Unpolished Diamond

by pokerninja2

Operation: Reunite Diamond and Silver

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Diamond Tiara awoke from her slumber, with the clock ending her dreamy adventure. She groggily got up, rubbed her eyes, and lazily flopped out of her bed. She didn't bother fixing her bed up - Randolph would take care of that. She headed into her bathroom to wash her face with warm water, then went over to her clock to shut it off.

6:02 AM. School didn't start until 7:30, but she always went to school around this time, mainly to avoid her mother. She did love her, but Spoiled was... well... spoiled. It was in her name, after all. She knew somewhere in that hard-as-nails exterior laid a kindhearted mare - she just knew it - but for one reason or another, it didn't show.

Her mother wasn't awake yet. Diamond wasn't sure what time Spoiled Rich usually woke up, but she never stuck around to find out. Putting her tiara on her head and getting her saddlebag with all of her finished homework, she told Randolph to let her parents know she was already on her way to school, as she did every morning, and started her trip. She used to walk to school with Silver Spoon, but those days were in the past now. She frowned, wondering how long it would take her to get used to walking alone.

However, the thought of Silver not being her friend anymore led Diamond Tiara to remember she had the Crusaders helping her get back together with Silver Spoon, and Apple Bloom had a plan to rekindle their friendship.

She quickly turned around and ran the other way, toward Sweet Apple Acres, hoping that she wasn't too late. She eventually found the clubhouse, and hastily climbed up the stairs, but it was empty to her surprise. She walked right in and was about to sit down unil—

"Wow! When ya said you'd be leavin' for school early, ya weren't kiddin'!"

She turned around quickly in shock, seeing Apple Bloom standing right there at the doorway.

"So... I'm not too late?" Diamond asked.

"Nope," Apple Bloom answered, shaking her head. "Yer just early. The others normally don't come here 'til a little later.”

"Oh," Diamond said, looking around the clubhouse. A moment of awkward silence passed. "So... what do you usually do when you're alone?"

Apple Bloom had to think for a moment. "Well, Ah used to sit here an' think of crusadin’ ideas to get our cutie marks, but those days are long gone now. Nowadays, since we found out our special talents are… well… helpin’ others find their special talents, we’re helpin’ foals all around Ponyville. Ah just sit here and think 'bout who we should help next."

Apple Bloom walked up to a stack of papers and letters in the corner, reading them through to see what the team’s next course of action should be. Diamond looked around the clubhouse; it was a pretty nice place. A window on the wall could let one see the beauty of Sweet Apple Acres, there were all sorts of pictures of fillies that the group helped in the past week - including one of herself, surprisingly enough - a large, red rug draped floor, and there was a small toy chest in the corner. Next to it was a shelf crammed with supplies; paper, pencils, crayons, glitter, stickers, glue, tape, and much more.

“This is a really nice clubhouse,” Diamond admitted. “You did a really good job with it.”

“Thank ya,” Apple Bloom commented, continuing to sift through her letters. “Mah sister used to use it with her friends, but she gave it to me. It was old and run-down, but Ah gave it a bit of a fix-up.”

"Well, do you guys ever just, like, hang out?" Diamond asked. "Y'know, like, have sleepovers?"

“Course we do!” Apple Bloom said, taking a letter and opening it. “We even had a sleepover in the clubhouse once. Everypony knows us for crusadin’ but we also play around like normal friends too.”

“I see,” Diamond said. She then took notice the stack of letters and papers Apple Bloom was looking through.

“What’s with all the letters?” Diamond asked.

“Well now that we’re tryin’ to help other foals find their cutie marks, we kinda opened up business here!” Apple Bloom giggled. “We’ve been gettin’ letters from all over Ponyville from folks havin’ trouble finding their special talent. We even got some gown-ups who dunno what their cutie mark means! Y’know, ya sure do ask a lot of questions.”

"So anyway," Diamond said, trying to change subjects. “What's your plan to get me and Sil back together?"

"We better wait for the others to come by,” Apple Bloom answered. “Ah asked ‘em to come early, so they should be here right about…”

A moment of silence passed over the two fillies.

“About what?” Diamond asked.

Apple Bloom sighed. “See, Ah was S’POSED to say that just as the others opened the-”

Just then, the door opened, revealing Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Twist, who poured into the clubhouse.

