Chapter One
"Hey, blank-flank!"
That was the first thing Apple Bloom heard on the Monday after Diamond Tiara's Cutecenára. After countless attempts to get her cutie mark in the most absurd areas, Apple Bloom had given in to pride and missed the party. She knew that she would most likely be harassed about it at school the following Monday, but at the time, she didn't care. Now Apple Bloom was starting to rue her decision.
"Oh, dang..." Bloom said to herself, looking for a place to hide. But it was too late; Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon had already caught up with her.
"So, blank-flank," Diamond said, a cruel sneer on her face. "Why weren't you at my party last Friday? Too ashamed to come?"
"N-no..." lied Bloom. It was true; she had been ashamed. When she had found herself caught in the party, Apple Bloom decided to escape through the back door. I'm an idiot... she thought, cringing to herself.
Diamond smirked. "Yeah, right. Anypony who's anypony at all was there. Which, of course, drove you away since you're the biggest loser in school." Silver Spoon gave a high, throaty laugh.
Tears appeared in Apple Bloom's eyes. "I-I am not..." she said, struggling to keep her voice in check.
"Oh, please. You positively reek geekiness. Don't try to deny it."
Apple Bloom didn't answer. She was forcing herself not to cry, and Diamond sensed this. "What's the matter, Apple Bloom? Trying not to show the baby that you are?"
Something inside Apple Bloom snapped at this. "Just stop it, Diamond! Leave me alone, will ya?" Without thinking she pushed Diamond down.
Silver gaped open mouthed at this, and Diamond glared at the yellow filly, who had only just realized what she had done. Diamond got up on her hoofs, a dark scowl on her face.
"What, is the country filly trying to fight back? That's new." She gave Apple Bloom a little push back that to prove that she wasn't happy.
Bloom bumped up against a tree. "K-knock it off, Diamond! What have I ever done to you?"
Diamond Tiara put on a mock-thoughtful face. "Hmm... Well, let's see. You annoy me with your stupidity..." She gave Bloom another push, this time a bit harder than the last.
"..You irk me with your dumb accent..." An even harder push, meant to hurt.
"...And you made me mad when you tried to assault me just now. How are those for reasons?" At the word 'those', Diamond Tiara slammed Apple Bloom against the tree, the filly groaning with pain.
"Now, for those crimes, I think a little punishment is in order, hmm?" Quick as a flash, Diamond yanked the pink bow off Apple Bloom's mane and held it high above her head.
"Diamond, no!" pleaded Apple Bloom frantically, her eyes wide with panic. "That bow was my ma's!"
"Oh! Well, then." said Diamond. "I guess this is an even better punishment than I thought!"
With a wicked smile, Diamond ripped the pink ribbon in two. Apple Bloom gasped, tears running down her face. She lunged at Diamond, only for Silver Spoon to pin her to the ground.
"No, please!"
Riiiiip...
"Diamond, stop it!"
Diamond laughed heartlessly, throwing her head back in a evil cackle. Once the bow was torn to shreds, she threw the pieces to Apple Bloom.
"Keep it. The pieces can remind you that you're just as useful as this bow."
Just as Diamond was about to sashay away, she heard a growl from behind her. She turned around just in time to see Apple Bloom lunging at her ferociously. Diamond Tiara screamed as Apple Bloom pinned her to the ground, throwing punches left and right.
"YOU! WILL! NEVER! HURT! ME! AGAIN!!!" she screamed, flailing her hoofs every which way in an attempt to injure Diamond in any way possible. Diamond dodged each blow narrowly, then shoved Apple Bloom off of her. Bloom stumbled onto the ground, dazed but unhurt. Diamond took advantage of this, muscling Apple Bloom as hard as she could. Apple Bloom lost her balance and fell, her forehead impacting with a tree root. At first Bloom gave a small wince of pain, then she fell still.
Silver Spoon gasped. "Diamond! She's not moving! W-what did you do to her??"
"I... I..." said Diamond, for once at a loss for words.
"Oh my gosh, her head's bleeding! " cried Silver. She stared up at her best friend in horror. "Diamond, d-did you..."
No... I didn't really kill her or anything, did I? thought Diamond Tiara feverishly. I-I'll bet she's just faking to psych me out!
