After an unfortunate encounter with Apple Bloom, Diamond Tiara is sent to boarding school.
Diamond Tiara Rich- wealthy, beautiful, spoiled rotten. Everypony hates her, but at the same time, they desperately want her life. But this life doesn't come without problems.
Diamond Tiara has always hated Apple Bloom, and who could blame her? She's annoying and pathetic and obviously insanely jealous. So anytime they see each other, Diamond tries to get it into her head that she, being rich and amazing, is way better. But after a particularly dicey encounter with her favorite victim, Diamond makes a mistake.
And that mistake sends her to boarding school.
Determined not to let her new circumstances get her down, Diamond vowed to have the entire school eating out of her hoof by the end of the year. But that's a little hard to do when the role of resident Queen Bee has already been filled...
But unbeknownst to anypony, strange forces are lurking close. A student hungers for power, and secrets of Equestria are revealed. Soon, it will be up to Diamond to decide what matters most- herself, or the ponies around her?
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.
On Sunday, after nearly a day's journey to Trottingham, Diamond was relieved to finally get off the train. While riding, there was absolutely nothing to do except look out the window and buy ice cream cups from the train's snack bar. On one of her frequent trips, she accidentally bumped into a plump, cheery looking mare. Her ice cream cup clattered to the ground, spilling all over the carpet.
"Very sorry, little lady, din't mean to-"
"Hey, watch where you're going, lard flank!" yelled Diamond irritably. "Can't you see I'm walking here?"
The mare looked very offended. "I'm sorry for bumping into you, but there sure ain't no need for that kind of talk, girlie!"
"Whatever, fatty. I don't need to listen to you."
Diamond was about to walk off, but the mare grabbed her by the scruff of her collar and pulled her back.
"Now listen, missy, I don't tolerate being treated like this. Din't your mum ever teach you that it ain't nice to talk like that to other ponies?"
"My mom is a dumb slut who left me a long time ago. Now get out of my way."
Diamond blew past the mare indignantly, making a beeline for her compartment. She locked the door behind her and closed the blinds so that she could change out of her uniform. When she was done, Diamond sat down on one of the plush seats and thought.
What, is the whole world out to get me now? she said to herself in her head. First Silver Spoon, then Cheerilee and Daddy, and now some old fat mare who doesn't know squat about me.
And anyway, what does she know about Mom? Even if she hadn't left, I'll bet she still wouldn't have taught me anything but how to apply lipstick properly. But from the pictures I've seen of her, I'll bet she doesn't even know how to do that.
None of this is fair. Everypony else gets to have an awesome, normal life, when mine is always, always, always filled with some sort of drama. How would they like it if their dads just decided to ship them off to some reform school somewhere with hardly an explanation?
Some ponies just don't get it. My life isn't all sunshine and roses every day. Everyone is always nagging me for something. 'Oh Diamond, don't put off your homework.' 'Oh Diamond, be nice to the other foals.' 'Oh Diamond, we're sending you off to some stupid freaking boarding school because you screwed up like, once.' Ugh. Can't they just lay off for a change?
Pretty soon Diamond heard the train slowing to a stop. Peeking through the blinds, she saw the train station coming into view.
Diamond noticed that the Trottingham train station looked very much like the one in Manehatten, but cleaner. A number of chauffeurs holding signs were scattered around the area, Diamond seeing none bearing her name.
" 'Oy! I need a Diamond Tiara Rich 'or here! Anypony 'ere named Diamond Tiara Rich?"
Diamond perked up at the sound of her name. She turned around, searching for the pony who had called for her.
Finally, she found a young earth pony stallion holding up a sign bearing her name, which was apparently spelled 'Diamond Tiara Retch'. She frowned. Is this supposed to be HUMOROUS???
Diamond scanned her escort suspiciously. The stallion couldn't have been older than twenty, with a scruffy goatee and a long, cheerful face. His mane and tail were a dark orangey-brown, and his hide a tannish orange. Diamond scowled. This is supposed to be my chauffeur?! she thought, disgusted. Who do those idiots at the school think they are? I'm Diamond Tiara. I deserve better than this!
The stallion turned around and saw her, a smile lighting up his face. He trotted over to Diamond, grinning.
" 'Ay, are you Diamond Tiara Rich? If ya' are, I'm here to take you to Madame Roseberry's."
Dazed, Diamond slowly nodded her head before realizing that she had butchered her last chance for escape.
"Oh, good! Well then miss, if you'll hop in my wagon, we'll be on our merry way. Let's go!"
Before she knew it, Diamond had been herded into a gleaming white wagon with the words Madame Roseberry's School for Girls in rose-colored paint on the side. The stallion was busy loading her suitcases into the wagon, chattering all the while.
"Name's Hamish (1), by the way. I'm going to be taking you to Madame Roseberry's today. You seem like a right good 'lil filly, ya' know..." Hamish started pulling the wagon down the road, pointing out certain buildings and attractions along the way.
He irritated Diamond. His constant cheerfulness, thick accent, and eager nature reminded her too much of a certain resident of Ponyville.
"Would you just shut up?!" snapped Diamond after a few moments of his jabber. Hamish stopped talking and looked up, surprised but unoffended.
"Yer a little rude now, ain't ya'? That must be why your 'tendin Roseberry's, eh?"
Diamond Tiara was shocked. Usually, ponies were offended when she snapped at them, or were too terrified of her to do anything but obey. Hamish was neither.
"H-How dare you! I'm Diamond Tiara. You can't speak to me like that!"
Hamish only laughed, fanning the flames of Diamond's anger. "Ya better git rid 'o that attitude 'fore you get ta 'th school, miss. Th' 'Edmistress don't stand for that kinda lip, 'ya know."
"Hmph," Diamond grimaced. "Yeah. Right. Look, Hammy is it? I don't care what you or this cow of a Headmistress thinks, and if she wants to order me around, she can go and stuff it down her fat old throat! If it means that I get expelled again, then you can tell her I couldn't care less."
Hamish snorted. "First off," he said, turning around, "If you think that 'Edmistress Weaver is fat, then I'm Princess Celestia."
"Second," he continued, unabashed by the daggers Diamond was staring into him, "I don't know what school you came from, but I'm betting that the worst punishment they could give out was being expelled. There ain't no expulsion here. When you get in real trouble, ya' don't get sent home, 'less it's just your dead body back from the Ice box."
Diamond sneered, not sure if he was joking or not. "The Ice box? Please. What's she gonna do, get me an iced tea?"
Hamish laughed heartily. "Ha! When ya' see the Ice box, you'll wish it was jus' iced tea. Nah, from what I hear when I do odd jobs 'round th' school, th' last gil to go in was in there ten hours. She had a nervous breakdown halfway through, passed out, and has been claustrophobic ever since."
Diamond's sneer melted off her face. She was sincerely hoping that he was joking; that he would say "Just Kidding!" anytime now.
Her nervousness was showing, "Yeah, not so cocky now, are we? Trust me, give it a few months and you'll be falling in line with all the others. Madame Roseberry's ain't failed yet, and I'll bet my right hoof she ain't gonna start now."
Diamond Tiara was about to respond when Hamish stopped walking and pulled up to a large red brick building. (2)
"Is this the place?' asked Diamond, her voice shaking slightly as she gazed up at the massive structure. It was about three stories high with a dome and clock tower at the top. Stone-rimmed windows lined the front of the school, with rose colored curtains and bars over the ones at the third floor's right side. There was a large obelisk near the entrance with words printed on the front in gold lettering:
Madame Roseberry's School for Girls
Est. 1854
'Teaching our lovelies to be proper ladies'
Diamond gazed in awe up at the mammoth building. She couldn't believe that it was a boarding school and not a nation-wide college. Behind her, Hamish laughed at her gaping expression. "It's a real big place now, ain't it? Don' worry 'lil miss, you'll fin' your way 'round soon enough. Now les' go inside. The 'Edmistress is gon' ta' want ta' see you."
Still dazzled by the ginormous piece of architecture, Diamond walked behind Hamish though the front doors and off into a side hallway. The inside was not quite as grand as the outside, but it was still nonetheless impressive. The Entryway's walls were made of rosewood and cherry, the ceiling stretching up nearly two stories before stopping. As they entered the side hallway, which Diamond guessed was the teacher's quarters, she couldn't help but notice the wall was lined with portraits of the previous Headmistresses along the wall. Under each painting was a name, a date, and a quote, but of course Diamond payed no attention to any of this. At the moment, she was mostly focusing on which of her withering remarks she could use to greet the Headmistress with.
Along the way, Hamish pointed out certain paintings and rooms similar to the way he did on the ride to the school. This time, Diamond simply ignored him, grimacing all the way.
"... and o'er there is Ms. Ivory's office, she's th' street law 'an etiquette teacher 'round here. Bet you'll have 'er this term! And, oh, here's the 'Edmistress' office right 'ere. Right, you run along in there and I'll be on my way. Bin nice meetin' ya!"
And with that, Hamish dashed off, leaving Diamond alone outside the Headmistress's office. Finally, now I don't have to listen to his constant jabbering.
Diamond turned to the huge mahogany door, now feeling a little afraid in spite of herself. Before, she had convinced herself that it was one big joke; that it was all nothing. Now it all seemed very real.
Trembling slightly, Diamond knocked on the door and waited a few moments before a high, throaty voice answered: "You may enter."
Diamond pushed open the door, it giving a few sharp creaks before swinging open. Diamond Tiara found herself face-to-face with a sneering, haughty-looking unicorn mare, looking about in her mid-40s. She had a spring green hide and a pink mane with venetian blue streaks, piled on top of her head in a professional-looking updo. Her cheeks were sunken from never smiling, and her horn was sharper than any Diamond had ever seen.(3)
Diamond could see why Hamish had laughed when she had called the Headmistress fat, the woman was lean, almost to the point of malnourishment. The thought that anyone in their right mind would call her fat was ridiculous, almost comical. Her cutie mark consisted of a pink and green rose, the emblem all too familiar to Diamond now. Next to the rose, however, was a depiction of a teacher's pointer stick, the sort of thing Miss Cheerilee used whenever they were studying maps. Diamond looked at it curiously, wondering it's meaning.
"Young filly, it is very impolite to stare."
Diamond snapped out of it, then looked up at the Headmistress, analyzing her style. Over the years, Diamond Tiara had somewhat learned the way teachers worked. Some, like Miss Cheerilee, were very nice and friendly on the first day. Others would be strict at first, then get nicer as the year progressed. But very rarely had Diamond ever found a teacher who was mean on the first day.
"Well? Don't just stand there with your mouth open, stand up straight and introduce yourself!"
Diamond Tiara hadn't even realized that she had let her jaw drop. She quickly shut her mouth and smoothed her mane, then looked the Headmistress right in the eye. Okay Diamond. She's only a teacher. You've got nothing to worry about, she's just like all the others. Most likely she'll break down or at least be pretty stunned once I'm through with her. Finally, Diamond scowled, then spoke.
"Look lady, I don't want to be here. So since I always get what I want, you'd better get that retard busboy back here so he can take me to the train station. And 'cause I'm feeling generous, I'll let you carry my luggage, mmkay?"
At this, the Headmistress's eyes blazed and her nostrils flared furiously, only to be replaced a moment later by a cold, stern glare.
"And just who," she said in a scarily calm voice, only barely held under control, "do you think you are, that you can just walk in and insult me in my own school?"
No worries, she's just trying to gain control of the situation. Well, tough luck lady, cause I'm in charge now.
"Diamond Tiara Rich, that's who." she smirked, giving a saucy flip of her mane.
"Well then Ms. Rich, just what makes you think your name will have any effect on how you are treated here?" she said, seeming to be struggling to keep her tone in check. "In fact, what makes you think you deserve any special treatment at all?"
Diamond was rather taken aback. All her life, she had received special treatment from adults and foals alike, because apparently she was above them. And she knew the reason why.
"W-well, my Daddy is the CEO of-"
"Your Daddy isn't here." she said coldly. "He sent you here so that you may learn to be polite and ladylike, a skill you are obviously in serious want of. So since you obviously have no grounds for special treatment, then tell me: What should I do with a student that has the nerve to talk to her superior like you have, and then claim the she has the right to do so, simply because her 'daddy' is the CE-whatever of some business somewhere that no one here could care less about?"
Diamond Tiara stifled a look of astonishment; no one had ever said anything like that to her before.
Wait... what did she just say? she thought. She's supposed to be cowering in fear or crying or something by now! Did I not do it right??? Okay. Let's try this again.
"Maybe I didn't explain myself correctly. My Daddy is very rich and very influential. So unless you want this dump shut down by morning, I suggest that you- stop laughing! WHY ARE YOU LAUGHING????"
The Headmistress had sat down behind her desk, chuckling lightly. Her hoofs were clasped together and holding her forehead.
