> Unpolished Diamond
>  by pokerninja2
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

> Ex-Best Friends
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

It was recess time at the Ponyville Elementary School, and the foals were using this time to get the most fun out of it as possible. Rumble, Featherweight, and their respective teams were playing hoofball, kicking the ball as it was bouncing, tumbling, and rolling along the grass. Dinky Doo, Peachy Pie, and Sunny Daze were taking turns going down the slide, with each turn resulting in a squeal of joy from them. Cheerilee was overseeing the whole thing from her window, taking enjoyment in watching her students have fun from the window while grading their homework.

Meanwhile, Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle, the somewhat famous Cutie Mark Crusaders, were playing a game of four-square, with Twist happily taking the role of the fourth player. It was a pretty heated game; Scootaloo was at Square #4, holding the title of Princess for three rounds in a row. Close behind her was Apple Bloom in Square #3, working up the ranks to dethrone the pegasus. Meanwhile, Twist and Sweetie Belle were stuck at Square #2 and Square #1; they weren’t exactly the best at four-square.

"OK," Scootaloo said, the ball in her hoof. "No cherry bombs, no snake eyes, and no horseshoes."

"Awww, no fair," Apple Bloom complained. “How am Ah s’posed to get the ball without mah back hooves?”

"Well, I am the Princess, aren't I?" Scootaloo gloated.

"You’re jutht making that rule becauth you know you don’t thand a chanth againtht Apple Bloom’th back hooveths!” Twist said, giggling a bit.

"Whatever," Scootaloo said as she rolled her eyes.

Starting the round, she bounced the ball to Sweetie Belle. Panicking, she barely bounced it to Twist, who got it to Apple Bloom. She carefully aimed the ball at Scootaloo's back hooves, trying to get the orange pegasus out at her own game. Not wanting to risk being dethroned, she spasmodically jumped back a few inches and quickly tried to bounce it back to Apple Bloom. However, the ball made contact with the wrong part of the hoof, resulting in it flying off in the opposite direction and colliding with Twist's head, knocking off her glasses a good few yards away.

"Oops," Scootaloo said. "Sorry."

"It'th alright," Twist said, wandering around and waving her hooves aimlessly. "But hath anyone theen my glatheth?"

"Here they are," a voice came.

Right from behind, Diamond Tiara walked up to the four friends, Twist's purple glasses in her hoof. It had certainly been an interesting week after the recent election; if today were any regular day, she would have been taunting the poor filly with her partner-in-crime Silver Spoon, waving it willy-nilly while she tried to get them back. But things have changed, and now that Diamond had put an end to her bullying ways, here she was, handing back the glasses to Twist.

"Thankth, Diamond," Twist said, putting her glasses back on her face, clearing the blurriness.

"You're welcome," Diamond said, putting on a fake smile as she returned to her place on the swing, looking a little depressed. The Crusaders and Twist shot glances of concern at each other.

"You think we should talk to Diamond?" Scootaloo suggested.

"Yer just tryin’ to forget ya lost, aren’t ya?" Apple Bloom teased.

“No, I was-” Scootaloo started in defense before being interrupted.

"Ah was jus’ kiddin’," Apple Bloom giggled. She then looked at Diamond, and got more serious. "But yer right, she does look pretty sad."

"Maybe we should," Sweetie said. "She DID apologize for bullying us, after all. She’s nice now."

"Thure," Twist said. "Le'th go."

The four fillies put their game on hold and went over to the swings with Diamond. Scootaloo got on a swing next to her, while the rest just sat around. Diamond was pretty taken aback by the sudden company, and was looking at them in confusion.

"What are you all doing here?" Diamond asked.

"Well, you looked sad, and we figured you could use a few friends," Sweetie Belle said.

"So why are ya so down?" Apple Bloom asked.

"'Friends?'" Diamond asked. "Why are you saying you’re my ‘friends’ after all the things I’ve done to you?"

"It's all water under the bridge," Scootaloo said, swinging pretty high. "We already forgave you."

