Chapter Five: First Impressions
Chapter Five
The dining hall was enormous, the ceiling stretching up nearly two stories. The walls were off-white plaster with mahogany sidings, and tall glass windows let the fading sunshine pour in, sitting just below the ceiling. Paintings of Celestia and famous headmasters and mistresses were hung on the walls in beautiful antique picture frames. Several crystal chandeliers hung from above, showering glittering light across the hall. Similar to the common room, there was a large, stony brown fireplace sitting in the middle of the room, not lit but would most likely be well used in the winter.
Small tables were bunched together in groups, and Diamond recognized a few of the cliques from the common room had already separated themselves by the tables- The Nerds in one corner, the Athletes in another. But it seemed that they were separated by grades as well as groups.
In one part of the cafeteria, Diamond recognized the main body of 6th graders, about twenty or thirty or so fillies. But in other parts the rest of the grades had been spread out. Diamond spotted Periwinkle on the other side of the hall, leading a conversation with some of her prefect friends.
"C'mon, my table is over there." said Mal, leading Diamond over to a table with two other fillies. One, a teal pegasus with a short, choppy mane and red DJ glasses, was talking to a light green unicorn with a fluffy, rose-colored mane and tail. Both were deep in conversation, and didn't notice that Mal and Diamond were there until they sat down.
"Oh! Hey, Mal." said the green unicorn. "Who's this?"
"This here's Diamond Tiara, my new roommate." said Mal, gesturing to Diamond.
"Hey." said Diamond, giving a flip of her mane. "Who are you?"
"I'm Rose Breeze, and this here's Scarlet." the unicorn pointed to the teal pegasus.
" 'Sup." said Scarlet in a scratchy voice, giving Diamond a nod.
"Wait... Rose Breeze?" asked Diamond. "Isn't your dorm across from mine and Mal's?"
Rose nodded. "That's right."
"Does Scarlet room with you?"
"Uh huh."
Diamond was confused. "Then wouldn't Scarlet's name really be Dew Dro-"
Mal and Rose bit their lips, and Dew Drop scowled menacingly. "I prefer to be called Scarlet, thanks." she said. "My real name's only Dew Drop because my parents were probably drunk or something when they named me. Anyway, everypony's been calling me Scarlet ever since I got this red streak in." She pointed the blood-red streaks in her mane and tail.
Diamond got the message. "Okay then, Scarlet, whatever you say."
Scarlet shrugged. "Whatever. So, where were we?"
"We were talking about DJ Pon-3's new techno album, Electric." said Rose Breeze.
"It's the embodiment of awesomeness, if you haven't noticed." said Scarlet, leaning back in her chair confidently.
"That's what you say about all her albums."
"Hey, it's still true."
Rose Breeze and Scarlet launched into a conversation concerning Scar's weird obsession with techno music, and Mal turned to Diamond with a bored look on her face. "Ignore them," she said. "This happens all the time."
"C'mon, let's go get our food." said Mal, standing up and walking over to the food line. Diamond trailed behind her, glancing the various other students who were also in the line. The youngest ones looked about seven or eight, and the oldest around Periwinkle's age. Diamond could also see that even in different grades, most of groups were the same. Diamond became so immersed in her observations, however, that she didn't notice that she and Mal had reached the food counter until the cafeteria mare started talking.
"Collard Greens or Spaghetti?"
Diamond snapped out of it. "Um...", she said, staring at the chunky green soup that was obviously supposed to be collard greens, "Spaghetti?"
The mare plopped a ladleful of noodles onto a white plastic tray and handed it to Diamond. Diamond looked at her serving distastefully. She had never liked spaghetti, and having it served so unceremoniously just made it seem even less appetizing.
What I wouldn't give for Jean-Claude's prench onion soup and a chocolate créme brûlée about now... thought Diamond. At the end of the line, however, she was glad that they at least had the decency to serve cupcakes for dessert. She chose a chocolate one with pink frosting, then made her way back to the table with Mal. Rose Breeze and Scarlet were still deep in conversation, so the only other pony to talk to was Mal.
"What did you get?" asked Diamond, not really curious but wanting to make small talk.
"Spaghetti, milk, and hay chips." said Mal.
"I got the same, but with a cupcake instead of hay chips." said Diamond.
"That's nice."
Diamond was about to reply when a hoof tapped her shoulder. Diamond turned, and in the corner of her eye she saw somepony snatching away her cupcake.
"Hey! Give it ba- Oh, no..."
It was the bullies that Mal had told her to stay away from earlier. The one Mal had identified as Gingersnap had taken a big bite of Diamond's cupcake with a smug look on her face. She had a thick accent, and sounded more like a southern belle than a student at an Trottingham boarding school.
"Gee, thanks for the cupcake, newbie." said Gingersnap, throwing the remainder of the cupcake behind her.