“Door,” Apple Bloom sighed.

"Oh good, Diamond's here!" Sweetie Belle said.

"So, what are we doing for Operation: Reunite Diamond and Silver?" Scootaloo asked. Everypony in the room just shot her a glare.

"Is that really what we're going with here?" Diamond asked.

"None of us agreed on that," Apple Bloom said. Scootaloo just rolled her eyes.

"Anyway," the farm filly began. "Mah plan was to maybe give Silver a gift. Ah overheard her say an apology wouldn't be enough, so Ah figured a gift WITH an apology would be enough to win her over."

"That sounds like a great idea," Sweetie said.

"But what could we give her?" Twist asked.

"Diamond, you've been closer to Silver that any of us have been," Sweetie said. "Does she like anything? I like my stuffed animal, Scootaloo likes her scooter, so what does Silver like?"

"Spoons, probably," Scootaloo said, chuckling to herself. Apple Bloom responded with a punch to the shoulder.

Diamond pondered over this a bit. True, she was Silver's friend ever since her school life started, but the past couple of days sort of drained her memory. She knew she liked the Foal for Hire series, but she already had the latest installment. She also liked jewelry and pretty much anything shiny, but no doubt she had enough of that to fill Celestia's treasure vault — Silver was just as rich as Diamond was, if not more, after all.

"All I can think of are some stylish glasses," she finally said. "And I don't think it'll be enough."

"OH! I know!" Twist shouted, jumping in place. "What if we made a thcrapbook about all the fun memorieth you two had? Maybe thee'll mith them enough to want to be friendth again!"

Diamond smiled at the idea. "Great idea, four eye—” She immediately paused and covered her mouth, darting her eyes around the room as everypony was staring at her. That one slip-up could have ruined the good thing she had going.

"Sorry," she said desperately. "I didn't mean it, I swear!"

"It'th alright," Twist said. "No hard feelingth."

"Thanks," Diamond said, sighing in relief. "It's gonna be awhile before I break out of that habit of calling you names."

"But why?" Sweetie asked. "Twist doesn’t have four eyes,” She pointed at Twist. “See?”

"Never mind," Diamond said. "But anyway, that's a great idea, Twist! Luckily, I have some pictures in my wallet." She then pulled her yellow wallet out of her saddlebag, then unfolded it, showcasing various pictures of her and Silver Spoon over the months.

"You already have a wallet?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Well, I AM a rich filly. You might even say I'm FILTHY rich!" She giggled a little to herself.

Scootaloo just facehoofed herself. "Please, just leave the jokes to me."

"Like your joketh are any better," Twist said, smirking a little.

"Anyway," Apple Bloom said. "We can sure use those pictures. Jus' pick the ones where you two were happiest."

Diamond Tiara began scrolling through the pictures in her wallet, picking out a few, while Apple Bloom ran back to the farmhouse to find an empty booklet. The rest began planning on how the scrapbook would look, making sure it would be pleasing to the eye. When Apple Bloom came back, the fillies got some supplies from the shelf and began working. The Crusaders took turns taping pictures on each page, while Diamond wrote a formal apology letter to attach to the scrapbook. In about an hour, it was finally finished.

"Thanks, girls," Diamond said. "I could've never done it without you."

"You're welcome," Sweetie Belle said, dragging Diamond in a hug.

"Uh-oh," Scootaloo said, looking at the clock that said "7:15 AM". "We'd better get to school. Quick! We could probably save time if we take my scooter—”

"No," Sweetie deadpanned as she put on her saddlebag. "Just... just no."

"Oh alright," Scootaloo said, rolling her eyes.

"Y'all go ahead," Apple Bloom said. "Ah'll catch up."

The fillies nodded as Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Twist left the clubhouse and went to school. Diamond, still unsure about herself, turned to Apple Bloom, who was putting the supplies they had used back on the shelf and reorganizing the letters.

"How?" she asked.

"How what?" Apple Bloom replied, dumbfounded.

"How can you forgive me so easily?" Diamond asked. "Sil didn't forgive me for being a bad friend to her, and she was my best friend. You though, I probably bullied you more than the other foals at the school combined! You of all ponies should be mad at me. How were you able to forgive me after all I did to you?"