“Yeah,” Sweetie said. “You’re a nice filly now, and you’re being a lot friendlier to everypony.”

"Tho you can tell uth why you look tho thad," Twist said. "We're your friendth now."

"Thanks, girls," Diamond said, smiling a bit. She then sighed. "It's Silver Spoon. Ever since the election, she's been ignoring me. I tried to be friends with her again, but she, like, just won't listen."

"Ah thought you two would have patched things up by now,” Apple Bloom said, a little confused.

“Yeah, you two were betht friendth,” Twist added.

"Yeah,” Diamond said, sighing again. “we were.”

"Well, you WERE kind of a bad friend," Scootaloo said. “Like, no offense, but it always looked like you were bossing her around and-”

"Scootaloo!" Sweetie interrupted, offended. "That's so mean!"

"No no, it's true," Diamond said. "I was a terrible friend. Especially during the election." She sighed once more.

"Well, we can help ya get back together with Silver," Apple Bloom suggested.

"Really?" Diamond said, astounded at those words. "You would really do that for me?"

"Count me in, too," Scootaloo said, jumping off the swing and landing on her hooves.

"I'll try to help, too," Sweetie said.

"Daimond'th learned her lethon alright," Twist said. "Tho I'll help too."

Diamond was shocked. Was she actually hearing this correctly? Were these fillies, the ones that she had bullied for her entire school life, actually willing to help her? This was most certainly a dream - if Silver Spoon, her best friend, wouldn't forgive her for her wrong doings, then these fillies surely wouldn't. She threw her hooves around Apple Bloom for a hug.

"Thank you girls so much!" she thanked.

"What are friendth for?" Twist said.

Apple Bloom broke away from the hug. "OK," she began. "To help ya, we need to know what we're dealing with. So yer gonna try to apologize to Silver again while we watch."

"Are you crazy!?" Diamond asked. "She's not going to forgive me if I just walk up to here and say 'Hey, I'm sorry for being a bad friend. Can you forgive me?'... or something like that I haven’t already said."

"We don't expect her too," Sweetie Belle said. "If she does forgive you this time, then problem solved. If she doesn't, we at least have some ground to work off of."

"Oh, alright," Diamond said. The fillies looked around saw Silver Spoon sitting on a nearby bench reading a book to herself.

“OK, we’ll hide behind that bush while you go talk with her,” Scootaloo said, gesturing to a conveniently-placed bush near the bench.

“Very well,” Diamond said, as the other fillies crowded behind the bush.

Gulping, the pink filly began walking towards her ex-best friend. Silver saw Diamond walking up to her, and inwardly sighed. She continued reading as if she wasn't there. The pink filly took a seat next to her, whistling to herself (though not doing a good job at it, she was never good at whistling), inching closer and closer. About a minute passed until she finally spoke up…

...or was about to before she her a thump from behind. She turned around and saw Apple Bloom accidentally tumbled from her hiding place. The farm filly gave her an embarrassed look. Diamond gave her a rather annoyed glare and made frantic hoof motions, telling her to get back in position. She looked back at Silver; it didn’t seem like she was paying attention and just kept reading.

"Hey Sil," Diamond said.

"Diamond," Silver greeted, not taking her eyes off of her book. Another moment of silence fell between the two.

"Hey, isn't that the ninth book in the Foal for Hire series?" Diamond asked, trying to start a conversation.

"Tenth, actually," Silver corrected.

"Oh," Diamond said, starting to feel a bit awkward about the situation.

"I think I'm just going to go put this away, now," she said as she closed her book and trotted off.

"Wait!" Diamond squeaked. Silver stopped and turned around to look at her, having an annoyed expression on her face.

"I-I'm sorry," Diamond said. "Can you forgive me?"

"I told you this yesterday and the day before," Silver began. "A simple ‘sorry’ isn't going to be enough. You weren't a very good friend to me, so why should I be friends with you again? To blindly follow you around and help you think you’re above everypony? Well newsflash: you’re not, and I’ve got better things to do than to be treated like dead weight." With a huff, she trotted away.