"Ms. Rich, you seem to have an exaggerated idea of your father's importance. I suppose that it's to be expected, seeing as how you grew up in such a rural area, where he most likely is the wealthiest stallion in town. But now that you've arrived here, it's high time you come to grips with the reality that no matter how great of a stallion I'm sure your father is, the basic truth is that he's a mildly successful businessman who, while he does have more money than the average citizen, he most certainly does not have the influence to shut down my school on a whim."
Diamond's face flushed bright red. But... but that's impossible! Daddy knows people. He's practically rubbing elbows with Celestia!
"But back to the matter at hand. I will let you know right now that outbursts like that will not be tolerated by me, nor by any of the faculty. I'll let you off this time because this is your first offence, but don't try it a second time; it will not end well for you."
"In addition," she continued. "I will also expect a letter containing a full apology for both myself, and for Hamish. He is a honest and hard-working boy and does not deserve any sort of bad-mouthing from fillies like yourself. I'm sure that your previous teachers have taught you the correct way to write a letter?"
"Um..." Diamond reflected back to the previous school year, where Cheerilee had indeed taught them how to write friendly letters. However, she also remembered that she had forced Silver Spoon to do all of her work during the lesson.
For a moment, Diamond thought about lying and saying that of course she could write a proper letter. But fortunately, common sense won over.
"Erm... No, I don't."
The Headmistress was a little surprised. "How interesting..." she said, eyeing Diamond as if she were some sort of scientific specimen instead of one of her pupils. "I shall speak with your composition teacher to give you some remedial work over the weekend."
Diamond looked aghast. Already she's giving me make-up work?! What kind of a sick sociopath does that???
"I shall also have one of the prefects show you around the school. Here is a map of the school and your class schedule-" She handed Diamond a slip of paper. "Please report to the main office, and wait there until one of the prefects is summoned."
Diamond nodded her head, then turned around to leave.
"Oh, and before you go," said the Headmistress, causing Diamond to turn back once more.
"Welcome to Madame Roseberry's."
***
(1)- Pronounced hAY-mish. Not hAM-ish. hAY-mish.
(2)- I included this picture because this is how I want Madame Roseberry's to look like. If you guys think that that's being unoriginal, than I guess it is. Just pretend that Twilight's cutie mark isn't on the front window, and instead of a bunch of horse statues on the building there are statues of roses. (and no mirror connecting to the Equestria Girls universe.) Besides that, there is a horseshoe, but instead of a moon in the middle, it has a circle. So even though this place looks a lot like Canterlot High, I'm not totally unoriginal.
(3)- Except for that one guy at Diamond's Cutecenára, but that's beside the point. (um, no pun intended.)
Diamond Tiara trotted down the hallway to the admissions office. The map that the Headmistress had given her was complicated, there being three floors of the school. After a few minutes of searching, however, Diamond finally found the admissions office. Creaking open the hefty door, she peered around the inside of the front office.
A red velvet davenport was pushed against a window, and a mahogany coffee table sitting in front of it. A ticking clock hung on one of the dark wooden walls. A pale pink unicorn mare sat at a matching desk, working at a typewriter while sorting several piles of paperwork with her magic. Her mane and tail were a lush, chocolaty brown, her mane in a stylish pixie cut while her tail was only brushed. She had soft lavender eyes, her magical aura an identical shade. Overall, an attractive-looking pony.
"Um... hi?" said Diamond rather uneasily. The mare looked up from her work, surprised.
"Oh, hello." she said, giving a warm smile to the obviously nervous filly. "I'm Lavender, the secretary around here. Who are you?"
"...Diamond Tiara." said the filly suspiciously, rather confused by the mare's friendly approach. After her meeting with the Headmistress, she had thought that all of the staff was going to be harsh and intimidating.
"Now, I presume that the Headmistress sent you in for something?"
Diamond nodded.
"And what might that be?" asked Lavender.
"T-the Headmistress told me to come here and ask for a prefect to show me around the school."
Lavender brightened. "Ah, so you're a new student, are you? Well don't worry, I'll have a prefect here in no time." At this, she turned to her typewriter and quickly whipped out a typed document. Lavender lifted it up in her aura, closed her eyes, then smiled when the paper popped out of existence. Noticing Diamond's bewildered expression, Lavender laughed then said, "Oh, don't worry. I just sent it off to one of the prefects. Somepony will be here shortly."
Diamond nodded, then went to sit down on the velvet sofa.
Diamond Tiara peered around the office. She started noticing things she hadn't before, such as the great lengths Lavender seemed to go to to personalize her office space. Photographs of what seemed to be friends and family members were taped to the wall, and a pale pink and black dust ruffle adorned Lavender's desk edge. But although there was a lot of things decorating the office, it was all very neat and organized.
"Um, I'm here for the new student?"
Diamond snapped out of her pondering, and looked to see where the voice had come from. At the door leading to the hallway, there stood a periwinkle unicorn with a short mint and pale pink mane. Her mane and tail were fluffy and brushed to perfection, and a pair of small, square-shaped glasses perched on her nose in front of light violet eyes. She had a cordial but mature sort of voice, and in her mane were two light pink barrettes. Almost everything about the young mare seemed to project an aura of confidence and warm friendliness. Diamond felt a surge of fondness for her. The filly smiled politely at Diamond.
"Hello, there. I'm Periwinkle. You're new here, right?" Diamond nodded. "What's your name?"
"Diamond. Diamond Tiara."
"Okay then, Diamond-Diamond Tiara, let's get going. You have your schedule with you, right?" Diamond nodded and scurried after her as they departed the main office.
"So you're, like, gonna show me around the school or something?" asked Diamond.
"Yep. So, the first floor's mostly just offices, teacher's quarters, and a couple of classrooms, so we don't need to spend much time around here for now." They briefly went over Diamond's schedule and Periwinkle pointed out where one of her classes would take place. Soon it was time to move on the the second floor.
"Don't you guys have any elevators?" asked Diamond as she gazed up in horror at the hundreds of stairs.
Periwinkle chuckled. "Nope, sorry. By the way, if anyone ever tries to sell you a map to the 'secret elevator', don't fall for it. You'll have to learn to mind the stairs."
Once they had trudged up the steps, Periwinkle cheerfully began to outline the second story. While the first floor had mainly consisted of offices and such, the second consisted entirely of study areas, labs and more classrooms than she could count. Diamond peered around into each room, wondering about which ones she'd be entering come Monday. Periwinkle's descriptions of each weren't exactly what Diamond would've thought particularly interesting, but she listened anyway, considering that she might need the information later on.
"... and over there are the 6th grade homerooms, where you'll probably be. Each grade is split into two homerooms, except for the fourth and third grade, who only have one."
"Wait, so how many grades are taught here?
Periwinkle smiled, as if she had been half-expecting this question. "At Madame Roseberry's, the grade levels range from 3rd to 8th. There's about twenty to thirty fillies to a class, and about 60 or so to a grade. We have to have it that way, otherwise we'd have to fit all 384 students in one room. Why, don't you know how the classroom system works?"
Diamond Tiara shook her head. "No... in my town, there's only a one-room schoolhouse, and only about twelve fillies and colts in all. And every subject was taught by the same teacher. So we don't have the... classroom system, I guess."
Periwinkle thought this over. "Wait... where exactly do you live? Most cities have to use the system or else it would all be one big jumble."
"Well, I don't live in a city, exactly, I live in Ponyville, practically the blandest town ever. The only exciting thing that's happened in the time I've lived there is, one, I was born, and two, Twilight Sparkle came and gave Nightmare Moon an epic beat down. Then she went and opened up some lame-o library inside a tree. Boring, right?"
Periwinkle didn't answer for a moment, sort of staring out into the distance. Diamond turned around; there was nothing there.
"Um... are you okay?"
Periwinkle snapped out of it. "Sorry about that, just thinking for a second. Let's move on, shall we?"
Periwinkle finished up with the second floor and moved on to the third. The third floor, unlike the first or second, was comprised entirely of dorm rooms. Each room had a number over top and four names listed on the door.
"Now," said Periwinkle. "Kindly allow me to see your class schedule." Diamond complied, reaching into her saddlebags and pulling out the paper the Headmistress had given her. Periwinkle took it up in her magic and looked it over.
"Hmm... It looks like you're in dormitory number fifteen." said Periwinkle, her eyes scanning over the paper and then handing it back to Diamond Tiara when she was done. Periwinkle led Diamond to her dormitory but stopped outside the door. "Now, I'm guessing that you can take care of yourself from here? Your luggage has been magically transported into your room. Make yourself comfortable; you'll be living in this room till the end of the year. Dinner is at 6:00 sharp, so don't be late. If you need anything or are confused, come find me or one of the other prefects, we'll be happy to help." At this, Periwinkle teleported away, leaving Diamond alone in front of her dorm room.
Feeling a twinge of loneliness, Diamond pushed open the door, seeing a very short hallway. On each side was a door with two names, and at the end of the hallway was a small bathroom. The right side, there was the number fourteen above the door and the names Rose Breeze and Dew Drop on the door, but that held no interest to Diamond. On the left side however, there was the number fifteen and the Diamond Tiara on a sign. There was a second name adjacent to her's but it was scribbled out in black permanent marker.
Diamond pushed open the left-hoof door, only to find a reddish-brown pony going through some certain bubblegum-pink bags. Her mane was uncombed and messy, something Diamond was sure would be frowned upon in such a neat, tidy place like this.
"What in Celestia..?!" said Diamond Tiara, mouth gaping at the filly who seemed to be going through her things. "What in Tartarus are you doing??! Get out of my stuff!"
The reddish-brown earth pony whipped around, her dark, muddy green eyes calm and calculating. She was grinning slyly, her expression staying the same even when she saw Diamond.
Diamond scowled darkly at her. How dare she mess with her personal belongings! How dare she!
"Ahem... What exactly are you doing? 'Cause that's my stuff you're messing with, you know."
"Oh! Yeah, sorry 'bout that." The filly had a slight Manehatten accent, and Diamond noticed now that she looked rather ashamed now that Diamond had caught her.
Diamond Tiara squinted her eyes at the filly suspiciously. "Why were you even doing it in the first place? It's my stuff, not yours."
The filly smirked. "Hey, don't go blaming me, Princess. I'm klepto; you're rich. That don't mix well."
Diamond contemplated this. She didn't want to believe her, but somehow she felt herself succumbing to the filly's words. Either she was a masterful liar... or she was telling the truth. Diamond decided to give her the benefit of the doubt this time.
"Fine." said Diamond. "Let's say I do believe you. I still want you to give me back my goods, so fork it over."
The filly grimaced and rolled her eyes, but dug under one of the twin beds in their dorm. Out came the stationary, the pen, some of the bedding, and the hat. Diamond looked in her almost empty suitcase. All that was left were the extra uniforms.
"All my goods." she snarled.
The filly scowled and stuck out her tongue, but brought out the winter coat and boots from under the bed. Diamond checked off her short inventory in her head, then smiled. "Good." she said. "That's much better. Now where were we... ah, yes. I'm Diamond Tiara Rich, and you are...?"
The reddish-brown filly smiled impishly, then held out her hoof. "I like the way you work. Mal Cutpurse, thief extraordinaire. Sorry 'bout the suitcase thing, by the way. Couldn't help myself."
"All is forgiven." said Diamond smiling. Suddenly, however, a dark look came upon her face. "But if you ever, ever, EVER," she said, backing Mal against a wall. "Even THINK about stealing from me ever again, you'll regret you ever crossed me, get the point?!"
Suddenly, Mal burst out laughing, much to Diamond Tiara's anger and surprise. "Why are you laughing?!" screamed Diamond furiously. "I'm TRYING to be serious here!" This only made Mal laugh even harder than before.
"S-sorry," said Mal, her voice shaking with laughter. "But you just sound so ridiculous!"
"'Ridiculous'?! Whaddaya mean, ridiculous?!" said Diamond Tiara furiously. She hated it when other ponies laughed at her.
"Exactly what is sounds like, toots. That little statement of your's ain't gonna get you nowhere 'round here."
"And before you start," said Mal when Diamond opened her mouth to speak. "If that was a tactic ya used at your old school, then it sure as heck ain't gonna work here. Kids around here are tough, and most of 'em ain't gonna take nothing from some spoiled rich brat like you. So I suggest ya' get smart and get tough like the rest of 'em. It's the only way to survive 'round here."
Diamond analyzed this. If the methods she used to intimidate the kids in her old class didn't work here, then she was going to have to come up with a new system. But she'd have to work fast; her father had always told her that first impressions are everything in the business world, so school should be no different, right?
"What do you mean, 'tough'?" asked Diamond, her voice taking a rather shrewd tone now.
"I'm guessing that you got in trouble at your old school," she said, momentarily avoiding the question. "You're already rich, so it wouldn't be for stealing, at least not anything big enough to land you in this kind of trouble, and I doubt you'd be the kind of filly to cause property damage. So I'll bet that either you got framed as revenge for something else, or you went too far in asserting yourself and somepony got hurt. How'm I doin' so far?"
Diamond just nodded, amazed at how close to the mark she had gotten.