Silver rushed to Apple Bloom's side, attempting to shake her awake. Diamond just stood there, the color draining from her face.
"M-miss Cheerilee! Miss Cheerilee!!!" shouted Silver Spoon.
Diamond went completely pale. "N-now Silver, l-let's think about this..."
Silver whirled around, a furious expression on her face. "No, you think about this, Diamond! We've been making fun of Twist and Apple Bloom for months, and every time we did, I felt horrible! But I didn't say anything because I was afraid you'd turn on me! But I'm not afraid anymore, because it's time for you to get exactly what you deserve!"
After this, Silver Spoon got up and sprinted towards the schoolhouse, calling for her teacher. Diamond stood there, thinking about what Silver had said. But she have much time to do that because in a few moments, Silver was back, this time with Cheerilee by her side.
"Diamond, Silver Spoon says that you- oh, my!" Cheerilee exclaimed, aghast by the sight in front of her. "Diamond Tiara, what have you done?"
***
It had turned out that when Apple Bloom hit her head on the tree root, it had only given her a small concussion. It was told that if Bloom spent at least a week in the hospital, it was likely that she'd make a full recovery and would be able to return to school.
But that wasn't what was bothering Diamond. Not at all.
After Bloom had been transported to the hospital, Cheerilee called her father at work for an emergency parent-teacher conference. She had even given the class recess for the rest of the day so they wouldn't have to wait until after school.
"...So Mr. Rich, what your daughter has done is not only life-threatening, but cruel as well! Her friend, and dare I say accomplice Silver Spoon told me that Diamond destroyed a hair bow that meant a great deal to the Apple Family, as it belonged to Apple Bloom's dead mother."
Mr. Rich bent his head down, his forehoofs clutching the bridge of his muzzle. "Oh dear... I don't know how this could have happened... I will of course be paying the hospital bills, and as for the loss of the hair bow... you know that I'll do whatever I can to make up to the Apple family."
Cheerilee looked stern. "While I'm sure that they'll appreciate that, Mr. Rich, it's not you who needs to apologize." She stole a glance at Diamond, who was sitting outside by the window and staring enviously at her classmates on the playground.
Mr. Rich sat up in his chair, feeling slightly offended but still managing to keep a somewhat polite tone. "I'm positive that Diamond feels very sorry about what she did and is sure to ask for forgiveness once she has the chance."
"I'm not so sure about that, Mr. Rich. Silver Spoon also said that Diamond tried to discourage her from telling me about the accident. If that's true... then I don't think that she'd be so quick to apologize. Then again, I could be wrong."
"And what of her punishment? I'm guessing that she'll suspended for some time-"
"No, Mr. Rich. Diamond Tiara is going to be expelled."
"What?!"
Rich was shocked. He knew that his daughter had been no saint at school, but he never imagined that she'd ever be expelled.
"Miss Cheerilee..." said Rich. "Isn't that a bit... extreme?!"
Cheerilee shook her head. "The incident happened on school property, meaning we have to take some legal responsibility. And according to the Apple family, Diamond Tiara has been tormenting Apple Bloom all summer, and Apple Bloom seems to have been taking your daughter's words to heart. And after Diamond got her cutie mark... well, as you can see, it only escalated from there."
Rich nodded his head reluctantly "Well... knowing that, I suppose that suspension doesn't quite gratify the situation. But still- Expulsion?! That's ludicrous! Where will Diamond go to school after this? You know that this is the only schoolhouse in Ponyville."
"Well..." Cheerilee reached down to her saddlebags and pulled out a brochure. "Read this. It might give you some ideas."
Filthy Rich accepted the the brochure from Cheerilee and read the front: Madame Roseberry's School for Girls. A picture of a dirty, scowling filly was on the cover with the word 'Before' underneath her. Next to it was the same filly, this time clean, groomed and beaming with joy, and the word 'After' underneath.
Rich's brow furrowed, confused and a bit angry. "Miss Cheerilee... are you suggesting that I send my daughter away?"
"Trust me, Mr. Rich. I have a plan."
"Do tell." he said darkly, as if daring Cheerilee to say another word antagonizing his daughter.
Cheerilee explained that this place was the strictest and most prestigious boarding school for girls in Equestria, and if Diamond attended one school year there with good results, she would consider allowing Diamond Tiara back to the Ponyville schoolhouse next year. Mr. Rich listened reluctantly. He didn't like the idea of sending his sweet little girl to some far-off academy.