The pink filly sighed, though she would be lying if she said she didn’t see this coming. The other fillies came out of their hiding place walked up to Diamond.

"That could have gone better,” Scootaloo commented.

"You see?" Diamond said in a rather defeated tone. "She just ignores me. How am I supposed to apologize to her if she just acts like I don't exist?"

"Ah think ah have an idea," Apple Bloom said, just as the school bell rang, signalling the foals to go back to class. "Well, we'll talk 'bout it later," she said.





When school finally ended for the day, the group walked out of the building. "So Diamond," Apple Bloom started. "We should probably talk 'bout our plan in the clubhouse. Pretty sure ya know where it is."

"Yeah, I've seen it a few times," Diamond said. "But I can't go today. Mother is expecting me to be back at the mansion early today, and you know how she is."

The rest of the group shuddered. The very thought of Diamond’s mother, Spoiled Rich, made their fur crawl.

"Well, I gotta go," Diamond said. "I'll see you girls later."

"OK," Scootaloo said. "Would tomorrow morning work?"

"Sure," she answered. "I'm usually here early anyway."

As the fillies waved their new friend goodbye, they realized that they needed to be back at their homes too. Twist knew her parents would worry if she was away for too long, Sweetie Belle was needed at Rarity's for help with an important dress order, Scootaloo needed to rush over to Sugarcube Corner to meet up with Rainbow Dash for their flight training session, and Apple Bloom had work to do on the farm. They waved each other goodbye as they parted ways.





The walk back home wasn't anything too different than it was the past couple of days, though she was a lot happier knowing that the Crusaders and Twist were going to help her get back with Silver Spoon. If that plan of Apple Bloom’s was successful, then she'd be back with Silver as best friends again.

“I hope this plan works,” Diamond thought aloud. “If it does, then I may be able to get back together with Sil. Maybe she’d even be friends with the Crusaders too. And if that happens, I’ll have four times as many friends as before! Oh how wonderful that would be!”

Diamond was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t even realize she was already at her doorstep. Getting herself out of her trance, she rang the doorbell, and waited to be let in. Her mother, Spoiled Rich, answered the door.

"Welcome back, Diamond," she greeted with her usual upper-class tone and posture.

"Hello, Mother," Diamond greeted back as she entered the mansion.

"Your father is running some errands for me," Spoiled said. "He won't be back for a few hours."

"I see," Diamond said. "So why did you want me back home earlier than usual?"

"I was just getting to that," Spoiled said as she sat on the couch in the living room, and gestured Diamond to sit next to her. "We need to have a serious discussion about your future."

The pink filly nodded and took a seat next to her mother. The couch was soft, and in a vibrant lavender color. It was decorated with bronze sequence, and brownish-gold pillows were placed on top. Diamond decided that if she was going to have a lecture, she might as well get comfortable. She took a pillow, fluffed it, and put it behind her as she leaned back on it.

Once Spoiled figured Diamond was ready, she began. "As you know, this mansion and its fortunes have been in the Rich family for generations spanning. In fact, us and the Apple family actually founded Ponyville, and we'd be nothing without each other. That said, it’s tradition that we pass on our fortunes to the firstborn foal of the family. I assume you are familiar with the concept of life and death?"

Diamond nodded, not wanting to interrupt.

"I thought so, this school has taught you well. Anyways, your father and I are getting quite old, and to be honest, it may be closer to... our time than we believe. And since you are our only child, you shall be the one to inherit all of our fortunes."

Diamond was just staring blankly with her mouth agape. She was going to inherit EVERYTHING her family owned? One one hoof she was going to own all of her family fortune, and was honored to be granted this responsibility, but bitter since A) she had no clue what the first step to owning all of this stuff was and B) the mentioning of her parents being a foot in the grave didn't sit well with her. While her mother and father had their individual flaws, they were still her parents, and she loved them even so.