"Judging by the way you were talking to me just now, I'd bet that whatever happened was your fault. I'd also bet that this 'somepony' had been your punchin' bag for awhile and you felt they had it coming, even though they probably didn't."
Diamond was offended at this. "That's not true! Apple Bloom tried to tackle me to the ground, so of course she deserved whatever happened to her!"
"Apple Bloom, eh? Country name. That means that you probably don't live in the city. However, you'd also have to at least live in a town, otherwise you wouldn't have enough ponies your age for a school to get kicked out of. The only small towns I can think of like that are Appleloosa, Dodge Junction, or Ponyville. Any of those ring a bell?"
"Ponyville. How are you doing-"
"This?" she interrupted. "I can read ponies. Comes in handy when you grow up on the streets of Manehatten. Always been able ta' do it. Like for example, when I told you you were asserting yourself and you went too far, your eyes lit up. That told me I was on the right track. Two or three lucky guesses later and you practically spilled your whole life story right in front of me. It helps that you have no poker face whatsoever, not to mention I got to see in your suitcase before you got here."
Diamond grimaced. Was she really that easy to read?
"And the answer to that is: yes, you are."
Diamond was astonished. "Wha- but I didn't even say anything!" she sputtered, her pink cheeks blushing red.
"You didn't need to. Like I said, your poker face needs work."
Diamond sat down on the right-side twin bed. She couldn't believe that she could be read so easily. And like her father had said, first impressions were everything.
"You done sulking yet?" Mal said simply. "Cause I still have to show you around school before you can get settled in."
"I already saw the school." Diamond stated, sounding bored. "They had one of the prefects to show me where everything is."
Mal Cutpurse smirked, "No, that was the building, I'm gonna show you the school. C'mon, we've got a lot of material to cover so try and keep up."
Well, I've got nothing else to do. Why not?
And with that, she followed her out, off to see her new school in all it's glory.
After Diamond had changed out of her uniform, Mal took her down to the common room, a place where Periwinkle had hardly given a glace to on the tour. It was 6th grade recreation time, and most of the fillies in their grade were already there, chatting, studying or just goofing off in general. Diamond noticed that most of the girls were divided into little cliques, with an occasional loner here and there.
The common room was well furnished, with cream-colored plaster walls with mahogany sidings. There was a set of small, dark wood bookshelves pushed against a wall, and several tall windows with dark green curtains. A few dark wood study tables were pushed off to the side, with several students reading or doing homework on them. On top of the mahogany floorboards there were several soft, thick rugs in a maroon variety. There were several large, cushy, burgundy sofas scattered around the room, many with mahogany coffee tables in front of them. And right in the heart of the room was a red brick fireplace, not lit now but surely to be put to use in the winter months. Students walked around, socializing with their neighbors. All in all, a thoroughly normal common room.
Diamond looked at Mal. "Am I supposed to intimidated?"
Mal didn't even give Diamond a glance. "You'll see."
Mal gestured towards a couch in the back. Diamond followed her friend, and when they sat down she said "Okay... Now what?"
Mal just stared ahead. "Now we start. Get your thinking cap on, roomy, 'cause we gotta lot of teaching to cover. Madame Roseberry's 101, the groups. A few kids are off on their own or in small circles of friends, but some of the students have formed their own larger cliques, and the majority of the student body is a part of at least one. You're inevitably going to run into them sooner or later, so it's important you learn who they are and what they do as soon as possible. Now look over there."
Mal pointed to a table full of fillies playing table hoofball and talking loudly. The loudest and rowdiest girl was a off-white pegasus with a ginger mane pulled back by a light green headband. Her eyes were a darker green, and her face had no makeup unless you counted a million freckles. Diamond supposed that she was pretty in her own way, but most definitely not a knock out.
"Group number one, the Athletes. They're just what they sound like; they eat, drink, and breathe sports. Don't even try to challenge them in Phys Ed, from the look of you, you'll probably lose. That said, they can be cool people to hang out with, as long as they don't think you're too stuck-up. Needless to say, they hate the Prep's guts and the feeling is mutual, so if the two groups are in the same room together, don't be surprised if ya' see sparks fly."
"The... Preps?" asked Diamond, a little confused.
"Group number two," said Mal, gesturing over to a group of wealthy-looking fillies gossiping to each other and applying makeup. "You won't see too many of them that are here 'cause they got in trouble, they're here because they've got rich daddies who wanted their kids to spend time learning some manners. But don't underestimate them- they got razor sharp tongues and can make you the laughingstock of school in an hour. I wouldn't test them if I were you."
"Group number three: The Prefects." Mal full-on gagged when she said their name. "Unlike the other groups, they're actually school-sponsored. You have to be nominated by a teacher and approved by the headmistress to join. They're like the preps, but with more power and better acting. They're also able to hand out punishments, though they need teacher approval for anything big. In a nutshell, they're professional tattletales. Just stay out of their way and you might be able to skip out on the Ice Box experience."
"Are there any others?" asked Diamond, still seeing clumps of unclassified fillies scattered around the common room.
"Yep. Meet Group number four, the Nerds." Mal pointed to a table near the bookshelves, full of fillies reading, studying, or browsing the shelves. Many of them wore glasses similar to Twist's, and one, who seemed to be leading a study session and was most likely the leader of the group, was by far the nerdiest-looking one. Diamond looked to Mal for explanation.
"They're the kids in class that always have the right answers, and they can be total teacher suck-ups. Most of them have no social skills, but having one as a friend can be handy if you're in a technical jam. They get manipulated and blackmailed a lot by the other cliques because just a peek at their schoolwork can bump your grade up."
Diamond remembered how she used to threaten Twist and Silver Spoon into doing her schoolwork for her. These geeks will be easy targets. thought Diamond smugly.
"But like the preps, you shouldn't underestimate these guys." said Mal, again giving the impression that she could read minds. "Your Potion ends up doing the opposite of what it's supposed to? You know that it's a nerd seeking revenge. The homework you copied has all the wrong answers? That means they've outsmarted you. Knowledge is power, and these guys memorize textbooks for fun. You do the math."
Yet another bubble burst, thought Diamond, sighing slightly. Oh, well...
"Let's move on to group five." said Mal. "The Bullies." She pointed over to a small group of girls chatting and gossiping about whoever walked by. "They're the smallest of the groups, but they can cause you some serious grief if you're not careful. Try not to become one of their victims; they'll torment you until the end of the year or whenever you get out of here."
Some of the girls Mal had pointed out as the bullies didn't seem so threatening to Diamond. One group of three in particular looked fairly normal. The first was a very light lavender earth pony, with a pure white mane, spring green eyes and a cutie mark of a heart-shaped flower. Another one was a bright white unicorn, with red-and-orange mane and bright red eyes. Her whole form seemed to radiate heat, and her cutie mark of a bolt of flames only helped that. The last one, clearly the leader, was a golden-brown earth pony with a warm brown mane and tail. She had a spray of brown freckles across her muzzle and warm brown eyes, and her hooves and ears were adorned with gold bracelets and small gold hoop earrings. Diamond guessed that she was moderately wealthy, and wondered what she could have done get herself here.
"Group Six," said Mal, motioning over to a corner of of the common room where a crowd of shifty-looking fillies sat close together, some of them playing a not-so-friendly game of poker, others messing around with small switchblades and lighters. Many of them had ear or nose piercings, and a few wore dark lip liner and eyeshadow. The mane styles varied, some's being as scruffy and unkempt as Mal's, others sporting brightly highlighted mohawks and cornrows. Diamond spotted one of the girls sneaking over to the Prep's area and snatching a light blue purse from one of the seats.
"These are the Troublemakers." said Mal. "They're the kids who were sent here by their parents or the court or whoever because they broke the law, or their folks broke the law and the cops don't want the kids to take after their parents. A lot of these fillies are from big cities, like Las Pegasus or Manehatten, and they know that life ain't fair. Some are kleptos, like me, but others are things like connivers or pyromaniacs or pathological liars. They generally don't target other students 'cept to steal stuff, but I don't think I need to tell you how dangerous they can be when provoked. Just steer clear and don't snitch on them and you'll be fine.
"And last but not least is group seven," said Mal. "The Weirdos."
Diamond looked at Mal, sure she was joking. "The... weirdos??"
"Yep. These kids aren't technically a group, they've just gotten kicked out of everywhere else and been forced to stick together. Some of them have mental disorders, but most of them got kicked out of school for being disruptive." Mal gestured over to a corner of the common room.
Diamond saw two almost identical pegasus twins were playing a hoof-clap game, a unicorn that was sitting in a corner (on... were those napkins?), and wringing her hoofs nervously, and a bright yellow earth pony, sitting perfectly still and not making a sound. The said pony had a messy, unkempt mane and tail style, and her light green eyes stared directly at the wall, as if the structure was the most interesting thing in the world. After a moment, Diamond noticed that the filly's eye color kept changing, first from green then to pink to yellow to red.
Mal looked over at the wall clock above her. "Speaking of disruptive, wait for it..." she said, making Diamond feel very confused. She pointed over to the filly staring at the wall, then started counting to herself. "5...4...3...2...1..."
All of a sudden, the psychedelic-eyed filly started screaming.
Diamond nearly jumped out of her skin, she was so startled. What kind of kid starts screaming 'squirrels' at random moments, anyway?
"That's Quirky, by the way." Mal stated dryly. "And no, that wasn't done randomly, though it definitely would seem like it. She does that everyday at exactly 5:42 pm on the dot. We tried nicking the clock once so she wouldn't know what time it was, but even that didn't stop her. She just waited and, at 5:42 exactly, she did it again just like everyday, no one knows how she knew what time it was. We even tried gagging her and stuffing her in a broom closet once, but the teachers wouldn't let us."
Big surprise. thought Diamond, rolling her eyes sarcastically.
"So who are the major leaders of the groups?" asked Diamond.
"In order?" said Mal. "From the Athletes, that ginger-maned filly. She's Skyward Wind, but everypony usually just calls her Chel. The story goes that on her first year here, one of the teachers called her a challenge when she forget to turn in her homework. The teacher had a weird accent, though, and it came out sounding like 'chel-lange', and the name stuck."
"The prep's leader is Sugar Spice, over there." Mal pointed to a snooty looking lavender unicorn with a rose colored mane and tail with lighter pink streaks. Her mane and tail were both styled to perfection, and her icy blue eyes gleamed attractively. She wore glittery, hot pink eye shadow and lip gloss, making her look less like an eleven year old and more like a fifteen year old.
"This is her third semester here." said Mal. "She came right in the middle of last year and sort of took over the preps. Don't mess with her; the last kid to do that woke up the next morning with an outbreak of acne on her forehead that spelled out 'LOSER'. Later that year, that same kid had a nervous breakdown and, last I heard, has been homeschooled ever since."
"The Head prefect isn't in this grade." said Mal. "She's in 8th grade, but is pretty friendly with just about everyone in any grade. If you're lucky, you'll never have to meet her, although, you'll probably meet her anyway."
"Who is she?" asked Diamond.
"This really stuck-up goody-goody prat named Periwinkle."
Diamond perked up at the name. "Periwinkle? Minty hair, light blue coat, green glasses?"
"You met her?" Mal asked, surprised.
"Actually, yeah." said Diamond, "She gave me a tour of the grounds earlier."
"Really..." said Mal, her tone making Diamond unsure of what to think. "Interesting." Diamond wondered what she meant, but at this point was too overwhelmed to care. Back in Ponyville, there was hardly enough kids per grade to fill the desks, let alone a whole common room.
"Moving on." said Mal, this time gesturing back to the nerds and pointing to the filly leading the study session. The filly in question was a light green unicorn and had a candy-apple red mane, cut unfashionably short. She wore a pair of clunky, purple horn-rimmed glasses that she was constantly pushing up her usually large muzzle. When she spoke, Diamond could see a mouth full of plain metal braces without any of the usual embellishments that most fillies got. Diamond sneered, the filly's appearance reminding her strongly of Twist, and not in a good way.
"That's Brainy." said Mal.
Diamond lifted an eyebrow. "Brainy? Seriously?"
"Well, not exactly." said Mal. "Her real name is something different, but since she's so smart everypony here just calls her Brainy, even most of the teachers. They say that she passed the senior's final exams three weeks after she came here, but has to finish out the year due to school policy. Rumor has it that she tried to break into the Canterlot archives to read their books, and that's why she's here."
"Whatever." said Diamond, not really caring much about Brainy. "What about the trouble makers? Who's their leader?"
"See, the thing about the Troublemakers," said Mal, smirking a bit. "Is that there's so many of them that there's more than just one leader. In every grade, there's about three or four kids who everypony else looks to to know what to do. I'm not gonna bother with introductions this time around, because the leadership changes about once a month depending on how tough the new kids are or how many prefects you can piss off without getting sent to the headmistress. But just so you know, the current ones are the girl with the blue switchblade, the girl who just nicked that prep's purse, and that girl with the scar on her left cheek."
"Why are there so many of them?"
