The universal record player had scratched to a halt for the second time, for everyone besides Sweetie anyway. Surrounded by her classmates stunned by her bombarding entrance and outrageous, by a small town like Ponyville's standards, appearance. Even Applebloom, one of her closest friends and fellow cutie mark crusader, stood before her with wide eyes and mouth agape.
"And just what are you supposed to be?" Diamond Tiara asked, quizzically eyeing Sweetie Belle.
The rest of her classmates remained silently still, eyes fixated on the unicorn filly. Miss Cheerile, while also slightly taken back at the site of Sweetie Belle, was more focused on the ruckus made by the tardy fillies.
"Scootaloo!" Miss Cheerilee rushed to stand before her students. "I don't know how many times I have to tell you about riding your scooter in the classroom!"
Scootaloo shrugged, paying more attention to her now sore side after colliding with a desk.
"Hehe...I'm here, Miss Cheerile." Sweetie sheepishly waved towards her teacher, dusting herself off from the crash. "Sorry Scootaloo and I were late, I was still pretty tired from traveling and had slept in."
Miss Cheerile raised a hoof to speak, but words failed her. She sighed and simply nodded.
With that, Sweetie and Scootaloo, with help from Applebloom, cleaned the mess they made and walked over to their seats. Whispers and mutterings when on as Sweetie made her way to her seat, awkwardly sitting down and crossing her hooves while not being able to help feeling the many eyes focusing on her.
"Okay..." Miss Cheerilee said, "Well now that everyone is here, let's get started shall we?"
As the lesson began, Sweetie soon felt the tension fill the air as her teacher wrote problems down on the chalk board, the clacking of chalk hitting the board not enough to drown out her presence amongst the others. Out the corner of her eye, she spotted Scootaloo already with her head propped up on her hoof and dozing off.
With a little smirk, she looked to the side and spotted Applebloom, but was unsettled by her look. The farmer filly dawn an awkward expression, her eyes fixated, on what she may have intended the board, the spot where Sweetie Bell and Scootaloo crashed now cleaned up. Sweetie's smirk fell and she turned her attention to her desk with a sigh, unaware that Applebloom's eyes had shifted to the rebel filly.
As the lesson went on, Sweetie Belle could tell there was even something odd about her teacher. Whenever Miss Cheerile would turn to face the class and ask a question, it was almost like she would purposely not make any sort of acknowledgement towards her. Her eyes would scan the class then quickly pass over Sweetie's direction.
Sweetie's hooves kicked out under her seat anxiously, her heart beat speeding up and her hooves tapping atop her desk. She felt nervous, worried even. Though she stood her ground in her heart, her mind fought against her about her change. The attention might be too much. It fed dread into her chest as she eyes the leather wrapped around her hoof.
Then suddenly, Sweetie Belle felt a tapping at her shoulder. She turned around to find none other than Twist.
"Thweetie!" She whispered. "I love what you've done with her mane!"
Sweetie's skipped for a moment, taken off guard by the complement but then smiled. "Oh, thank you." She whispered back. She turned to her left when she felt another tapping on her desk.
"Where did you get your outfit?" Dinky whispered, only for Snips from behind her interrupt. "Yeah! And your vest is so cool, did you get it while you were out of town?"
Sweetie Belle smiled bright, scratching her head. "O-Oh, yeah. I got it at this one store in Manehattan-"
"Does everypony dress like that there?" Another student asked asked, sitting in front of her. "My dad's been there like a million times and he's never talked about ponies who dress as cool as that."
Sweetie shook her head. "Really, guys. It's not all that-"
Pipsqueak whispered from beside the now out slumbering Scootaloo. "You're dressed just like a rockstar! Did you meet anyone like that in Manehattan?"
"Yeah!" Another entered to the press. "Did ya, Sweetie?"
"No-I mean, I saw a few ponies who might have-I don't-"
"There's no way anypony famous would be caught dead with some weirdo like Weenie Blank." Diamond interrupted, rolling her eyes.
"Yeah, it's nice you even showed up today, otherwise I wouldn't have known the circus was in town." Silver Spoon smirked, earning a chuckle from Diamond Tiara.