"Now, I'm sure you're wondering how you're going to handle this big of a responsibility,” Spoiled said, as if she just read her daughter’s mind. “I will be training you personally within the next few months, to make sure you are capable of leading the Rich family when we... pass away."

After a few more minutes of talking, Spoiled was finally done with everything she had to say. "And that is all I wanted to talk about. Your father will be here soon, and dinner will be ready in an hour. Run along, now. I look forward to teaching you the ways of our family." She escorted Diamond upstairs to her room.

When she opened the door, she was greeted with the same bedroom she was given since she was a newborn - a large bed with curtains, a rather large television set - a rarity for most ponies - on a white dresser, an outdoor balcony, and even her own personal bathroom. She simply laid on her bed, grabbed her remote, and turned the channel to her favorite show - Mysteries of Fillydelphia. Out of the corner of her eye, she found a picture of her and Silver Spoon hugging on her bedside. She frowned a little, saddened that she lost the only friend she had.

She just hoped that the Crusaders' plan was good enough to win her back.
> Operation: Reunite Diamond and Silver
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Diamond Tiara awoke from her slumber, with the clock ending her dreamy adventure. She groggily got up, rubbed her eyes, and lazily flopped out of her bed. She didn't bother fixing her bed up - Randolph would take care of that. She headed into her bathroom to wash her face with warm water, then went over to her clock to shut it off.

6:02 AM. School didn't start until 7:30, but she always went to school around this time, mainly to avoid her mother. She did love her, but Spoiled was... well... spoiled. It was in her name, after all. She knew somewhere in that hard-as-nails exterior laid a kindhearted mare - she just knew it - but for one reason or another, it didn't show.

Her mother wasn't awake yet. Diamond wasn't sure what time Spoiled Rich usually woke up, but she never stuck around to find out. Putting her tiara on her head and getting her saddlebag with all of her finished homework, she told Randolph to let her parents know she was already on her way to school, as she did every morning, and started her trip. She used to walk to school with Silver Spoon, but those days were in the past now. She frowned, wondering how long it would take her to get used to walking alone.

However, the thought of Silver not being her friend anymore led Diamond Tiara to remember she had the Crusaders helping her get back together with Silver Spoon, and Apple Bloom had a plan to rekindle their friendship.

She quickly turned around and ran the other way, toward Sweet Apple Acres, hoping that she wasn't too late. She eventually found the clubhouse, and hastily climbed up the stairs, but it was empty to her surprise. She walked right in and was about to sit down unil—

"Wow! When ya said you'd be leavin' for school early, ya weren't kiddin'!"

She turned around quickly in shock, seeing Apple Bloom standing right there at the doorway.

"So... I'm not too late?" Diamond asked.

"Nope," Apple Bloom answered, shaking her head. "Yer just early. The others normally don't come here 'til a little later.”

"Oh," Diamond said, looking around the clubhouse. A moment of awkward silence passed. "So... what do you usually do when you're alone?"

Apple Bloom had to think for a moment. "Well, Ah used to sit here an' think of crusadin’ ideas to get our cutie marks, but those days are long gone now. Nowadays, since we found out our special talents are… well… helpin’ others find their special talents, we’re helpin’ foals all around Ponyville. Ah just sit here and think 'bout who we should help next."

Apple Bloom walked up to a stack of papers and letters in the corner, reading them through to see what the team’s next course of action should be. Diamond looked around the clubhouse; it was a pretty nice place. A window on the wall could let one see the beauty of Sweet Apple Acres, there were all sorts of pictures of fillies that the group helped in the past week - including one of herself, surprisingly enough - a large, red rug draped floor, and there was a small toy chest in the corner. Next to it was a shelf crammed with supplies; paper, pencils, crayons, glitter, stickers, glue, tape, and much more.

“This is a really nice clubhouse,” Diamond admitted. “You did a really good job with it.”