"Because half the school is composed of kids who got sent here 'cause they're delinquents, me and you included."
Diamond was slightly taken aback by this. "I am not a delinquent!"
Mal raised an eyebrow. "Said the filly who sent a classmate to the hospital and got expelled."
Diamond's face burned. "Let's move on now, shall we?"
"All right then, on to the Weirdos." said Mal. "They don't really have an official leader, but everypony just agrees that Quirky is the leader 'cause, well... ya' know..." Mal shook her head in the direction of Quirky, who was currently having a riveting conversation with the wall and giggling creepily at random moments.
Diamond took a step back. "Yeah, I see what you mean... but who are those other kids near Quirky?"
Mal nodded her head as if she had expected this question. "They're the other weirdos, of course. The twins," Mal gestured over to the two fillies playing the hoofclap game. "They came right in the middle of last year. Nopony really knows what they did because nopony's crazy enough to try and talk to them."
"Why's that?"
"Because they only ever sing, and at all the wrong moments."
Diamond just stared. She had guessed that Mal had been pulling her hoof before, but now she was sure of it.
"You're kidding, right?" said Diamond in disbelief. "Right?"
Mal gave her a look that said she wasn't joking. "As I was saying, nopony's ever heard the twins speak except in song form, and that's why they have been grouped into the weirdos, capiche?"
"And who's that over there?" asked Diamond pointing over to the filly sitting on the napkins.
"That's Germy." said Mal.
This was the last straw. "Brainy, Germy, what kind of names are these?!" said Diamond, frustrated. "Who the heck even thinks up these stupid nicknames, anyway(1)???"
Mal shrugged. "Hey, I don't make the news, I just report it. But like I said, over there is Germy. That's just a nickname, mind you, her real name is Honeysuckle. But everypony just calls her Germy because she's such a germophobe." Mal gestured over to Germy, where the filly was in the process of trying to change her napkins without touching the floor.
"And now onto the leader of the weirdos, Quirky." said Mal. "Ya' see the way her eyes change color? I think those eyes are the reason she was called Quirky by her parents, but the rumors go as far as to say that when she was being born, she yelled 'Squirrels' and the doctor accidentally dropped her on the head. Of course, if her first word was squirrels, the bonk on the head wouldn't have done much, would it?"
"And on to the last group, the Bullies." said Mal, looking around the common room. "They're mostly break offs of the Troublemakers, but way more intense. Like the Troublemakers, there's a lot of them, so there's a bit of a power struggle sometimes, but unlike the Troublemakers, the positions of leadership usually stay between the same three ponies. Now look-" Mal pointed to a filly on the side, the lavender one with the pure white mane. "Over there is Lily. I don't know why she's really considered a bully; she's too nice. I've never seen her really join in when the rest of 'em are targeting somepony, she only speaks when she has to."
"Seems like a pushover to me." said Diamond.
"She kinda is, actually." said Mal, shrugging her shoulders in a 'so what' kind of way. "But it might be because she's real persuasive, especially when she's getting somepony out of trouble. The teachers love her, but just think she's in a bad crowd of kids. She's practically best friends with the secretary, Lavender, and the librarian, Miss Scrolls, so she's got connections. I can see why she's useful, but she's not really bully material. Oh well."
"Next up is Flicker." Mal gestured seriously over to the filly with the bright, vivid red mane, who was playing keep away with one of the nerd's textbooks and laughing at the girl's struggle to retrieve it.
"Near the end of last year, there was a gas fire in the science lab. Luckily, there wasn't any classes going on, but Flicker was in there serving detention while the teacher had gone out to get something from her office. The door was locked so that Flicker wouldn't try to leave, but while the teacher was gone, one of the gas pipes exploded, causing a huge fire. Flicker was locked inside, but nopony could open the door because the handle was too hot. By the time the fire had died down some, everypony thought she was a goner. But when they finally broke down the door, they found Flicker sleeping on her flaming desk as if nothing had happened."
"Nopony could understand it. Flicker should've been burned to a crisp, or at least come out with some pretty permanent scars. But she showed no signs of burns, not even her mane was singed. But the weirdest part was that she had been sent here for arson. To most this was just too big a coincidence, and everyone just gave her a wide berth after that."
Diamond didn't know what to say, a familiar feeling by now. She wanted to pass the story off as a rumor, but the look on Mal's face was too serious for that.
"Let's move away from that topic for now and get to the leader: Gingersnap." said Mal, her muzzle crinkling in a disgusted manner.
"Gingersnap is by far one of the most dangerous students at this school. She's been here for around a year and a half, and she practically founded the bullies. Nopony even knows what she did, but whatever it was, it must have been really bad because when she arrived it was by police escort."
Diamond went pale. "Feel free to say 'just kidding' any time now."
Mal ignored this. "My guess is that she probably hired the officers for show. She's definitely rich enough, with her dad owning like five different sugar plantations in Dodge Junction. It's also why she's got all that fancy gold jewelry and expensive mane style. Don't mess with her- she will destroy you if you do. Gingersnap is vicious. The only reason that she isn't a prep is because unlike the other she prefers to solve her problems 'personally' instead of using the signature prep gossip. Blackmail is her specialty, with physical harassment being a close second. If one doesn't work, she uses the other."
"The last thing I need to tell you about her is more like a warning than anything else. Be prepared- Gingersnap always tracks down the new kids and give them a hazing."
"Hazing?" asked Diamond, a little confused.
"As in she'll corner you to see how tough you are." said Mal. "Which means I can't be there 'cause it'll make you look like a wuss and me like a poser. So you'll just have to do this on your own."
Diamond went silent. Before, she had only ever been on the giving end of physical activity, and she didn't like the idea of being on the receiving end. She and Mal sat in awkward silence for a few minutes until the bell rang.
"That's dinner, we'd better get going." said Mal, getting up from her seat. "You coming?"
Diamond gulped. "Yeah, I'm coming. Wait up!"
***
(1)- An author with slight writer's block, that's who.
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.
Diamond blinked her eyes open, adjusting to the bright morning sunshine pouring through her window. Immediately she shut them tight again.
I had a dream that Daddy sent me away to boarding school and I had a fight with some jerk named Gingersnap. she thought. When I open my eyes, I'll in bed at home. Diamond could hear her alarm clock shutting off suddenly, and the rustling of bedsheets.
And there's Camille, come to tidy my room. Diamond thought, smiling to herself. Once again, she blinked open her eyes open, but instead of being greeted with the familiar pink and platinum colors of her bedroom, she was disappointed to find Mal getting up out of bed and stretching.
Diamond Tiara groggily got out of bed and ambled over to the alarm clock, which read precisely 6:17 am. Diamond scowled; what kind of a lunatic wakes up at freaking 6:17???
However, she watched as Mal trotted over to the dresser closest and pulled out a burgundy sweater, white blouse, and pleated skirt, then proceeded to make her way to the bathroom to shower and change. Ugh, I forgot about that hideous uniform... thought Diamond, groaning slightly at the suggestion of wearing something so unfashionable. She closed her eyes to go back to sleep, but after what seemed like just a moment, the alarm's snooze button activated, jolting her awake. The clock now read 6:27 am, and the alarm was buzzing so loudly now that Diamond thought her ears were going to pop. Annoyed, she shuffled over to the other side of the room and unplugged the clock. Yawning, she began to make her way back to the bed.
The sound of the water had stopped, and Mal walked out of the bathroom, toweling her mane and tail dry. She was completely dressed in the uniform, right down to the socks and ugly brown shoes.
"Ain't you gonna get dressed?" asked Mal, getting started on making her bed and cleaning up after herself. "We only got about a half an hour before we gotta be in the cafeteria."
Diamond yawned and turned over in bed. "Whatever... you crazy people can go, I'm gonna get some sleep."
Mal shrugged her shoulders. "Suit yourself." she said. "Go get yourself an eternity of detention, I don't care."
Diamond grumbled to herself. Usually when she didn't want to go to school and her butler or Prench maid tried getting her up, they would beg and plead with her, trying anything to get Diamond out of bed without her throwing a fit. Diamond was used to ponies groveling at her hooves for her approval, so Mal's dismissiveness gave Diamond rather a shock. She tried to snuggle back under her covers and fall back to dreamland, but try as she might, she couldn't.
Mal reached under her bed for the textbooks she would load up her saddlebags with, each varying in subjects- Math, Equestrian History, Health, and others.
That reminds me, I haven't seen my class schedule yet... Diamond thought to herself, reaching under her bed for the slip of paper that the Headmistress had given her the previous day.
Class Schedule for: Diamond Tiara Rich
Breakfast - Dining Hall
Period One: Homeroom - Rm. 124
Period Two: Physical Education - Gymnasium
Period Three: Equestrian History - Rm. 210
Period Four: English - Rm. 212
Lunch - Dining Hall
Period Five: Math/ Basic Accounting - Rm. 205
Period Six: Speech/ Rhetoric - Rm. 209
Period Seven: Etiquette/ Street Law - Rm. 124
Period Eight: Study Hall - Library
Dinner - Dining Hall
Free Time - Dormitories or Common Room
Bed - Dormitories
Not bad... thought Diamond, looking over her schedule. She was a whiz with numbers, so accounting should be easy. The same couldn't be said for Speech or Grammar, however; she couldn't spell to save her life. Everything else on the list was just so-so.
Diamond glanced over at the clock, which now read 6:30 am. Her eyes widened; She had thirty minutes to shower, style her mane and tail, brush her teeth, get dressed and prepare her school supplies. Diamond jumped out of bed and snatched up her uniform out of her dresser, then sprinted out of the dorm and into the bathroom. She leaped into the shower and frantically scoured her mane and tail with shampoo, then bounded out in record time. Diamond scrubbed her mane and tail dry with a bath towel, then proceeded to brush it till it shone.
Diamond yanked on her blouse and skirt, then pulled her sweater over her head. She tugged on her knee socks and loafers, then finally declared herself done. Rushing back into the dorm, she grabbed her saddlebags and stuffed in her class schedule and some pencils. Diamond then realized that she hadn't purchased any textbooks, and that she would have to go to class without any materials.
"Hey, Mal?" said Diamond, turning to her friend. "Can I ask you a favor?"
"Depends," Mal replied. "What's the favor?"
"Well.." said Diamond, unsure of how to phrase it. "It kinda slipped my mind to buy textbooks before I came here, so I don't actually have anything I can really use in class except a couple of pencils and a notebook for each subject."
"Uh huh..." said Mal, eyeing Diamond strangely.
"Um, what I wanted to ask you was this: Can I borrow some of your textbooks until I can get my own?"
"Oh, you won't need to do that." said Mal, shaking her head.
"I won't?"
"Nah, you can just go down to the library and check out the books. Miss Scrolls will let you keep them until you can buy your own. Come on, we can make it to library right now if we hurry."
Mal got up and trotted briskly out into the hallway, Diamond following close behind. After a few minutes of walking, they finally reached the library.
It was an enormous room, the walls covered in tomes of various shades and colors. Along each shelf was a tall, mobile, winding staircase with wheels on the bottom, that was attached to the top of the bookcases via a rail. Small alcoves in the walls marked different organizational sections throughout the library. Study tables were scattered all across the library, with various books and papers lying on top. There were almost no other ponies anywhere, except for a light beige mare putting away some books. She had a wavy golden mane, with curls framing her face. Her shimmering magenta eyes and lavender eyeshadow made you want to look at her again. She held a load of thick books in a deep pink aura, and on her flank was a cutie mark of a scroll with a fuchsia star on the front.
"That's Miss Scrolls, the librarian here." whispered Mal to Diamond. "She's nice enough, but is kind of a stickler for rules. Once I lost a library book, and she wrote me up for two weeks of detention."
Diamond wrinkled her nose. "Seriously? I've lost tons of library books, but daddy always jut paid for them before that nerdy librarian could bust me."
Mal narrowed her eyes. "You seem to rely on your daddy a lot, don't you?"
Diamond stepped back defensively. "What's wrong with that?"
Mal rolled her eyes, then glanced back at her companion. "What's wrong? Your daddy ain't here is what's wrong. It sounds pathetic whenever you bring him up, and frankly, if you keep talking about him like that, I'ma gonna just stop hanging out with you. I have an image to protect, you know. Plus, you can't rely on your old man for the rest of your life, can you?"
Diamond didn't answer. She had always just assumed that her father would always be there, taking care of her and her needs. But now she got to thinking- what would happen to her if her father suddenly became unable to care for her? What would she do then?
"May I help you?"
Diamond snapped out of it, and looked in front of her. The librarian had finished putting away the books and had walked over to the girls. She had a soft Trottingham accent, gentle, but at the same time having an air of authority.
"Um, yeah!" said Mal. "My friend here was needing some textbooks 'cause she didn't order them, and I told her that she could check them out here until she could buy her own."
The librarian brightened up. "You want to check out some books? Wonderful! Come with me, I'll help you find the textbooks you need."
She led them over to one of the larger alcoves of the library, looking very happy that someone was finally going to check out a book.