"That was mine!" said Diamond huffily. "Just who do you think you are?!"
Gingersnap laughed spitefully. "I could ask you the same thing. Just who do you think you are, talking back to me like that? I think that we need to teach her some manners, don't we girls?"
The two fillies around Gingersnap nodded, the lavender earth pony a little less confidently than her bright white unicorn friend.
"First of all, what's your name, darling? It be rude not to introduce yourself to me."
Diamond gritted her teeth, forcing herself not to lash out with something rude. "Diamond Tiara."
Gingersnap nodded. "Mal, hon, do you mind if I could borrow Diamond Tiara here for a bit? Thanks, darling."
Gingersnap started walking, her fellow bullies trailing her. She turned around. "Well? Are you coming or what?"
Diamond turned to Mal. Mal just shrugged in a 'just do it' sort of way. Still unsure if she was doing the right thing, Diamond got up and followed Gingersnap out of the dining hall.
***
Once they were out of the cafeteria and in a deserted hallway, they finally stopped walking. Gingersnap looked around, then smiled.
"Perfect." she said. "Nopony else is around."
Diamond lifted an eyebrow. "What are you talking ab-"
All of a sudden, Gingersnap whirled around and slammed Diamond against the wall. Diamond crumpled to the floor after hitting the wall, and got up with tears in her eyes.
"W-what was that for?!" she asked, wincing slightly as she got up off the floor. Gingersnap merely laughed, her echoing voice high and cruel.
"Well, let's think." said Gingersnap in a mock-thoughtful voice. "Your hair looks like a really ugly dragon had babies in it and died, your voice sounds like it was made in a city whose main export is squeaky chalkboards, and to top it all off, you annoy me. How's that?"
Diamond's lower lip quivered; she was struggling not to burst out wailing. She remembered being on the giving end of these insults once upon a time, and she had never once thought about what it might be like on the less pleasant part of the cycle. Now she was finally seeing in another perspective.
But Diamond also remembered Mal's advice on how to act during the hazing, so she straightened up and pushed back her tears. She glared fiercely at Gingersnap, her eyes turning to slits. "Back off, freak show. I don't need some country girl lying through her teeth about me. BTW, what goat barfed up your mane style? Just curious."
A flame lit inside Gingersnap's eyes. "Says the filly with the plastic crown on her head. I would've thought you'd've given up on dress-up by the time you were, I don't know, four years old? Or are you still trying to trick yourself into thinking that your face doesn't scare children?"
Diamond Tiara opened her mouth to say something, but no words came out. Sweet Celestia, this girl was mean! If she was insulting anypony else, Diamond might've begun to respect her.
"Cute ponytail, though." said Gingersnap. "I think my little sister still wears her hair like that. Or was it my dog? I forget." Flicker laughed at that one, while Lily attempted a half-smile.
Anger burned inside Diamond. "Don't you need a license to be that ugly? You're just living proof that manure can actually grow legs and walk!"
"When's the last time you looked in the mirror, hon? Oh wait, I forgot; you broke all of them! Too bad you're way too poor to get some plastic surgery!"
"Excuse me???" raged Diamond. "My daddy is the richest stallion in town! And he wouldn't need to get me any plastic surgery! He'd buy me the whole hospital! He's the CEO of Barnyard Bargains, for Luna's sake!"
Gingersnap snorted. "I wouldn't be flaunting that little piece of trivia if I were you, sweetie. I'm pretty sure that your daddy just steals his merchandise from homeless ponies and slaps a price tag on 'em! Tell me the truth- did you get your lip gloss from his Princess Sugar Blossom pretend mini-makeup kit?"
This hit Diamond Tiara hard. She had gotten that kit for last Hearth's Warming. Diamond gulped down a sob. "Why are you doing this?" she asked, her voice trembling slightly.
"Why do you think? Because I had to see if you were tough enough to handle me, and frankly hon, you failed miserably." said Gingersnap spitefully. "To think I actually thought you were bully material when I saw you walking out of the 'bad kids' section of the dorms! Just goes to show, I guess."
"Wait... what?" said Diamond, feeling very confused. "What do you mean, 'bad kids' section? I thought it was just a regular dorm."
Gingersnap gave a high, cruel laugh that made Diamond cringe. "My goodness, darling, you're even more clueless than I thought you were! The 'bad kids' section is where the fillies who did bad things go- hence the name. I'm there, Flicker's there, why even sweet, 'lil Lily is there. We all here 'cause ponies say we're bad kids."
"What did you even do?" asked Diamond, not quite believing everything Gingersnap was telling her.
Gingersnap smiled, looking more devious than happy. "Last I checked, I'm the one asking questions. Now you tell me what you did, alright hon?"