"Like we said yesterday," Apple Bloom said. "It's all water under the bridge. Ah'm yer friend, now."

"B-but I made fun of you not having a cutie mark!" Diamond said. "I made fun of your family, the fact you don't have parents, and I even turned Babs Seed - your own blood - against you! I even made fun of Scootaloo not being able to fly, I made fun of Sweetie Belle not being able to use her magic yet, and I made fun of Twist talking funny! I think I even—”

Diamond was interrupted by a hug that Apple Bloom pulled her into, coming out of nowhere. She was surprised, but embraced it.

"Ah'm still goin' to remember all those mean jokes ya said 'bout me, mah family, and mah friends," Apple Bloom said. "But that was the past Diamond Tiara. The filly who was nothin’ but a mean bully who put everypony else down ‘cause she thought she was above them. But, Ah don't see that filly anymore. Now, Ah only see the REAL Diamond Tiara, the one who wants to make new friends and be a better filly. Ah don't know what happened to the past Diamond Tiara, but Ah’m glad she's gone."

Apple Bloom then pulled away from the hug and looked at the pink filly in the eyes.

"'Cause the real Diamond Tiara is here to stay."

Diamond Tiara sniffed, tears in her eyes. "Th-thank you, Apple Bloom!" she said, shedding tears of joy. "Y-you really ARE a true friend!"

"Well, what are friends for?” Apple Bloom said.

Diamond soon looked up at the clock, and realized it was 7:20 AM - ten minutes until school.

"Uh-oh," Diamond said. "We better get going."

"Ah know a shortcut," Apple Bloom said. "Follow me!" She ran out of the clubhouse and down the steps, with Diamond Tiara close behind. Before she did move, she remembered to put the scrapbook in her saddlebag.

The two fillies barely made it in time for class. In fact, just when they arrived on the school grounds, the bell rang, signalling them that they'd better hurry. When they took their assigned seats, it was quite noticeable that they were in a hurry - they were sweating buckets and panting rather hard.

"Oh good, you're here," Cheerilee greeted. "Don't worry, you two haven't missed out on anything. Now, today we're going to learn about Sunray, the pony who discovered that the Sun and Moon can move on their own without help from the Princesses, it would just take nearly six times as long." She turned to the chalkboard to write a few notes for her students to take.

While Cheerilee was going on about the lesson, Scootaloo tapped Apple Bloom from behind on the shoulder. "Where were you?" she whispered. "You're never THIS late."

"Ah know," she whispered back, “but Diamond needed a friend, again. We'll just say that."

"Apple Bloom, Scootaloo," Cheerilee called out, “pay attention please. You're disrupting the class," She turned back to the chalkboard and continued talking.

Silver Spoon raised her hoof. "Can I use the bathroom?"

"Sure," the teacher answered. "Just be sure to take a pass with you."

The gray filly got out of her seat and took the filly pass, then walked out of the door. Diamond checked to make sure Cheerilee wasn’t looking, then proceeded to stick the gift in Silver’s saddlebag. She made sure the note she attached to it was still there, and sure enough, it was.

"I hope this works," she whispered to Sweetie Belle, who was next to her.

"I hope so, too," Sweetie whispered back. "I hate to see when two friends stop being… friends."

"Class, please," Cheerilee said as she turned back around. "I know it's almost Friday, but that doesn't mean we can't pay attention. This will be on the test next week, too, so make sure you're taking notes." While she was a good teacher and all the fillies liked her, she was pretty strict when it came to rules.

---

The class went on for four long, painstaking hours, about Sunray, Solar Eclipse, High Tide, and more ponies who shaped the Equestrian history. It was especially tough on Diamond. She just wanted Silver to see the apology note and the scrapbook, and wanted to know whether it'd be enough or not. The suspense was figuratively killing her, eating her up from the inside, until FINALLY the school bell rang, meaning it was recess.

Diamond rushed up to the door to the playground, making sure she was there before Silver Spoon, and opened it for her, hoping she'd notice, but she simply looked away, pretending to tighten a strap on her saddlebag as she trotted past. The other foals came running out, though, almost trampling over the pink filly. The Crusaders were the last to arrive, and helped Diamond up.

"All of that and not a SINGLE thank you?" Scootaloo commented.