"So, what are your subjects?" she asked once they had come to the right section.
"Um..." said Diamond, taking a look at her schedule. "Gym, History, Grammar, Math, Speech, Etiquette, and Study Hall."
"Mind if I see that?" asked the librarian, gesturing to the schedule. Diamond handed it over, an after a moment, five books levitated from the shelves and landing them in front of Diamond.
"There you go. They're due in two weeks so make sure to hurry and buy your own." said Miss Scrolls. "Write your name on the card inside, and go on to class, alright then?"
Diamond nodded and slipped the textbooks into her saddlebags. "Thanks," she said to the librarian. "Um... I'll get them back before they they're due."
Miss Scrolls nodded cheerfully. "Right then, see you in study hall!"
Diamond waved weakly as she walked away with Mal out of the library. They were both silent as they walked from the library to the dining hall. They both stepped into the meal line together, but still neither said a word. The lunch mare didn't even give Diamond a choice now, and just ladled a glop of pasty white oatmeal into a bowl on Diamond's tray.
Ugh, gross... thought Diamond, gagging slightly at the sight of the unappetizing cereal. Can't they serve anything decent around here?
On her way out of the line, Diamond grabbed some orange juice and a hard-boiled egg. Once they had sat down next to Scarlet and Rose Breeze, Mal finally spoke.
"Hey," she said. "You did good back there."
Diamond looked up from her breakfast. "What do you mean?"
"Well, when you said that you'd get the books back before they were overdue, I thought you were going to say something about your dad. But you didn't. Why not?"
Diamond took a spoonful of her pasty oatmeal, but didn't answer.
Mal stared for a little bit, then shrugged and ate her breakfast. They ate in stony silence until Mal noticed Gingersnap across the room. Her eyes widened as she spotted the scab across her cheek. Mal turned to Diamond with a confounded expression.
"What did you do???"
"Hmm?" said Diamond, her mouth full of oatmeal. Mal pointed to Gingersnap, and Diamond gulped. "How'd you know I did it?"
"You're the only person around here clueless enough to try something like that with Gingersnap, and while she can get brutish, she's surprisingly graceful, so she wouldn't just fall down and cut herself across the cheek. Now please answer my question - how in in the name of Celestia did you manage to leave a mark on Gingersnap???"
"Wait, wait, hold up-" interjected Scarlet, pausing her conversation with Rose Breeze. "What's this about her and Gingersnap? 'Cause whatever it is, I'm in as long as a certain somepony gets physically injured."
"Oh geez, Mal, why'd you have to get her started on her again?" said Rose Breeze, clutching the bridge of her muzzle. "But I'd like to hear this thing about Gingersnap, too."
"Diamond here did something to Gingersnap yesterday that gave her that." said Mal, pointing to Gingersnap's mark. Scarlet and Rose Breeze's eyes bugged, Scarlet's DJ glasses falling off. They whipped back around, dumbfounded.
Scarlet stared straight at Diamond for a few seconds, before flopping down on the table, muttering "You have my eternal respect, just tell me how in Tartarus you pulled it off."
"Well..." started Diamond, looking up at the ceiling as she spoke. "It's kind of hard to explain... I meant to do it, but at the same time, I didn't mean to do it." Mal gestured for her to go on.
Diamond recounted the events of her skirmish with Gingersnap, Mal listening with rapt attention. When she was through, Mal, Rose, and Scarlet stared at her incredulously, then suddenly Scarlet burst out laughing.
"What's so funny?" asked Diamond, the heat rising in her face.
"Ah man," said Scarlet between laughs. "Y-you-you are so, so dead. I-I mean, don't get me wrong, you deserve a medal, but man, it's hilarious how dead you are!"
"What are you talking about!? And stop laughing!"
Mal decided to put an end to this. "What she means is that Gingersnap holds grudges. The one thing she hates above all else is when somebody else sees her when she's weak, because she thinks it gives them power over her. Hurting her was a bad move. She'd have eventually forgotten about a newbie who failed a hazing, but never one that managed to land a hit on her. You just made a powerful enemy, and it's going to cost you dearly in the long run."
"Oh, come on." said Diamond flippantly. "I can handle a little teasing. How bad can she really be?"
Scarlet kept laughing for another minute before calming down. Rose just stared, and Mal eyed her inquisitively, smirking a bit. "Let me put it this way, roomie." said Mal. "The last kid who pissed off Gingersnap woke up the next morning bound and gagged in the boiler room with her kidneys gone."
Diamond went pale.
"Geez, you're gullible. I was kidding about the kidneys, but no joke, she had to wait five hours before the janitor came to get some supplies and found her. She graduated last term, but she is the reason why the Trouble kids don't go having turf wars with Gingersnap no more."
Diamond gave a deep breath. Maybe I'm in a worse situation than I thought...
"You want some advice?" said Mal. "Keep your head down, don't make a scene, and if you can help it, steer clear of Gingersnap. She's never going to forgive you, but maybe if you're lucky you can get her to forget you exist - unless you keep pissing her off, then you're dead meat."
Diamond nodded and turned back to her oatmeal, but didn't much feel like eating. Rose rolled her eyes.
"I don't believe it." she said, her forehoofs crossed in front of her. "No offense, but you really don't seem the type to be able to put anything over Gingersnap. You're dainty, you're puny, you couldn't throw a punch to save your life, and frankly-"
"Rose. Shut up." said Scarlet. "You're being way too critical again."
Rose went red, but kept quiet. "Sorry." she mumbled.
"C'mon, let's go." said Diamond, getting up and throwing away the remainder of her half-eaten breakfast. She grabbed her saddlebags from the floor and pulled them onto her back. She and Mal walked out of the dining hall together, Diamond retrieving her schedule from her saddlebags.
"It says that my homeroom is in Room 124." said Diamond. "Where's yours?"
"Room 210. Sucks, huh?" said Mal, without needing to look at her schedule.
"Yeah..." said Diamond, unsure of what to say next and feeling slightly awkward. Once she had walked with Mal to Room 210, she waved goodbye to her friend and went down to the first floor. She found the room quickly, remembering that Hamish had pointed it out on the way to the Headmistress's office the day before. She stepped in, seeing several familiar faces, including Lily, Flicker, and... Periwinkle? But she was in 8th grade, not 6th...
Whatever... thought Diamond, searching around for an empty seat. Most of the seats were taken, but she saw an open seat up front. Walking between the rows of desks, Diamond set her saddlebags down on the floor and sat in the desk. She pulled one of her textbooks out of her bag and began to read, seeing as there wasn't anything else to do but just wait.
After about a minute, Diamond felt something small and sticky hit the back of her mane. She touched it and pulled it out; it was a spitball. A spitball??? Really???. She turned around and saw two jock girls chuckling and giving each other a hoof bump. Three prep fillies were giggling girlishly, and even a nerd on the side of her smiled. But what stood out the most was the satisfied smirk on Flicker's face. She had obviously put the jocks up to it, and now Diamond was getting the results of her handiwork.
Diamond glared fiercely at Flicker, who only feigned innocence and shrugged her shoulders. Diamond turned back around, only for three more spitballs to be shot at her head a second later. She would have started yelling if the teacher hadn't walked in.
She was a tall and slender unicorn mare, with a short, dark brown mane with blue streaks. Her coat was an attractive ivory, and her blue-gray spectacles sat primly on her muzzle. She had a no-nonsense aura around her, making Diamond feel a bit guilty for trying to talk out of turn.
"Alright everypony, settle down, it's not the first day anymore." she said, her voice hard. "It's time to call roll."
Everyone in class immediately stopped talking and sat still, facing to the front.
"Good, good. Now, let's get started, shall we?" she said. "Flicker?"
"Whatever." she said from the back, lying back in her chair cockily.
"Honeysuckle?"
Diamond turned to the side where she spotted Germy in the corner. "H-h-h-here..." she said, her honey-colored eyes darting skittishly around the room.
"Lily?"
"Present..." said Lily very quietly, sitting next to Flicker.
"Skyward Wind?"
" 'Sup." said Chel from the back, again surprising Diamond that she was here.
"Blueberry?"
"Here." said a blue-tinted prep near the window.
The teacher continued to list off every name in class when she finally came to Diamond.
"Hmm..." she said. "It appears we have a new student among us. Diamond Tiara, is it?"
"Uh... yeah!" said Diamond, a bit uncomfortable with being shoved in the spotlight.
"Well then, I am Miss Ivory, the street law and etiquette teacher here. Over here," she gestured to Periwinkle, who waved pleasantly. "Is my prefect class monitor. Why don't you come up here and tell us a bit about yourself?"
"Um... well, okay!" said Diamond, smiling weakly and trotting up to the front of the room. She looked around at the various facial expressions around the room, some kind and encouraging, others just waiting for her to screw up. Most however, just looked like they didn't give a crap about Diamond being in the spotlight.
Diamond gulped and stared straight ahead. Okay Diamond, this is a good thing, she thought. You love the spotlight. You thrive in it! Now just buck up and do it, idiot.
Diamond took a deep breath and gave a saucy flip of her mane. "Hey, I'm Diamond Tiara, and I just arrived here yesterday from Ponyville."
"Cough-cough-HICK-cough-cough-cough..."
Diamond's head whipped around to where the cough came from. In the back, Flicker was grinning smugly and a few of the preps were giggling.
Her face burned. She had never thought of Ponyville as anything special, but seeing as she was born there she had never badmouthed it. Diamond stared down at the floor in embarrassment, furious with Flicker for humiliating her.
Miss Ivory looked around. "Who said that?" she said. She caught Flicker hoof-bumping a jock. "Flicker." she said with an edge in her voice. "That was uncalled for. Apologize, now."
Flicker only smirked. "What? I didn't do anything, ma'am." she said, once again feigning innocence. "Why? Did somepony say something?"
The other students around her all shook their heads, as if they hadn't heard a thing.
Ivory squinted her eyes for a moment, then turned back to Diamond. "Please carry on, Diamond."
Diamond tried to stand tall again, but her confidence had taken a major blow. Even so, she still looked her classmates in the eye and continued to talk.
"As I was saying," she started, gritting her teeth and glaring at Flicker. "I'm from Ponyville, and my dad is the CEO of Barnyard Bargains. Until recently, I went to the Ponyville schoolhouse, but because a certain somepony decided to squeal, I got landed here."
"Squeal for what, eating candy before dinner?" called out Flicker, her voice dripping with sarcasm. The room burst into mocking laughter, and Diamond felt like she wanted to cry and explode at the same time.
"That's enough." said Ivory, standing up from her seat. "Diamond, you may sit down. Flicker, see me after class. Now, I'm going to start the video announcements, and I don't want a peep out of any one of you, have I made myself clear???"
"Yes, ma'am." said the class in near-robotic unison.
"Good. Now, I'm going to go get the projector, and I don't want a single girl out of her seat while I'm gone, understood?"
Everyone nodded solemnly, and Ivory left the room to retrieve the projector. Diamond trudged to her seat, her head held high. All around her, she could hear vicious whispers and giggles gossiping about her, judging her every move. As she seated herself at her desk, she was immediately hit by a wadded-up piece of paper. Knowing better than to open it, guessing what was ultimately written inside, she threw it back to where it came from.
The paper hit Lily, who looked very surprised to be hit in the head with a paper ball. She looked over to Flicker, who whispered something in her ear. Lily's expression changed from surprise to guilt in moments.
A minute later, Ivory re-entered the room with a projector. On the ceiling there was a screen that Ivory pulled down after setting the projector beside Diamond's desk. She finished setting up in a matter of minutes, but before she could turn on the projector, soft but audible sobs could be heard from the back of the room.
Ivory turned around to see Lily face-down on her desk, crying softly. The piece of paper lay opened on the floor, reading the word 'UGLY' on it.
Ivory picked up the paper and quickly read it, scanning the page with disapproval. She looked over to Lily, who was still sobbing quietly to herself.
"Lily," she said, looking at the filly gently. "Do you know who wrote this?"
Lily picked her head up from the desk, looking at Flicker in the corner of her eye. She shook her head.
"N-no ma'am," she whimpered. "B-but I think it came from o-over there." she pointed to the front, where Diamond was sitting.
"I know who did it!" said Flicker, standing up and pointing and accusing hoof at Diamond. "Diamond threw that paper, I saw her!"
Almost automatically, everybody else agreed that they had seen Diamond throw the paper.
"Yeah, it was her!"
"That's true, I saw her do it!"
"I just follow the crowd!"
"I'll bet she did it just to be mean!'
One after one, every student in the class had testified that Diamond had indeed thrown the paper wad at Lily. Diamond was getting very hot in the face; not a single student would vouch for her.
"Diamond? is this all true?" said Ivory, turning to the pink filly with a stern expression.
"W-well, you see..." Diamond stuttered, biting her lower lip. "It was thrown at me first, so I-I just threw it back to where I it came from."
"And it came from Lily?"
"I-I don't think so..." mumbled Diamond, staring at the floor.