"W-What do you mean?" Sweetie stammered, in an attempt to hold her own against the rotten duo.
Diamond shook her head. "It's like she's trying to earn her cutie mark in Nightmare Night costumes. By the by, you're a few months off."
Scootaloo glared. "Why don't you put pick on somepony else and leave her alone?"
"Yeah, she ain't done anythin'." Sweetie turned to see Applebloom crossing her hooves, glaring at the two.
"Ahem!"
The class fell silent as Miss Cheerilee's stare swept over the classroom. "Now, I understand that it's been a pretty exciting morning, what with Sweetie being back and..." She closed her eyes and shook her head, "Anyhow, it's still a school day, now pay attention and no talking."
"Yes, Miss Cheerilee." The students said in unison, followed by a sigh of relief from Sweetie.
----
"Ah can't believe Miss Cheerile gave us such a hard time, Sweetie." Scootaloo said, walking besides her fellow crusaders at lunch time.
"Well, ya did crash into class." Applebloom mused. "And Ah keep tellin' ya that scooter's gonna getcha in trouble."
Sweetie Belle sighed. "It's fine, Scootaloo."
The pegasus pouted. "No it isn't! She need's to lay off us once in awhile. Just because we've made some pretty big messes in the past-"
Applebloom stopped before Scootaloo. "Some?"
The pegasus filly shrugged. "Some of them I still see as victories."
"Right." Sweetie Belle sat down in the grass outside the school, lowering her gaze. "Do you guys think I'm over doing it?"
Scootaloo furrowed her brow. "What?" She said, sitting besides her Sweetie followed by Applebloom.
Sweetie extended her hooves, looking down at herself. "This! I feel like since I got back everypony has been looking at me differently."
Applebloom remained silent as Scootaloo eyed the unicorn, holding a hoof to her chin. "Hmm..." She stared for a few moments, before waving a hoof. "Nah. It's awesome, let it go."
Sweetie giggled, before turning to Applebloom. "Applebloom?"
The yellow filly turned to her friend, shifting her hooves where she sat in the grass. "What do ah think? W-Well, uh..."
Sweetie watched as her friend struggled to keep her eyes on herself and felt a pit in her stomach, lowering her gaze once more. "It's okay if you don't like it, Applebloom. You can tell me."
"T-That's not it!" Applebloom shouted, startling the other two fillies before covering her muzzle. A red hue grew over her muzzle as she silent cursed herself. "Ah mean, I like it...a lot."
Scootaloo found herself giggling at the earth filly's reaction, while Sweetie smiled in earnest. "Thanks, Applebloom."
"See, I told you!"
The three fillies turned to see the rotten duo of Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon, smirking as the approached. Sweetie sighed, knowing this routine fairly well and especially aware that Diamond was undoubtedly armed to the cheap plastic on her head with bitter judgement and insults towards herself and her friends.
"Oh great." Scootaloo crossed her hooves. "What do we owe the pleasure of your company?"
"Shut it, Chicken Little." Diamond glared to the pegasus. "We aren't here to bother with you."
Silver Spoon nodded. "Yeah, you or the Appla-loser. We just came to Sweetie Belle for fashion tips."
Sweetie cocked her head. "R-Really?"
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon moved to stand besides the confused unicorn, eyeing her from her mane to the leather vest. "Oh, yes. You must tell us exactly which dumpster you snatched this top from!" Silver Spoon snickered.
Diamond joined in. "Yes, and how hard it was to cut your mane this way while blindfolded!" She said, poking at the Mohawk and watching as it waved back and forth atop Sweetie's head.
Sweetie only sat there, physically shutting down and baring her teeth with eyes shut. Scootaloo stood to her hooves and rushed to stand before the two fillies, her eyes like sharpened daggers.
"Leave her alone!" She shouted, her glare bright against the rotten duo.
Diamond rolled her eyes. "Or what, and for what? We're just asking how she could've walked out into the daylight like this."
Applebloom too then stood to her hooves. "That's enough!"