“Thank ya,” Apple Bloom commented, continuing to sift through her letters. “Mah sister used to use it with her friends, but she gave it to me. It was old and run-down, but Ah gave it a bit of a fix-up.”

"Well, do you guys ever just, like, hang out?" Diamond asked. "Y'know, like, have sleepovers?"

“Course we do!” Apple Bloom said, taking a letter and opening it. “We even had a sleepover in the clubhouse once. Everypony knows us for crusadin’ but we also play around like normal friends too.”

“I see,” Diamond said. She then took notice the stack of letters and papers Apple Bloom was looking through.

“What’s with all the letters?” Diamond asked.

“Well now that we’re tryin’ to help other foals find their cutie marks, we kinda opened up business here!” Apple Bloom giggled. “We’ve been gettin’ letters from all over Ponyville from folks havin’ trouble finding their special talent. We even got some gown-ups who dunno what their cutie mark means! Y’know, ya sure do ask a lot of questions.”

"So anyway," Diamond said, trying to change subjects. “What's your plan to get me and Sil back together?"

"We better wait for the others to come by,” Apple Bloom answered. “Ah asked ‘em to come early, so they should be here right about…”

A moment of silence passed over the two fillies.

“About what?” Diamond asked.

Apple Bloom sighed. “See, Ah was S’POSED to say that just as the others opened the-”

Just then, the door opened, revealing Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Twist, who poured into the clubhouse.

“Door,” Apple Bloom sighed.

"Oh good, Diamond's here!" Sweetie Belle said.

"So, what are we doing for Operation: Reunite Diamond and Silver?" Scootaloo asked. Everypony in the room just shot her a glare.

"Is that really what we're going with here?" Diamond asked.

"None of us agreed on that," Apple Bloom said. Scootaloo just rolled her eyes.

"Anyway," the farm filly began. "Mah plan was to maybe give Silver a gift. Ah overheard her say an apology wouldn't be enough, so Ah figured a gift WITH an apology would be enough to win her over."

"That sounds like a great idea," Sweetie said.

"But what could we give her?" Twist asked.

"Diamond, you've been closer to Silver that any of us have been," Sweetie said. "Does she like anything? I like my stuffed animal, Scootaloo likes her scooter, so what does Silver like?"

"Spoons, probably," Scootaloo said, chuckling to herself. Apple Bloom responded with a punch to the shoulder.

Diamond pondered over this a bit. True, she was Silver's friend ever since her school life started, but the past couple of days sort of drained her memory. She knew she liked the Foal for Hire series, but she already had the latest installment. She also liked jewelry and pretty much anything shiny, but no doubt she had enough of that to fill Celestia's treasure vault — Silver was just as rich as Diamond was, if not more, after all.

"All I can think of are some stylish glasses," she finally said. "And I don't think it'll be enough."

"OH! I know!" Twist shouted, jumping in place. "What if we made a thcrapbook about all the fun memorieth you two had? Maybe thee'll mith them enough to want to be friendth again!"

Diamond smiled at the idea. "Great idea, four eye—” She immediately paused and covered her mouth, darting her eyes around the room as everypony was staring at her. That one slip-up could have ruined the good thing she had going.

"Sorry," she said desperately. "I didn't mean it, I swear!"

"It'th alright," Twist said. "No hard feelingth."

"Thanks," Diamond said, sighing in relief. "It's gonna be awhile before I break out of that habit of calling you names."

"But why?" Sweetie asked. "Twist doesn’t have four eyes,” She pointed at Twist. “See?”

"Never mind," Diamond said. "But anyway, that's a great idea, Twist! Luckily, I have some pictures in my wallet." She then pulled her yellow wallet out of her saddlebag, then unfolded it, showcasing various pictures of her and Silver Spoon over the months.

"You already have a wallet?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"Well, I AM a rich filly. You might even say I'm FILTHY rich!" She giggled a little to herself.

Scootaloo just facehoofed herself. "Please, just leave the jokes to me."

"Like your joketh are any better," Twist said, smirking a little. 