"Then in Celestia's name, why did you throw it at her?"
"Because-"
"Because she's nothing but a bully and nobody likes her!" yelled Flicker, standing up in her seat. "She's probably just jealous of Lily and wanted to make her feel bad!"
"What?!" sputtered Diamond, flabbergasted. "Why in Equestria would I be jealous of Lily??"
Lily gasped and buried her face in her hoofs again. Diamond slapped a hoof over her mouth. That came out wrong... she thought, mentally kicking herself.
"See, now she's in denial. Diamond Tiara is nothing but a-"
"Flicker, that is enough!" said Ivory, eyes blazing. "Diamond, with all this against you, I have no choice to have you sit out in the hallway until homeroom is over. As for you Flicker, you will be spending your free time tonight in my office writing 'I will not publicly accuse my classmates without satisfactory information' one hundred times by hoof."
Flicker sneered and rolled her eyes. "Yes, ma'am."
"Diamond, please leave the room and wait outside. I will speak with you after class."
Diamond blushed profusely as she exited the room, accompanied by the whispers of her classmates. She closed the classroom door behind her and sank down onto the floor. Today had to be the worst first day of school in her life.
Why don't they like me? she thought to herself, staring up at the ceiling. I mean, I'm rich and pretty and I have my cutie mark! How could they not like me?
A little voice in the back of her head kept nagging at her about what it was, but she couldn't put put her hoof on what it was. So instead, she just sat by herself, staring at the ceiling and wondering how somepony could be so cruel.
After about twenty minutes of waiting, the bell finally rang, making Diamond jump a little. The classroom door opened and students filtered out, some stopping to jeer at Diamond's discomfort. Periwinkle also exited, stopping for a moment to stare at Diamond with a faceless expression. The last students out were Flicker and Lily, the former making an ugly face at Diamond before trotting away. Lily, however, bent down to Diamond's ear and whispered 'sorry' before scurrying after her friend.
Diamond got up and tried to leave before Ivory could call her in, but wasn't fast enough.
"Diamond, please come to my desk." said Ivory without looking up from her paperwork. Gulping, Diamond shuffled over to Ivory's desk and stared down at her hooves.
Ivory put away her papers and stared disapprovingly at Diamond.
"Diamond Tiara..." she started. "What in Equestria am I going to do with you?"
"But Miss Ivory-" Diamond started, her voice taking on a slightly whiny tone.
Ivory held a hoof up, instantly quieting Diamond. "No buts," she said. "In my classroom, I do not allow excuses."
"But do you allow explanations??" inquired Diamond, looking her teacher straight in the eye.
Ivory stared Diamond down for a moment, looking skeptical. Finally, she replied.
"Fine." she said slowly. "Explain to me what happened from your point of view. But let me tell you that I am not in the mood for nonsense, understand?"
"Yes ma'am." said Diamond. "But this is what happened..."
Diamond proceeded to tell Ivory how Flicker had thrown a note at her and, guessing what was written inside, had thrown it back but never thought of the possibility of being framed for throwing that note at Lily, especially when she had meant it to hit Flicker. Throughout her explanation, Ivory listened with rapt attention, never once averting her eyes from Diamond. Diamond noticed this, and felt a slight boost of confidence as she continued to tell her side of the story.
Once she had finished, Ivory took off her spectacles and cleaned them off with a small rag. She then put them back on, staring Diamond right in the eye with a serious expression on her face.
"Well, seeing as the accusations are circumstantial, and Flicker has a track record longer than the perimeter of this school, I'm considering letting you off this once."
Diamond breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, somepony believed her!
"But unfortunately, I can't do that."
Diamond's jaw dropped. "You mean- I'm still getting punished??? But I just told you, I didn't do anything! It was all Flicker!"
"Oh, Flicker..." Ivory thought out loud, rubbing her forehead with her hoof. "Sometimes I wonder why I don't just have her transferred to another class.." Ivory trailed off, her gaze shifting to nowhere. Diamond could've sworn that she saw her eyes flash a bright, subtle gold. Ivory shook her head.
"I lost my train of thought." she said. "What was I talking about? Ah yes, your punishment."
"Oh, come ON, Miss Ivory!" Diamond exclaimed, throwing her hoofs into the air exasperatedly. "You said it yourself! The evidence was circumstantial! You've got no reason to punish me for anything!"
Ivory sighed. "I know I don't Diamond, and trust me, I don't want to punish you. But from your records, you are here because you are a trouble kid, and I must make an example of trouble kids."
When her only reply from Diamond was a blank silence, Ivory sighed again and massaged her temples. "You don't know what a trouble kid is, do you?"
"I think I get the basic gist of it, but not really..."
"Well, around twenty years ago or so, a very wealthy stallion came to the school and offered us a very generous donation if we would allow his daughter, a juvenile delinquent, to attend the school and possibly be reformed. At that time, the school was failing and was on the brink of being closed, seeing as it was a finishing school for privileged fillies and most ponies either didn't had the money to go or just didn't care about being finished. There was only about fifty students at the time, when there should have been at the least three times that much.
"So our Headmistress, who had just been hired a few months prior, decided to allow it. The girl who came got her cutie mark here in writing songs and performing them, and devoted the rest of her life to making music. I believe you know her today as Sapphire Shores, the pony of pop."
"No way. Sapphire Shores went here???" said Diamond, her mouth wide open.
"Indeed she did. After she graduated and went on to become a star, heads began to turn. The courts especially started to take notice. So one day, the state judge came over with an offer. The courts would have the ability to refer any underprivileged or delinquent young girls to Roseberry's at extremely discounted rates, and in exchange the school would be provided with yearly grants from the state. Still desperate for funding, the headmistress accepted and the 'trouble kids' started pouring in."
"So this place just became a reform school?" asked Diamond.
"Not exactly. You see, there were still some families who wanted to send their girls in to become proper ladies. Obviously you can imagine how concerned some parents got when they heard that the school as admitting delinquents, so at their request the two groups were separated. The Headmistress had to oblige, or risk losing the tuition money that came from Canterlot elites and other rich parents. Each group was put into different sides of the dorms and the most of the classes were separated. They still shared the same common room and a few classes, but that was the only thing they had in common. Things have become a bit more lax in recent years, but you can still see the effects from it.
"And that, Diamond, is why I have to make an example of you. If I let this go unpunished and anyone else finds out, then ponies may start to think that it's okay to do what you were accused of because they think I might let it slide, and I cannot allow that to happen. I'm very sorry, but I don't think that I can do much." Ivory looked regretful, but at the same time, serious about her decision.
Diamond wasn't giving up. "What if you just say that you punished me, but really just let me leave?"
Ivory thought this over for a little while. "Hmm... you might be on to something, Diamond. Here." she said, tossing a candy wrapper on the ground.
"Go pick that up please." she said. Diamond did as she was told, scooping up the wrapper and placing in the trash bin.
"There, now you can tell everypony that I made you clean my office." said Ivory, covering her mouth with her hoof and chuckling a little. Diamond grinned. She liked this mare.
"Thanks, Miss Ivory." she said. "Can I go now? I have to get to my next class soon."
"It's may I go, and yes, you may. I'll be seeing you period seven."
Diamond turned around, slightly confused. "What's period seven?"
"The etiquette and street law class that I teach. All the trouble kids are required to take it, and there's only one period for the sixth graders." said Ivory, starting back on her paperwork. "Now run along to your next class, please. It's going to start soon."
Diamond looked at the wall clock above her teacher's desk and was slightly taken aback by it. She had about five minutes left to get to class before she'd be late.
Diamond quickly gathered her books and supplies into her saddlebags and slung it over her back. She thanked Ivory and dashed out of the room, her main concern getting to class before the bell made her late. The last thing I need is to get in trouble with another teacher today. she thought.
Once she was outside the classroom, however, she bumped right into Periwinkle.
"Hey! Watch where your- Oh hi, Diamond." said Periwinkle, her glowering sneer melting into a small smile.
"Hey, Periwinkle." said Diamond, getting up from where she had fallen. "I'm in a hurry to get to class... do you know where the gym is? I have Phys Ed next."
"Oh yeah, it's about two hallways down and to the left. Big double doors, can't miss 'em."
"Thanks Periwinkle." said Diamond, smiling. "I'll see you later, right?"
"Uh, no offense Diamond, but I'm a prefect, and prefects don't exactly hang around underclassmen, if you get my drift. Nothing against you, but that's just how it works, okay?"
"Um, okay." said Diamond, a little hurt by this. Didn't Periwinkle think her cool enough to hang out with the 8th graders?
"Not that I don't think you're really mature for your age." said Periwinkle, looking at the ceiling absentmindedly. "But I don't really think you've made it to sitting-at-my-table-for-meals status. Hey! How about you meet me in the Library this Thursday for a study session? All the teachers are required to give a quiz every Friday, so maybe I can help you with some of the material that you don't understand."
"That sounds awesome!" said Diamond, her grin returning. Finally, somepony was acknowledging her!
"Great. I'll see you then, 'kay?" said Periwinkle.
"O-Okay!" said Diamond. "Well, I've got to get to class before the bell ri-"
BRRRRIIINNNGG...
"Oh, crap..." thought Diamond aloud, facehoofing. "I gotta go. Later, Periwinkle."
Diamond dashed off, desperate to get to class before she could be any more late. But she couldn't help but notice the unusual look that Periwinkle was giving her as she rushed away.
***
"3 more laps, Princess, come on!"
As punishment for being late, Diamond was running laps around the gym. Thankfully Mal was in her class this time, so at least she'd have a friend around if she could ever get these laps done. On the other hoof, however, Gingersnap was also in here.
That'll be fun, having my arch enemy in my worst class with me. thought Diamond. She had never been one for sports in the past, almost always having some excuse not to participate in PE back in Ponyville. I wonder if the coach will fall for me "spraining" my hoof.
While running, Diamond took the extra time to think about what Ivory had said about the Trouble kids. It's not fair. We get separated from all the regular students just because of what did to get here. That's like discrimination or something!
You wouldn't be thinking like that if you weren't a trouble kid. she argued to herself.
Well... that doesn't matter! It's still not fair the way that they treat us!
But it does matter. If you wouldn't care about this if you weren't here, then what makes you think anyone else will?
Diamond gritted her teeth in frustration. Shut up, me.
She completed the remainder of her laps in silence. Once she had finished, she maneuvered her way over to where Mal was sitting on the bleachers. "Geez, is she always this harsh to late students?" asked Diamond.
"Nope. Sometimes she's worse."
"I was afraid of that." said Diamond. She blew a strand of hair out of her face. "So what now? Do we just sit here or something?"
"For now. In a minute, we'll go to the locker room to change into our gym clothes." said Mal, smirking at Diamond's shocked expression.
"You're kidding. You're kidding, right???" said Diamond. "We already have these... these... rags... to wear on a daily basis! Are they trying to torture m- us???"
Mal shrugged. "Makes no difference to me."
The coach tweeted her whistle, and the class was herded into the locker rooms. Diamond went to follow Mal, but her friend shook her head.
"You haven't got a uniform yet, and they'll deduct points if you walk out of here not wearing one." she said. "Go see Coach Dawn and she'll give you your uniform."
Diamond sighed, moving to leave the locker room. When she returned to the gym, the Coach was sifting through her clipboard and didn't see her. "Ahem." said Diamond, clearing her throat loudly. The Coach whipped around, her sharp black eyes piercing Diamond and causing her to cringe back.
"Yes? What is it?" Dawn demanded, towering high over Diamond. The filly fell back, intimidated. "Spit it out, child, I have work to do."
"Um, yes, well, you see..." said Diamond, unsure of how to begin. "I, um, don't have a uniform, so um, like, I was like, told that you would give me one, you know, if like, you aren't too busy..." she said, her voice trailing off. Geez, I sound like Fluttershy. Get a grip on yourself, Diamond. She's just a Coach.
An utterly terrifying Coach.
"Quite right." said Dawn. "Follow me, I'll see if we have something in your size." She trotted briskly over to her office, Diamond following close behind. Dawn opened a large closet in the corner, stocked with neatly folded uniforms, safety equipment, first aid kits, and other athletic supplies.
"Waist and leg length?" asked Coach Dawn pointedly.
"Um... 45, 32." said Diamond, slightly caught off guard. The Coach scanned the uniforms briefly, before selecting one in the middle row and handing it to Diamond. It had dark hunter green mesh shorts with an elastic waistband, and a maroon cotton crew neck t-shirt with 'Madame Roseberry's School for Girls' printed on the back in matching hunter green lettering. This ensemble actually made Diamond feel physically sick.
"This will be a bit bigger on the waist, but it will work." she said. "Uniforms come with tuition, so you don't have to pay for this. However, if this gets damaged, you will have to buy a new one with your own money. Your locker number is 259, and the combination is 5-27-47. Now go get changed, you have precisely 6 and a half minutes until you have to do another five laps."