Before, Diamond had thought what she had done to land herself at the school was a pretty big deal, but after seeing the kind of ponies that attended here, it was starting to seem rather tame.
"I-I... pushed a girl down... a-and put her in the hospital." said Diamond, trying hard to keep her voice from shaking.
All three girls burst out laughing. "That's it??" cackled Gingersnap, nearly doubling over laughing. "And here I thought that you might amount to something! Sa-weet Celestia, that's pathetic!"
Diamond was seething, furious tears forming in her eyes despite her efforts to keep them back. She had guessed that her crime wouldn't amount to much in Gingersnap's book, but she never dreamed that the bullies would react like this.
"Aw, is the wittle foal crying?" said Gingersnap in a mock-caring voice. "Guess the crybaby couldn't take a little constructive criticism, could she? C'mon girls, let's ditch this loser; we wouldn't want to be associated with some weak little foal, now would we?"
This was too much for Diamond. "Weak THIS!" she bellowed, lunging at Gingersnap with the intent to hurt her. Gingersnap simply sidestepped, allowing Diamond to slam head-first into the wall behind her.
Lily and Flicker burst out laughing. Eyes streaming, Diamond picked herself up to see Gingersnap's smug smirk.
"That was pathetic" she said. "My Celestia, even I thought some flimsy 'lil weakling like you would've had some mo-"
Gingersnap was interrupted with Diamond's hoof colliding with her jaw, knocking her to the ground between a shocked Flicker and Lily. Diamond was shaking, her rage was so intense. Nobody disrespects me like that. Nobody!
Gingersnap got up. She was unhurt other than a small cut on her cheek where Diamond's hoof collided, but she seemed so enraged that Diamond seriously thought Gingersnap was considering murder. Quick as a flash, she grabbed Diamond's neck and slammed her up against the wall. "You're gonna regret that, newbie." she hissed, gritting her teeth. Diamond felt Gingersnap's hoof starting to tighten, and it began getting harder and harder to breathe. "You've just set yourself up for a world of misery. It's high time somepony taught you to respect your superiors. Flicker, Lily, we're leaving. NOW."
Gingersnap released Diamond from her grip, letting her drop to the floor. Diamond gasped for breath, gulping down air. Gingersnap turned and stormed off, her two accomplices hurrying off after her. The lavender earth pony cast a worried and slightly guilty look behind her, before trotting to catch up to her honey-colored leader.
Diamond groaned as she pulled herself up off the floor again. She dusted herself off and rubbed a particularly sore spot on her forehead. Limping slightly, she walked back to the dormitories, wincing with every step. She knew that Mal and the others were probably waiting for her in the cafeteria, but she didn't care.
All she wanted was to go home.
***
Diamond opened the door to her and Mal's dorm and threw herself on the bed. She wailed into her pillow, letting out all the tears she had held in during the hazing. She hated Gingersnap, she hated, hated HATED her!
This isn't right! Diamond thought angrily, thinking of what happened with Gingersnap. I'm the one who's supposed to be intimidating everypony, not her!
After about fifteen more minutes of furious crying, Diamond was so exhausted that she fell asleep, her pillow streaked with tears. She dreamed that she was in a completely black room, all alone. She could hear the voices of Cheerilee, Silver Spoon, the Headmistress, and Gingersnap all around her, but she couldn't tell where they came from.
"You've been expelled."
"What makes you think you deserve any special treatment at all?"
"It's time for you to get exactly what you deserve!"
"You've just set yourself up for a world of misery. It's high time somepony taught you to respect your superiors."
Diamond searched frantically around for a way out, but there was none. The voices got louder and louder, until they were almost deafening.
"Stop it, please!" begged Diamond Tiara. "I don't want to be here! Please!"
But it didn't stop. The voices surrounded her, engulfing her, shattering her spirit. No matter where she ran, they followed. She couldn't escape.
"Leave me alone!" she screamed. "What have I done to deserve this??"
The voices started speaking something new, chanting in unison "YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID... YOU KNOW WHAT YOU DID..."
"No, stop!" Diamond shouted, crumpling into a ball on the ground. "Please!"
The voices closed in, and Diamond gave one last scream before she was consumed by the darkness.
Suddenly, Diamond jolted awake, breathing heavily as if she had just run a marathon. Her heart was beating like crazy, and all her covers had been thrown of the bed so she knew that she had been moving around in her sleep. Across the room, Mal was reading a dark green novel, not noticing or caring whether Diamond was awake or not.
Diamond shook herself awake. "How long was I out?" she asked Mal, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes.
"Just about three hours." said Mal, still not looking up from her book. "When you didn't come to the cafeteria, me and the others figured that you just came back here to sulk, and we were right. When I came back into the room, you were asleep, so I just read for a couple hours until you woke up."
"What time is it?" asked Diamond.
