a glare. "Whatever. You'll pay for what you said Sweetie Belle! You. Will. Pay. NO ONE says no to Diamond Tiara," Diamond ranted, then glanced across the playground, seeing her best friend. "Sliver Spoon! Get over here! We need to talk! I know somepony who needs a little lesson about learning her place! And what a good place to teach this lesson, school!" Diamond cackled.