At this, Diamond hurried out of Dawn's office, hastily muttering 'thank you' on her way out. She ran into the locker room, quickly finding her locker and beginning to undress. She punched in the combination hurriedly, and threw in her blouse, sweater, skirt and shoes. Trying her best not to gag, she pulled on the hideous shorts and t-shirt. She heard Coach Dawn tweet her whistle, and the class shuffled back out to the gym, herding Diamond along with them.
Diamond found Mal promptly, sitting and talking to Scarlet and Rose Breeze. "Hey, guys." she said, the girls murmuring greetings. Diamond looked around. Gingersnap and her crew were sitting on the other side of the bleachers, near Germy, Quirky, and the twins, who were humming like bees. Closer to Diamond was a group of girls she recognized as Trouble kids. In fact, the whole gym seemed to be mainly comprised of Trouble kids, with a few normal looking fillies scattered throughout.
"Hey Mal," said Diamond, tapping Mal's shoulder. She turned around. "Yeah?"
"Quick question- where are all the preps and nerds and stuff?"
"That's right, you don't know." said Mal, slapping her hoof against her forehead. "Gym is one of the classes where the normal students and us are separated. I don't think the Headmistress really wanted any lawsuits when she decided to let delinquents attend here."
"Makes sense when you think about." said Scarlet. "I mean, seriously, who'd want their kid being pounded into the ground by some juvie filly anyway?"
Diamond tensed at this. "W-what do you mean, p-pound into the ground?"
Scarlet laughed. "Pfft, come on Diamond, do you really think that the Trouble kids are going to play nice??? I mean, look over there," she said, pointing to a filly with a grayish green mohawk with dark purple stripes. She was a dark, grayish tan, with ink-black zebra stripes in intricate designs all over her body. She was talking quietly with some friends while slowly sharpening an obsidian-plated steel switchblade. Dark circles were under her dark raspberry colored eyes, as if she hadn't slept in a long while.
"That's Kesi." said Scarlet. "She's from Las Pegasus, not Zebraca, if you were wondering. She lived in my old neighborhood, just outside the glitz and glam of the city. We hung out some, but never really got to be friends. About three or four years ago, she and her gang got caught during a heist, and with her being the only girl that got caught, she got sent here. Heck, she's one of the only ones who's been here longer than Mal!"
Mal grunted in response, but Diamond kept her gaze on Scarlet. "So, what's your point?"
"Take a good, long look at that switchblade. Now imagine what that blade could do if you pissed it's owner off."
Diamond's blood ran cold. Scarlet couldn't possibly mean what she thought she meant...
"Are you saying..."
"Yup. That little beauty has scarred more than one student. Kesi was the one who put that scar on Nettle Blossom over there." She pointed to the filly who Mal identified as one of the leaders of the Troublemakers the day before. "I wasn't there to see the fight, but from what I hear, seven teachers had to pry them apart and they each got the ice box experience, plus morning and evening detentions for a month. Earned them both some serious street cred, even if it meant hard time."
Diamond turned to Mal, her eyes silently asking for an explanation of whether this was true or not.
"She's not lying, if you're wondering." said Mal. "I saw it all happen last winter, and it would've gotten pretty bloody if one of the nerds hadn't squealed and led the teachers to the fight."
Diamond shuddered, then tried to hide it with a sneer. "Okay, I get it. Little prissy rich kids can't handle getting rough. Makes enough sense."
Rose and Scarlet took one look at each other, then back at Diamond. Rose snorted, and the two burst into uproarious laughter, much to Diamond's chagrin.
"What? What'd I say?" said Diamond huffily.
Between laughs, Rose managed to answer.
"No (snort) offense, Diamond, but... you're kinda one of those (snort) prissy little rich kids. The difference between you and them is that you actually committed a sorta-crime to get here and thus get zero protection."
"Speaking of zero protection..." said Scarlet, cringing and pointing to where Coach Dawn was pulling out a mesh bag filled with dozens of red rubber balls. Rose moaned and hid her face in her hooves, mumbling 'Why?' over and over again. Mal simply rolled her yes as if she was bored. Diamond was confused. Okay, so we're playing something with balls. What's their deal?
Dawn gave an earsplitting blast from her whistle, and almost immediately the loud chatter of the gym quieted down.
"Alright everyone, you know the drill. Line up for Monday dodge ball!"
A collective groan rose up from the bleachers, and Dawn gave another deafening blow on her whistle. "That's enough!" she shouted. "Now I'll be choosing the teams today. On the red team, Gingersnap! On the blue team, Nettle Blossom!" she continued to list off the ponies for each team. Rose Breeze was placed in the blue team with Mal, and little while later, Scarlet was settled into the red team. Despite two of her friends being on the blue team, Diamond kept praying that she would be placed on the red. She could only imagine the horror if she had to go up against Gingersnap.
Diamond let out a breath of relief. Oh, thank goodness... she thought, walking over to join her teammates. She made sure, however, to stand as far away as possible from Gingersnap.
Dawn finished calling the names for the teams, and dumped out a huge bin of red rubber dodge balls, scattering an equal amount on both sides. She blew her whistle, and the game began.
Immediately, missile-like spheres flew through the air, threatening to smack Diamond in the face. Instinctively, she ducked down, narrowly dodging the ball. She army-crawled towards the sidelines, grabbing a ball and hurling at anything or anyone.
After throwing some more balls and dodging several more, Diamond started to get into the game. Pretty soon, there were only a couple of players left on each side, and more balls near the middle of the gym. Diamond dashed to grab one, and raised it above her to throw at one of the blue players.
Pow!
A ball smacked the back of her head, the impact causing her to drop her ball and fall forward, face planting on the slick gym floor. Her head throbbed, and she felt a bump forming both where she had fallen and where the dodge ball had hit her. Her head pounded, and her eyes streamed from the pain.
Diamond could hear the tweet of Coach Dawn's whistle and began to piece herself together, trembling. Sweet Celestia, that had hurt. But the blow had come from behind, and she had been facing the blue team's side...
"GINGERSNAP!" Dawn barked. "What was THAT??? You know the rules! No headers, and for pete's sake, don't go hitting people on your own TEAM!"
"I'm sorry," said Gingersnap, glancing over at Diamond with a fire in her eyes. "She shouldn't have gotten in my way." Diamond shuddered, catching the double meaning in her words.
"No excuse! Bleachers, now!" Dawn pointed over to the bleachers, her lips pressed thinly together. Gingersnap sauntered over smugly, deliberately bumping into Diamond's side on the way. Dawn briskly walked over to Diamond, took out a small flashlight, and shone it in her eyes.
"Well, you don't have a concussion, so that's good." said Dawn, putting away the flashlight. "But you should probably sit the rest of this game out, to be safe. Go to the bleachers." Diamond did as she was told, her head still throbbing.
She didn't pay much attention to the rest of the game. She couldn't think of anything else except that Gingersnap was a huge jerk, and that her head really hurt.
After what seemed like an eternity (but what was really 15 minutes), the game ended, and the fillies were all herded back into the locker room to change. Diamond finished changing quickly, then waited by the gym doors, ready to leave the minute the bell rang. Mal, Scarlet, and Rose Breeze soon joined her.
"Wow, Diamond, that's some bruise you got there." said Scarlet, pointing at Diamond's forehead. A light purple bruise had developed right below her hairline, a little bit darker than her mane color. Great, she thought, disgruntled. Now I can go through the day being a trouble kid who looks like she got in a fight. Perfect.
The bell rang, interrupting her thoughts. Students rushed past her, almost knocking Diamond over in their desire to get to their next class.
"I got History next. How about you?" asked Mal.
"Hey, me too!" replied Diamond happily. "Room 210, right?"
"Yup. Come on, let's hurry or we'll be late."
Diamond and Mal walked out of the Gym together, Diamond not feeling much like talking. Mal seemed to understand this, and left Diamond alone for the time being. Diamond felt grateful for this; the last thing she wanted to do was talk about Gingersnap's victory over her.
But she'll give up sooner or later. She's bound to get tired of ragging on me sometime.
Mal and Diamond made it to History on time, and luckily enough, the seat next to Mal was free. The class was extremely boring, and Diamond almost fell asleep listening to Mr. Bronco drone on and on about Griffin Wars.
English wasn't much better. Diamond had never been good at grammar or spelling, and absolutely hated to write, so when the teacher, Ms. Sundance, assigned a two-page book report on their favorite book, Diamond could only groan.
At long last, the final minutes of English were coming to an end, the clock ticking tantalizingly. Finally, the bell, Diamond jumping out of her seat to get to Lunch, but was blown off by the swarm of running, jumping students. By the time she came to her senses, everypony was gone. Outside in the hallway, Diamond could see girls dodging each other, jumping off the walls, and a even a few pegasai flying above her. She couldn't see Mal, but followed the crowd into the dining hall.
The line for lunch had already filled up, and Diamond had to sprint to get a good spot. Even so, by the time she got her lunch (baked beans, macaroni and cheese, and salad), Mal and the others were already at their table.
"Oh, there you are!" said Mal. "What took you so long?"
"Well, I might have gotten here a little sooner if certain maniacs in the hallway hadn't tried to trample me." said Diamond huffily.
"Ah yeah, I forgot." said Mal, snickering a little. "You got caught in the lunch prix."
"The what???"
"The lunch prix. The Monday lunch around here is one of the only decent ones, and it goes fast. Sometimes it even runs out before everypony gets some, and then you have to get a peanut butter sandwich from the office, and those things are nasty."
"Gross." said Diamond. "But what's with the acrobatics?"
"I guess you could say that this is like a speed obstacle course. Acrobatics are kind of an unwritten rule."
Diamond rolled her eyes. "Geez, how many unwritten rules do you people have?"
"I'd give you a list, but then they wouldn't be unwritten anymore."
***
The rest of the day wasn't much better. After Lunch was Math, and while Diamond found the class easy, she had both Gingersnap and Flicker in it. Mathematics had always come naturally to her, which was no surprise, seeing as how she was going to inherit the Rich family business one day. So when the teacher (who looked older than the school) passed out a pop quiz, Diamond couldn't help but get a little excited.
Question One- How do you write 0.46 in words?
A. Forty-six thousandths B. Forty-six ten-thousandths C. Forty-six tens D. Forty-six hundredths
Easy, thought Diamond, circling D. The rest of the problems were similar in length and complexity, so Diamond breezed through the quiz without many problems.
While on question twelve, however, she caught Gingersnap leaning over to take a peek at her quiz. Diamond quickly covered them up and scowled at Gingersnap.
Diamond leaned over her paper and scribbled down another answer. Suddenly, a gray, wrinkled hoof snatched the quiz off of her desk. Diamond looked up, confused. Her math teacher grimaced down at her, her cloudy, dark blue eyes almost invisible within her mountains of wrinkles.
"Hey, I wasn't finished with that yet!" Diamond objected.
"Yes, you are." croaked Sigma. "As a teacher, I frown upon cheating in general, but it takes some nerve to attempt it on your first day."
Diamond's mouth dropped open. "W-what??? I wasn't cheating!"
"Oh please. Do you think I was born yesterday?"
Absolutely not. thought Diamond.
"As if I can't see the cheat sheet down by your hooves. It's the oldest trick in the book. Student has trouble with problem, looks down at her lap, and suddenly, inspiration strikes. Honestly, it's astonishing how stupid you students think we teachers are. You will receive a zero and detention all this weekend. Try it again, and the consequences will be much more severe."
Diamond looked down, and sure enough, a small white sheet of paper lay down by her hooves. "B-b-but, I wasn't cheating! That isn't mine!" she pleaded.
"A likely story. Like I said, it's astounding how stupid you students think we are."
Mrs. Sigma went back to her desk, taking Diamond Tiara's quiz paper with her. Diamond could hear the titters of her classmates, and felt her cheeks blush bright pink. Out of nowhere, a wadded up piece of yellow legal paper hit her head.
Oh, for pete's sake. she thought. This again? But out of curiosity, she unwrinkled the paper. Inside was hastily scribbled note.
You really shouldn't cheat. That sort of thing will get you in trouble.
-Take a wild guess
On the other side of the paper there was another note.
I wish you could see your face right now.
A fury ignited inside of Diamond. Why, that little... She ground her teeth in anger, resisting every urge to scream what few obscenities she knew while tackling Gingersnap to the ground.
Mrs. Sigma had begun the lesson, and though Diamond tried to listen, her mind kept on drifting back to Gingersnap and how best to make her sorry for ever looking at her the wrong way. She was in the middle of a vivid daydream where she was banging Gingersnap's head against a brick wall when a meter stick smacked against her desk.
"I suggest, Ms. Rich, that you pay attention, so that next time you take a test, you won't have to cheat." sneered Sigma. Diamond blushed and nodded, her classmates's snickers infuriating her once again.
After another hour, the bell rang. Diamond hoped this meant the day was over, but her schedule told her to go to Speech and Rhetoric down the hall. She inwardly groaned; if Gingersnap or Flicker or anyone else she dislike was in this class with her, she would scream. Diamond Tiara scooped her supplies into her saddlebags, taking the cheat sheet along with her.