Mal glanced up at the wall clock. "Eight-twenty. It's dormitory free time right now; that means we're allowed to do whatever we want as long as we stay in the dorms."
"Well, what are we supposed to do if we can't leave? This has got to be, like, the most boring dorm room ever or something."
"You can unpack, for one thing."
That's right I forgot... Diamond thought to herself. I'd better get started.
Diamond climbed off her bed and walked across the room for her suitcases. She dragged them over and sat them on top of her bed. Opening them, she pulled out the stationary and pen, the uniforms, the winter items, and her bedding. She walked across the room again for her saddlebags, which lay forgotten on the floor. Quickly but quietly, she folded the uniforms and winter items together and stored them away in the dresser next to her bed. She straightened the bedding, folding the comforter on the end of the bed like her Prench maid used to. She tucked the stationary and pen away in her suitcase and slipped it under the bed, and sat on top of the covers. All of this only took about thirty minutes.
"Okay, done." said Diamond. She had never really done work like this before, and while she thought it beneath her, she couldn't help but feel a bit proud of herself.
Mal looked up at the wall clock again. "Just in time," she said. "It's almost time for lights out."
Mal got up from her bed and walked over to an alarm clock sitting on a windowsill. She cranked up the clock, then set it back down on the sill then walked back and flopped back in bed.
"Why'd you that?" asked Diamond. "Won't they just send in a housekeeper for a wake-up call?"
Mal just looked at Diamond funny. "We don't get a wake up call." she said. "On a normal day, if our beds aren't made and we aren't dressed in our uniforms by 7:00 am sharp, then we get detention for at least two days. On weekends they go easier, though. We don't have to get in our uniforms, and we have to be ready at seven-thirty instead of seven."
To Diamond, this sounded like cruel and unusual punishment. She was used to getting up at ten on weekends, and only bothered to get up at eight on schooldays because she knew Silver Spoon had no other friends, something she had made sure of during her rein of terror.
"Well, what's gonna stop us from staying up a little longer?" asked Diamond. "I mean, it's not like they're gonna waltz in and throw us in the dungeon or something if we talk a little longer."
"Actually yeah, they will, in a way, 'throw us in the the dungeon'. In fact, they should be getting here in just a few mi-"
The door slammed open, and a violet earth pony with a light yellow mane and sapphire eyes entered the room.
"Okay kiddos, lights out." said the girl gruffly. "No talking, or I'll see to it that you get a week of detention, understand?"
Diamond was about to give a sarcastic retort when the filly shut off the lights and slammed the door, the only light in the room now coming from the open curtains.
"Huh. They were two and a half minutes early tonight. Odd. Aw well, 'night roomie." Mal said, lying down. Diamond sighed, frustrated, and crept under the covers. The mattress was hard, but at least the sheets were warm.
Shimmering moonlight cast itself down on Mal and Diamond's beds, giving a feeling of serene silence. Diamond sat up in bed. She hated sleeping in new places; it made her feel uncomfortable and out of place. Even so, after about a half an hour of restless thinking, Diamond finally fell asleep.
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What kind of disciplinary school is this? Shouldn't the students be watched at all times to prevent bullying? And shouldn't those cliques be forbidden? This joint is trying to discipline their students not encourage this kind of behavior.
I don't sound like an ignoramus do I?
I think you repeat The chapter, i remembee reeding this a while back, anyway, veryyy glad you are not dead, I enjoy this fic a lot.
I'm getting an odd sense of deja vu. Must be cliches messing with my head.
6393786 Say what like that?
6393884 Yeah, I've been busy re-tooling the whole story, I just finished revising this chapter.
6394941 the part aboht no lesbian shipping, you said it like you were fed up with it
Dammit...
I love this story! Keep it up!
6444875 Thank you!
6444889 no problem! You're a great author!
When will the next chapter be up?
6454298 I'm almost done writing Chapter 6. Expect it within the next week.
6454709 Cool!
Hopefully it won't end up like Ironhax, announced saying "Expect it within the week" then it is released 3 weeks later, only because it was leaked and the guy who made it had no choice.
My reaction:
"Why, I could try my best to replicate that chalkboard sound if you wish, and those dragon babies are up for adoption, of you're interested. Certainly, looks matter not, if I'm not mistaken. Oh, why must you abuse my emotions so freely, when you could get a better reaction out of somepony else for sure? Unless you're looking for jab trades with the three-in-one, I don't see why. I'm as wierd as it gets. I'll read the books, trade the jabs, push around if need be, and pull off the wierdest shit. According to my new roommate, I could qualify for three of those groups that you have here, so are you sure you're up to the task?" Boom, owned with words. Rogue/troublemakes accent and claims, nerdy compilation, with a wierd hint of being social on top of nerd. A sentence to make any bully consider. All true about me, too.