"Keep out of this, Appleblank." Silver Spoon eyed the farmer filly.
While the four traded verbal blows, the topic of the discussion fought against her shattering resolve. Something in her kept her sitting still; a weight keeping her from standing up for herself and making herself known. She's been through this many times before, so why was this so much worse than the times before.
It was then she felt something in her chest, a warm sensation spreading out from her heart. The embarrassment and shame she felt soon turned to bitterness, then anger. And finally, something clicked inside her.
Something...stronger.
Something...angrier.
Diamond was about to retort against a comment against Scootaloo when she jumped back as a red faced Sweetie Belle stood before her and her partner. She saw something different in her however, something wrong.
Sweetie's eyes burned, she swallowed the lump forming in her throat and the burning turn to focus. The focus formed daggers, daggers that caught fire.
"And just who are you to judge how I choose to dress?" The rebel spoke, her voice taking a rough edge.
Diamond mocked gasped. "Oh, is somepony getting a widdle upset?"
"Hey! I wasn't done with you-" Scootaloo said, standing in front of Sweetie Belle, but was then pushed aside as Sweetie walked past her and stand before Diamond Tiara.
"And who do you think you are to judge me?" She asked the fillies.
Silver Spoon furrowed her brow. "Your betters, of course."
Diamond nodded, standing closer to eye the red maned filly down. "Fillies who have their cutie marks, the top of the food chain compared to the likes of you blank flanks."
"According to who?" She spat, taking another step forward with her eyes narrowing and her horn's point aimed to her bully. "You think you're better because you got a cutie mark before anyone else in class did, so what? Because you found your special talent?"
Diamond's glare began to falter. As the space between her and the ranting filly shrinking dramatically, she found herself stepping back as the rage in Sweetie boiled over. "What's your talent then, hmm? What's that crown on your flank mean anyway? You're not a princess, like Princess Celestia or Miss Twilight! You're not any kind of royalty I know, so what does it mean? Are you daddy's little princess? Is that it? Did daddy buy that crown on your head?"
Scootaloo started to grin, she turned to Applebloom. "She's really getting in diamond's face!"
Silver Spoon moved to stand beside her friend. "Hey! Step back, Blanky!"
Sweetie switched her lock on to Silver Spoon, who instantly shrunk under the sparking daggers aimed in her direction. "And you! What does the spoon mean? Is your talent...cereal? Do you like cereal? Soup? Oatmeal?"
As she went on, the play yard soon took notice of the shouts of Sweetie and ran to catch the display. A semi circle formed around the fillies, Scootaloo and Applebloom now only bystanders to the role reversal between Sweetie Belle and the two bullying fillies.
"Or is it because you're spoiled? Rotten and greedy, both of you!" She shouted, the colts and fillies surrounding her now cheering her on. Inside the rage burned with a new found pride, and she no longer yelled for just herself.
"All you've ever done is put the rest of us, ALL of us down just cause we don't have our cutie marks yet! Well I don't know about you, but I think I can speak for the rest of us blank flanks when I say I'd rather be the last pony in Equestria without a cutie mark than to have one that is meaningless!"
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon both gasped, their egos deflating before the entire class as Sweetie's crumbled resolve formed back a metal shielding.
"You jab at us, pick at us! Kick us while we're down almost everyday in every scenario, cross the line and hurt our feelings because it's just so funny isn't it? But I guess it's easy to tear into a small little defense filly like me and make me feel like I'm wrong and pathetic and insignificant when you don't know one bucking thing about me!!"
The yard fell silent, jaws open and eyes wide before the rebellious filly huffed and puffed. Her hooves planted firmly in the dirt, flames roaring in her eyes with her teeth clenched tight and horn sparking. The fillies she burned might as well have been mere scorch marks on the ground, as they sat holding each other with tears brimming in their eyes.
"Ahem!"
All heads turned slowly to find one fairly ticked Cheerilee, her sights set on one filly alone.
Sweetie soon turned, the rebel retreating back into herself as she found herself face to face with her teacher.
"Sweetie Belle. Classroom, now!"