Meanwhile, Silver Spoon trotted to the bench she often sat in, especially in recent days since she was avoiding Diamond. The silver filly sat on the far end of the bench and set her saddlebag next to her. She then reached in to grab her Foal for Hire book, but accidentally pulled out Diamond's gift instead. “What was this doing in there?” Curious, she opened it up as an envelope fell out of the pages. She picked it up and the front read "From Diamond Tiara".

"That filly must be trying to apologize again," Silver thought. Her first thought was to throw it away, thinking it’d be another half-effort apology. But her curiosity peaked, and she found herself opening it, reading the letter inside:

To Silver Spoon,

I know that you're going to think this is some apology with half-effort put into it, but please read on. I am so, so, so, SOOOOOO sorry for being such a terrible friend to you. The Cutie Mark Crusaders helped me realize what true friendship means, and that's the exact OPPOSITE I treated you. I'm sorry for ignoring your suggestions during the election, and I understand why you didn't vote for me. The Crusaders also helped me put this scrapbook together, with pictures that we took when we were still best friends, but I wrote this note on my own. Can you please forgive me and be my friend again? I really, REALLY miss you.

from Diamond Tiara

"Did she really make this for me?" she thought. As Silver flipped through the pages, she realized that she missed Diamond Tiara as well.

"I guess she really HAS changed," she thought to herself. "And to think I wouldn't even listen to her! I gotta find her. NOW!"

She closed the book, put it back in her saddlebag, and hopped off her bench to look for her pink filly. She found her ex-best friend with the Crusaders and Twist. Diamond Tiara was sitting at the side, watching their game of 4-square.

"Cheer up," Sweetie Belle said, while keeping her eye on the ball. "I'm sure she'll forgive you and be your friend again." Just then, Apple Bloom knocked Twist out of Square #2, and Sweetie took her place as the candy cane enthusiast retrieved the ball and went back to Square #1.

"But what if she still doesn't wanna be my friend?" Diamond asked. "What if she just threw the letter and scrapbook away without looking at it?"

"Don't worry, Diamond," Twist said. "I bet Thilver Thpoon ith coming over here to be friendth with you right now!"

"I am," Silver Spoon said as she approached the group.

This shocked the fillies, and they turned around to see Silver walking up to them from behind a tree. This shocked Scootaloo so much that she accidentally bounced the ball to Silver Spoon's head, knocking her glasses.

"Not again!" Apple Bloom said as she glared at Scootaloo, who nervously chuckled.

"S-Sil?" Diamond said. She wanted to say more, but nothing else could come out.

"Hey Diamond," Silver replied, putting her glasses back on. "I read your note, and to be honest, I kinda missed you, too. I’ve been feeling pretty lonely by myself."

"Y-You have?" Diamond asked.

"Yeah," she said. "So to answer your question, yes, I want to be your friend again."

Diamond gasped, then tears of joy started forming in her eyes.

Silver noticed this and held her hooves out. "Alright, c'mere—” She was interrupted when Diamond tackled her and started crying out of happiness.

"ThankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouTHANKYOU!" Diamond squealed. "I promise I'll be a good friend from now on! With Celestia as my witness, I'll never, ever, EVER be mean again!"

"It's okay," Silver said, trying to break out of her grasp but to no avail.

"Ah TOLD ya it'd work," Apple Bloom said.

Diamond Tiara wiped the tears out of her eyes, and let Silver Spoon up. "Thank you all for helping me get my friend back," she said.

"BEST friend," Silver corrected.

"Bleh," Scootaloo commented. "I hate sappy moments. So Silver, you wanna play with us?"

"You bet, blank fla—” Before she could finish that sentence, she quickly covered her mouth, wishing she had never said that

"Sorry, I'm just so used to saying that," Silver said.

"Don't worry," Diamond said. "I made the same mistake too."

For the rest of recess, the fillies played 4-square together. Cheerilee watched from the window in the schoolhouse, happy to see that Diamond and Silver had finally made amends.

Author's Note:

Yeah so there's this weird thing going on where I'm trying to rewrite the fic but the first chapter says it's published three years ago even though I just rewrote it today and the update isn't showing, so I gotta push out the second chapter early... I'm guessing at least one of you out there had this happen before

But rest assured, we're back in business now so stay tuned for future updates! See you next chapter.