"Anyway," Apple Bloom said. "We can sure use those pictures. Jus' pick the ones where you two were happiest."

Diamond Tiara began scrolling through the pictures in her wallet, picking out a few, while Apple Bloom ran back to the farmhouse to find an empty booklet. The rest began planning on how the scrapbook would look, making sure it would be pleasing to the eye. When Apple Bloom came back, the fillies got some supplies from the shelf and began working. The Crusaders took turns taping pictures on each page, while Diamond wrote a formal apology letter to attach to the scrapbook. In about an hour, it was finally finished.

"Thanks, girls," Diamond said. "I could've never done it without you."

"You're welcome," Sweetie Belle said, dragging Diamond in a hug.

"Uh-oh," Scootaloo said, looking at the clock that said "7:15 AM". "We'd better get to school. Quick! We could probably save time if we take my scooter—”

"No," Sweetie deadpanned as she put on her saddlebag. "Just... just no."

"Oh alright," Scootaloo said, rolling her eyes.

"Y'all go ahead," Apple Bloom said. "Ah'll catch up."

The fillies nodded as Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Twist left the clubhouse and went to school. Diamond, still unsure about herself, turned to Apple Bloom, who was putting the supplies they had used back on the shelf and reorganizing the letters.

"How?" she asked.

"How what?" Apple Bloom replied, dumbfounded.

"How can you forgive me so easily?" Diamond asked. "Sil didn't forgive me for being a bad friend to her, and she was my best friend. You though, I probably bullied you more than the other foals at the school combined! You of all ponies should be mad at me. How were you able to forgive me after all I did to you?"

"Like we said yesterday," Apple Bloom said. "It's all water under the bridge. Ah'm yer friend, now."

"B-but I made fun of you not having a cutie mark!" Diamond said. "I made fun of your family, the fact you don't have parents, and I even turned Babs Seed - your own blood - against you! I even made fun of Scootaloo not being able to fly, I made fun of Sweetie Belle not being able to use her magic yet, and I made fun of Twist talking funny! I think I even—”

Diamond was interrupted by a hug that Apple Bloom pulled her into, coming out of nowhere. She was surprised, but embraced it.

"Ah'm still goin' to remember all those mean jokes ya said 'bout me, mah family, and mah friends," Apple Bloom said. "But that was the past Diamond Tiara. The filly who was nothin’ but a mean bully who put everypony else down ‘cause she thought she was above them. But, Ah don't see that filly anymore. Now, Ah only see the REAL Diamond Tiara, the one who wants to make new friends and be a better filly. Ah don't know what happened to the past Diamond Tiara, but Ah’m glad she's gone."

Apple Bloom then pulled away from the hug and looked at the pink filly in the eyes.

"'Cause the real Diamond Tiara is here to stay."

Diamond Tiara sniffed, tears in her eyes. "Th-thank you, Apple Bloom!" she said, shedding tears of joy. "Y-you really ARE a true friend!"

"Well, what are friends for?” Apple Bloom said.

Diamond soon looked up at the clock, and realized it was 7:20 AM - ten minutes until school.

"Uh-oh," Diamond said. "We better get going."

"Ah know a shortcut," Apple Bloom said. "Follow me!" She ran out of the clubhouse and down the steps, with Diamond Tiara close behind. Before she did move, she remembered to put the scrapbook in her saddlebag.

The two fillies barely made it in time for class. In fact, just when they arrived on the school grounds, the bell rang, signalling them that they'd better hurry. When they took their assigned seats, it was quite noticeable that they were in a hurry - they were sweating buckets and panting rather hard.

"Oh good, you're here," Cheerilee greeted. "Don't worry, you two haven't missed out on anything. Now, today we're going to learn about Sunray, the pony who discovered that the Sun and Moon can move on their own without help from the Princesses, it would just take nearly six times as long." She turned to the chalkboard to write a few notes for her students to take.