"Cheerilee, where exactly is this place?" he asked suspiciously.
"Trottingham, in one of the most wealthy neighborhoods they have. Classes began a few weeks ago, but you still have time to register Diamond for this school year."
Rich breathed a sigh of relief. He had been afraid that it was some prison camp out in the desert. But he still wasn't completely sold on the idea.
"Miss Cheerilee, I really don't think that it's necessary to just send Diamond away like this. If you would just give her another chance-"
Cheerilee sighed, pressing her hoof to the bridge of her muzzle. "Mr. Rich, I'm going to be blunt. Your child is a troublemaker and a bully. Why, just last week Miss Hooves called me and said that Dinky came home crying because Diamond Tiara had pushed her into the mud."
Rich was dumbfounded, as he was previously unaware of such things.
"I-I'm sure that was just a misunderstanding..." he said weakly.
"Was it a 'misunderstanding' when Piña Colada was locked in the bathroom overnight, and her parents were frantic looking for her?"
"I-I..." Rich stammered.
"And don't get me started on the name calling. Despite what some students may think, we teachers are not deaf. I know for a fact that more than one foal has been subject to Diamond Tiara's teasing. For instance, at the beginning of the year, I heard Alula tell Cotton Cloudy that she was afraid to come to school because of all the abuse she received from Diamond the previous school year.
"Not to mention that Half Note reported her new charm bracelet missing, and two days later an identical one was found in Diamond Tiara's desk. No, Mr. Rich. I think that the only thing that's misunderstood is why you have ignored all this evidence against your daughter. Plain and simple, Diamond has run out of second chances."
"Cheerilee I never knew about any of this before now. How can you expect me to deal with all of this when I was never told?"
"That's impossible!" said Cheerilee. "I've sent a note home for you to sign every time she- Oh. Oh dear..."
Rich stared fixedly at Cheerilee. "You don't think she..."
Cheerilee rubbed her forehead, exasperated. "Well, this explains a lot." she said.
"Y-yes, I'm afraid it does."
After a rather long stretch of silence, Cheerilee finally spoke:
"Mr. Rich? Are you all right?"
Filthy Rich looked up at Cheerilee, a stony expression on his face.
"How- how soon can I enroll her?"
***
"Boarding School?!"
It had been a day since the conference with Cheerilee, and Filthy Rich was sitting the downstairs parlor with his daughter, discussing her punishment.
"You're making me go to some awful old Boarding School just cause of that stupid blank-flank couldn't take a joke??? That's so unfair!"
Rich sighed. "Diamond, you have been expelled from the Ponyville schoolhouse. There's nothing I can do. The only way you can come back is if you spend a term at Madame Roseberry's and come out with a clean record."
"Well, maybe I don't WANT to go back to that stupid school anyway! I'd much rather stay at home all day than go there."
"Right now, it doesn't matter what you want, Diamond, it's what you need. This is a place for fillies who have disciplinary problems, and at the moment, you are qualified to attend! Now, I don't want to hear another word about this, do you understand?"
Diamond went silent, surprised by her father's outburst. He almost never yelled at her.
"B-but, Daddy," Diamond whined, fake yet realistic tears welling up in her baby blue eyes. "Y-y-you've always told me I'm a g-good girl..."
"Save it, Diamond. You're going to Madame Roseberry's, and that's that. Now let's go."
Diamond gasped. "You mean- right now??"
"Of course not. We have to go shopping for your uniform and school supplies. Now, get on a jacket, it's chilly out there."
Diamond reluctantly did as she was told. On the drive over to Barnyard Bargains, where she got most of her clothes, Diamond stared out the window, refusing to even look at her father. He was chatting away about how nice the school was, trying in vain to extract some conversation from her. Diamond ignored him, watching the sun pour down and making her even angrier.
I can't believe this! she thought, steaming. How could Silver Spoon snitch on me like that? Some friend she is! And after all I've done for her!
And anyway, it's not like I tried to put little miss 'I-lost-my-stupid-hair-bow' in the hospital, it just happened that way. Some ponies just need to learn that I'm better than them, and that's all there is to it. After all, if I let her get away with it, then chances are that everypony else is going to be stepping all over me. And is her family really so poor that they can't afford another dumb ribbon??? Like, just get over it already!