To her relief, none of the Bullies were in this class. She couldn't find anybody she really had a strong loathing for, and the classroom looked like a fun place to learn. Instead of the straight rows of desks like the other classes had, all the desks were clustered into groups of four or five, making around six groups. On the walls were photographs, newspaper clippings, and what looked like a skull on a small shelf. Bookshelves stuffed with textbooks and scrolls were placed right next to a glossy black desk carved into an ornate Gothic shape.
Diamond Tiara spotted an empty spot in a group of four stylishly-groomed fillies gossiping and applying makeup. She recognized Sugar Spice among them, coating her lips with shimmery pink gloss. She smiled. Now, THESE are my kind of friends. she thought. Diamond walked up to an empty seat in their group, setting her things down on top of the desk.
"This seat taken?" asked Diamond, sitting down.
The girls sneered, looking disgusted. They glanced at each other, then back at Diamond. Sugar Spice looked at Diamond as if she were something scraped off a dirty boot.
Two of the girls sitting beside each other started whispering feverishly, staring at Diamond Tiara with distaste and giggling. Sugar Spice smirked.
"What rock did you crawl out from?" she snickered.
Diamond's smile slid off. "I'm sorry, am I missing something?"
"Uh, how about a clue?" she smirked. "Who gave you permission to even come near us?"
Diamond blushed. "I did, FYI." she countered. "And why would I ever need permission to sit down?"
"Do really me to answer that? Or do you like being slapped in the face with the truth?"
Diamond Tiara didn't have an answer for that. She slumped down in her seat, trying to become invisible. The girls snickered, and Diamond blushed intensely and twirling her mane nervously.
The door opened, and a chalk-white stallion walked in. He had a long, gaunt face, and his eyes had dark circle around them, as if he hadn't slept in days. On his back was a long, dramatic, ink black cape with a high collar, a silver clasp fastening it under his chin. Diamond could've sworn that she saw a flash of lighting in the distance, even though it was a sunny day.
"Greetings... students."
The stallion stalked over to his desk, his cape sweeping the ground and sending a chill up Diamond's spine. He stopped abruptly in the middle of the floor, turning slowly to meet Diamond Tiara's curious eye.
"Who," he asked, pausing. "Are you?" His voice was deep and drawling, not to mention very, very loud.
Diamond gulped. "I-I... I'm D-Diamond Tiara, a-and I'm new here?"
"Figures." whispered Sugar Spice to her friends, who broke out in high, girlish giggles. Diamond's cheeks reddened, but she managed to ignore them.
The stallion nodded. "I," he started, again pausing. "Am Curtain Call, master of the literary and dramatic arts, who has pledged his life, his soul, his very reason for being, to spreading the breathtaking vocation of the written word to those who's lives have not been graced by the impassioned beauty of great prose. Come, and partake in the unspeakable joy and pain of the theater, with I as your mentor."
Diamond felt extremely awkward. "Um... okay, then..." she said, forcing a smile. "You do that."
Mr. Call nodded solemnly, then retreated to his desk. He picked up the skull in his hoof, holding it up and muttering. Diamond looked at him strangely.
"Today, class, we shall be exploring the depths of Willhoof Shakespony's Romaneo and Hoofiette. I believe we last left off when Hoofiette had plunged the dagger into her heart, sealing her fate and drifting to the spirit world, there to reside with her star-crossed lover forevermore. I'd ask thy thoughts, but though dost not have a sophisticated theatrical palate, such as my own. Puerile, unworthy adolescents like thou would never understand the sheer brilliance that is Willhoof Shakespony's tragedies."
Okay, this guy's a nutcase.
Call continued to preach of the excellence of Shakespony, not that Diamond was listening. She had begun to play with her pencil, twirling it on the desk absentmindedly and trying to ignore the whispers and giggles of her table mates. Diamond set her head down on her desk, blocking out the noise around her.
I just want to go home.
***
Another hour later, Diamond Tiara tromped out of her classroom, steaming. She hated- no, she loathed- Speech and Rhetoric. Those preppy snobs just gossiped (most likely about her) the entire period, and Mr. Call had done nothing all class but whine on and on about that stupid play, and then had the nerve to assign them a two-page paper on the significance of the destructive forces of love versus hate.
I'll tell you what I hate, goth boy, thought Diamond bitterly, gritting her teeth. Everything about your stupid, useless class!
She took a quick peek at her schedule and groaned. Seventh period was Etiquette and Street Law. Diamond remembered Ivory telling her that this was the only class that all the trouble kids were required to take. She winced at the idea of sharing another class with Gingersnap and her gang, but brightened at the thought of having a class with Mal. At least this time I'll have a friendly face near me.
Diamond trotted down the stairs to room 124, and peeked inside. The room had been magically expanded to fit in at least three times the usual number of students, most of whom she recognized from Gym and Lunch. It seemed that nearly everypony was talking, making the room nearly deafening.
Searching around for a moment, she spotted Mal, sitting in between the window and a scared-looking filly with pigtails. Mal waved her over. Diamond glared at the girl, who shrunk back and moved to the side. Diamond slid in to the seat next to Mal and buried her face in her hoofs.
"What's up?" asked Mal.
"Mmmpff."
"Sorry, didn't catch that. Maybe it'd help if you'd get your face out of your hoofs."
Diamond sat up and crossed her front legs huffily. She looked at Mal crossly, not saying a word.
"Fine. Be that way." said Mal calmly. Diamond sighed. Apparently grouchiness wasn't going to win her any sympathy.
"The Preps are in my Speech class." she blurted out. Mal snickered, and Diamond reddened.
"Something funny, chuckles?"
"Naa, it's not you..." she sniggered. "Well, sort of. I'm just imagining how incredibly well you fit into that group."
"Hey, I thought they'd like me. I mean, I'm pretty and fun and... wait a minute, you were being sarcastic, weren't you?"
"The most sarcastic."
The bell rang, but the loud chatters didn't even falter. That is, until an ear shattering whistle sounded from the front of the room.
"Alright, you lot, listen up!" shouted Miss Ivory, looking stern and a little angry. A glistening brass whistle hung around her neck on a lanyard, and Diamond immediately shut up. Most of the rest of the class did the same, if with an exceptionally large amount of grumbling and curse words.
"Today we'll be learning about getting or staying out of the court system, and proper courtroom etiquette, although I sincerely hope that none of you will ever need knowledge of the latter."
Diamond tried to pay attention for the first few minutes, but her focus drifted as she noticed the distinct diversity between her classmates. She wondered if this was all the trouble kids in the school, and turned around to try and count them all.
"Kesi, put away the knife. Diamond Tiara, turn around this instant."
Diamond immediately snapped back around; she hadn't been aware that her teacher had been watching her. Ivory picked up a stack of worksheets in her aura and passed a copy to each student.
"These are your guided notes that you will be completing through today's video. Fill in each box with the correct information, and turn it in at the end of class. There will be no need to talk."
Diamond pulled out a pencil and signed her name at the top. The lights dimmed, and Ivory rolled out a plain white projector with a glowing blue crystal in the center. The crystal seemed to be the source of the machine's power. An old black-and-white video clip flickered on the screen. Diamond studiously took notes, not feeling in the mood to have Ivory call her out again.
The movie seemed to go on forever, the narrator's droning voice seeming to go on forever. It like warm milk; Diamond hadn't even realized she was falling asleep until her forehead smacked against the desk.
"Diamond, pay attention." said Ivory rather coldly.
"Y-yes, ma'am..."
Diamond could hear her classmates growing restless. Students behind her scuffled around, careful not to be caught. A pencil smacked the back of her head, and she could hear two Trouble kids arguing in hushed whispers.
As the video wore on, several more small objects hit her, but this time she got the feeling they were intentional. Sure enough, Flicker and Gingersnap were taking turns flicking projectiles at her. But Diamond held her head high; they were just being immature, and she refused to get in trouble again because of them.
A harder, heavier object clouted her squarely in the back of her neck. A book clattered to the ground below her, and Diamond Tiara's eyes watered with pain. Screw it, she was going to throw something right back at them. The book was in her hooves when a cold, ringing voice called from the front.
"Flicker, Gingersnap, get over here. I saw that."
Diamond's tormentors glanced up at their teacher's occupied desk incredulously. Ivory was staring right at them frostily, gesturing them to come forward. A few students snickered at Flicker and Gingersnap's expense, but quickly shut up at the sight of Gingersnap's expression. Ivory spoke in a low voice, but Diamond could still hear her scolding the troublemakers.
"... do not tolerate such behavior in my classroom. And this is not your first offense today, Flicker. You two are very close to being sent to the office, do you understand that?"
Flicker smirked arrogantly. "Whatever." However, Gingersnap seemed to have a more prudent approach.
"Trust me, Miss Ivory, we're sorry. This will never happen again, I promise." A simpering, sickly sweet pout sat on her lips. Diamond could hardly believe that she had the nerve to try that garbage on a teacher who obviously wouldn't stand for it. Ivory glared at Gingersnap, but the filly's countenance never faltered.
The teacher sighed. "Seeing as this is the first time you've been caught in the act, I'll let you off." Gingersnap gave her a winning smile and opened her mouth to say something, but Ivory beat her to it.
"Not you though, Flicker. You will be in detention with me this weekend, report here at nine o' clock on Saturday, understood?"
Flicker shrugged, completely unabashed. It seemed that detention was a more than common occurrence for her.
"You may return to your seats."
The two did as they were told, Diamond grinning to herself. It's about time. But hey, that's what you get for trying to mess with the tiara.
Her new found euphoria seemed to make the rest of class just zip by. It felt nice, knowing that she had at least one teacher in this dump on her side.
She and Mal caught up with Rose breeze and Scarlet after class, as those two had been seated across the classroom. They walked to their last period, Study Hall, together, Rose and Scar chattering amiably. They reached the library, where Study Hall was held. Diamond plunked her saddlebags down next to a vacant work table, deciding to take the time to start on her Speech and Rhetoric essay. It was as boring and tedious as she imagined, but she managed to get it done in the hour they were given.
By dinnertime, Diamond was famished and exhausted. The supper of peas, fruit salad, and boiled potatoes they were given was hardly filling, but she was grateful for it all the same. The time was filled up with her friend's chitchat, with which she now happily joined in with. Out of the corner of her eye, Diamond could see Gingersnap glaring haughtily at her, whispering to Flicker and Lily, but Diamond was still revering over her victory in Ivory's class. She was practically skipping when it came time to go back to the dorms for free time, until she remembered just how much homework she had been given.
Outside, it was steadily getting darker, the sun dipping into the horizon. Diamond plugged in the small lamp on the bedside table in the middle of her's and Mal's twin beds and flopped onto her mattress, staring at the ceiling for a sign that she should get up and do her homework. When it didn't come, she sat up and rummaged through her saddle bags until she found the hated studies and a pencil with an intact tip. Glancing to the side she could see that Mal was scribbling something down in a plain, muddy green notebook that matched the color of her eyes. She briefly wondered if it was a diary of sorts, and what Mal might be writing in it. But it didn't particularly matter, as Diamond Tiara had her own problems to deal with at the moment, like this homework.
It was hard to keep proper track of time. Sometimes Diamond thought that maybe time just hated her in particular. Whenever she was doing something fun, like going to the amusement park or talking with Silver Spoon, the hours seemed to melt away in seconds, making her wonder were the day went. On the flip side, the clock seemed to come to a stop the minute she began a task that she disliked, like now. Diamond felt like prying open the back of the clock to see whether or not the gears had stopped working; the hands were frozen, or at least being constricted by something very sticky.
But all the same, her lessons got done just before eight thirty. She found herself drained of energy, and yearned to go home to her kitchen and make Cook fix her a steaming mug of cocoa, with whipped cream and peppermint bits melting on top of a big marshmallow... around here, she doubted if they even had any cocoa for anyone, ever... but it was nice to imagine.
"Alright you lot, light's out. No talking."
Diamond gave a little shriek of surprise and very nearly fell off the bed. The same prefect from last night stared over across the two fillies condescendingly for a moment.
"Shut off your light, then go to bed. Goodnight."
She slammed the door shut, and then there was silence. Mal yawned, reaching over to switch off the lamp.
"G'night Diamond. See ya in the morning."
"Goodnight Mal."
Diamond rolled over onto her side, staring at the wall. The day had been unusual, for her at least. They definitely did things here differently than in Ponyville. Ponyville. I wonder if anypony there misses me. Obviously daddy, and Silver Spoon too. I'll bet Mom doesn't even know that I'm here. Wonder what she'll be like when Daddy tells her he shipped me out.
And Gingersnap. Honestly, does that girl seriously have nothing better to do than to try and make my life miserable? I'll show her. I'll get even so good that she'll be odd... I'm pretty sure that's how the saying goes. Yeah, that's how it goes.
She yawned. Whatever. Maybe if it's nice out tomorrow, me and Mal and Scarlet and rose and everyone can go hang out outside.