While Cheerilee was going on about the lesson, Scootaloo tapped Apple Bloom from behind on the shoulder. "Where were you?" she whispered. "You're never THIS late."

"Ah know," she whispered back, “but Diamond needed a friend, again. We'll just say that."

"Apple Bloom, Scootaloo," Cheerilee called out, “pay attention please. You're disrupting the class," She turned back to the chalkboard and continued talking.

Silver Spoon raised her hoof. "Can I use the bathroom?"

"Sure," the teacher answered. "Just be sure to take a pass with you."

The gray filly got out of her seat and took the filly pass, then walked out of the door. Diamond checked to make sure Cheerilee wasn’t looking, then proceeded to stick the gift in Silver’s saddlebag. She made sure the note she attached to it was still there, and sure enough, it was.

"I hope this works," she whispered to Sweetie Belle, who was next to her.

"I hope so, too," Sweetie whispered back. "I hate to see when two friends stop being… friends."

"Class, please," Cheerilee said as she turned back around. "I know it's almost Friday, but that doesn't mean we can't pay attention. This will be on the test next week, too, so make sure you're taking notes." While she was a good teacher and all the fillies liked her, she was pretty strict when it came to rules.





The class went on for four long, painstaking hours, about Sunray, Solar Eclipse, High Tide, and more ponies who shaped the Equestrian history. It was especially tough on Diamond. She just wanted Silver to see the apology note and the scrapbook, and wanted to know whether it'd be enough or not. The suspense was figuratively killing her, eating her up from the inside, until FINALLY the school bell rang, meaning it was recess.

Diamond rushed up to the door to the playground, making sure she was there before Silver Spoon, and opened it for her, hoping she'd notice, but she simply looked away, pretending to tighten a strap on her saddlebag as she trotted past. The other foals came running out, though, almost trampling over the pink filly. The Crusaders were the last to arrive, and helped Diamond up.

"All of that and not a SINGLE thank you?" Scootaloo commented.

Meanwhile, Silver Spoon trotted to the bench she often sat in, especially in recent days since she was avoiding Diamond. The silver filly sat on the far end of the bench and set her saddlebag next to her. She then reached in to grab her Foal for Hire book, but accidentally pulled out Diamond's gift instead. “What was this doing in there?” Curious, she opened it up as an envelope fell out of the pages. She picked it up and the front read "From Diamond Tiara".

"That filly must be trying to apologize again," Silver thought. Her first thought was to throw it away, thinking it’d be another half-effort apology. But her curiosity peaked, and she found herself opening it, reading the letter inside:



To Silver Spoon,

I know that you're going to think this is some apology with half-effort put into it, but please read on. I am so, so, so, SOOOOOO sorry for being such a terrible friend to you. The Cutie Mark Crusaders helped me realize what true friendship means, and that's the exact OPPOSITE I treated you. I'm sorry for ignoring your suggestions during the election, and I understand why you didn't vote for me. The Crusaders also helped me put this scrapbook together, with pictures that we took when we were still best friends, but I wrote this note on my own. Can you please forgive me and be my friend again? I really, REALLY miss you.

from Diamond Tiara



"Did she really make this for me?" she thought. As Silver flipped through the pages, she realized that she missed Diamond Tiara as well.

"I guess she really HAS changed," she thought to herself. "And to think I wouldn't even listen to her! I gotta find her. NOW!"

She closed the book, put it back in her saddlebag, and hopped off her bench to look for her pink filly. She found her ex-best friend with the Crusaders and Twist. Diamond Tiara was sitting at the side, watching their game of 4-square.

"Cheer up," Sweetie Belle said, while keeping her eye on the ball. "I'm sure she'll forgive you and be your friend again." Just then, Apple Bloom knocked Twist out of Square #2, and Sweetie took her place as the candy cane enthusiast retrieved the ball and went back to Square #1.

"But what if she still doesn't wanna be my friend?" Diamond asked. "What if she just threw the letter and scrapbook away without looking at it?"