And now they're making me go to some loser reform school just cause the little drama queen hit her head??? So not fair! She's the one who pushed me first! She's the one who should be going to prison camp, not me!
Wait, if this is prison camp, are they going to make me wear some gross striped jumpsuit or something? OMC, I hate stripes! They can't make me do this, I-I'll sue! Wait, are you allowed to sue your own dad?
Before Diamond was able to reflect on this any longer, the wagon stopped in front of Barnyard Bargains. Brushing coldly past her father, Diamond sauntered inside the building with her nose in the air, Rich close behind. As Filthy read off the supplies list, Diamond grumbled insults under her breath and mixed up some displays.
Around her, several shoppers stared curiously at Diamond, one pair whispering loudly to each other.
"Isn't that the little Rich filly?"
"Yes, I believe it is. Diamond Tiara, I think."
"Wasn't she the one who put that poor Apple child in the hospital? What a disgrace."
"Shameful, absolutely shameful."
Diamond's face burned, and she was about to confront the mares. Her father noticed this and quickly whisked Diamond away before she could make a scene.
"Daddy, what the heck? Those mares were being like, super rude and I was just going to set them straight!" she griped.
"Sweetheart, any other day I would have gone and talked to them myself, but considering the circumstances it's best if we just walk on and say nothing." said Filthy. Diamond grumbled a bit about this, but let it go.
The rest of the trip was fairly uneventful. Diamond nearly threw up at the sight of the uniform she supposed to wear. It had a burgundy sweater with a collared white blouse underneath. A dark burgundy and maroon pleated skirt was next, and the dark brown penny loafers and white cotton socks completed the outfit.
"I think I preferred the prison stripes." she muttered.
"What was that, honey?"
"Nothing..."
Once they arrived home, Diamond marched up to her room and slammed the door. Lounging on her canopy bed was her pet cat, Dazzle. Diamond picked her up and stared into her big black eyes.
"They think that they're so great, sending me off to that... that... dungeon." seethed Diamond. "Well, they're in for a surprise. I'm not going, and even if I do, it's not going to be quiet."
Dazzle licked her face, and Diamond gave her a hug.
"You'll see, Dazzle. They can lead a horse to water, but they can't make it go to school."
***
The next Saturday, despite her constant attempts to sabotage things, Diamond Tiara found herself in her school uniform and at the train station. Two bubblegum-pink suitcases were next to her, neither carrying half the amount of clothes Diamond would have liked to have brought. Instead, there was only her school supplies, some bedding, monogrammed stationary with matching pen, her saddlebags, a winter hat and coat, and a set of snow boots, plus two extra uniforms identical to the one she wore at the moment.
In other words, hardly anything.
After six days of whining, crying, screaming, begging, bargaining, letters to the Princess, two unsuccessful runaway attempts, and an even less successful hunger strike, Diamond Tiara more or less accepted that there was no way out of her situation. But that didn't mean she was going to be happy about it. For most of the morning she had been giving her father the silent treatment, something she knew he hated.
As Filthy got out Diamond Tiara's ticket from his wallet, he bent down to talk to her. He knew that this would probably be the last time he saw her until Hearths Warming, and maybe not even then.
"Look, Diamond..." he started, unsure of quite what to say. "I know you don't like this, and I don't either. But... it's for your own good."
Diamond said nothing, scowling at her hoofs and muttering under her breath.
"I just want you to know that I love you very much, and that I'll miss you while you're away."
Rich gave his daughter one last hug, then handed Diamond her train ticket. "You'll write to me when you get there, won't you?" he said, his voice choked up with sadness. Diamond just grabbed her ticket and reluctantly gave her father a stiff hug. Rich helped her get her suitcases on board just as the train gave a puff of smoke and started chugging away.
Diamond Tiara sat down in a compartment and glared at her father through the window. Filthy Rich was waving goodbye and clearly fighting back tears. Diamond scoffed at this, disapproving of her father's obvious show of emotion.
Oh, yeah, sure, like he cares, she thought. If he really loved me, then he wouldn't have signed me up for this stupid school at all!
The train was picking up speed now, and Diamond took one last, fleeting glance at her father before he disappeared.
This is all Apple Bloom's fault...