"Don't worry, Diamond," Twist said. "I bet Thilver Thpoon ith coming over here to be friendth with you right now!"

"I am," Silver Spoon said as she approached the group.

This shocked the fillies, and they turned around to see Silver walking up to them from behind a tree. This shocked Scootaloo so much that she accidentally bounced the ball to Silver Spoon's head, knocking her glasses.

"Not again!" Apple Bloom said as she glared at Scootaloo, who nervously chuckled.

"S-Sil?" Diamond said. She wanted to say more, but nothing else could come out.

"Hey Diamond," Silver replied, putting her glasses back on. "I read your note, and to be honest, I kinda missed you, too. I’ve been feeling pretty lonely by myself."

"Y-You have?" Diamond asked.

"Yeah," she said. "So to answer your question, yes, I want to be your friend again."

Diamond gasped, then tears of joy started forming in her eyes.

Silver noticed this and held her hooves out. "Alright, c'mere—” She was interrupted when Diamond tackled her and started crying out of happiness.

"ThankyouthankyouthankyouthankyouTHANKYOU!" Diamond squealed. "I promise I'll be a good friend from now on! With Celestia as my witness, I'll never, ever, EVER be mean again!"

"It's okay," Silver said, trying to break out of her grasp but to no avail.

"Ah TOLD ya it'd work," Apple Bloom said.

Diamond Tiara wiped the tears out of her eyes, and let Silver Spoon up. "Thank you all for helping me get my friend back," she said.

"BEST friend," Silver corrected.

"Bleh," Scootaloo commented. "I hate sappy moments. So Silver, you wanna play with us?"

"You bet, blank fla—” Before she could finish that sentence, she quickly covered her mouth, wishing she had never said that 

"Sorry, I'm just so used to saying that," Silver said.

"Don't worry," Diamond said. "I made the same mistake too."

For the rest of recess, the fillies played 4-square together. Cheerilee watched from the window in the schoolhouse, happy to see that Diamond and Silver had finally made amends.
> Real Friends
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The school bell rang loudly, signaling that class had finally ended for the day. Everypony packed their saddlebags, turned in their end-of-class assignments, and bid their farewells to Cheerilee as she packed her things up. They all chatted among themselves, excited about the coming weekend. Rumble demanded a rematch in hoofball against Featherweight’s team on Friday, Peachy Pie, Dinky Doo, and Sunny Daze discussed how happy they were that the gray filly finally got her cutie mark, and Snips and Snails were… being themselves.

As such, it should come as no surprise that the Cutie Mark Crusaders were planning the rest of day out. The three fillies couldn't wait to continue their duties of helping foals find their special talents, and were talking about just that as they headed toward the clubhouse.

"So who should we help first?" Sweetie asked.

"Well, Dinky Doo just got her cutie mark," Apple Bloom answered. "Maybe we could help her figure out what it means."

"Yeah," Scootaloo added. "What’s a smiley face supposed to mean?"

"Maybe being happy and having friends?" Sweetie suggested.

"But ANYPONY can be happy and have friends," Scootaloo said.

"Maybe she's just... better at it?" Sweetie said.

"How can you be better at being happy?" Scootaloo asked.

"Well, we'll figure that out when we help Dinky," Apple Bloom said.

Just then, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon caught up to the Crusaders.

“Hey, girls,” Sweetie said.

“We just wanted to thank you again for bringing us back together,” Diamond said.

“Yeah,” Silver chimed in. “Di told me about how you girls helped her make that scrapbook. And now thanks to you, we’re besties again!”

“We’re just glad to see you two are friends again,” Sweetie said.

“No problem,” Scootaloo added. “We’re your friends now. It’s the least we could do.”

“And I also wanted to say I’m sorry,” Silver said, scraping her hoof on the ground. “Y’know, for bullying you.”

“Don’t worry,” Apple Bloom said. “If we forgave Diamond, we forgive ya too.”

With a smile, she turned around to head back home, but not before whipping her head back. “Oh, and tell Twist I’m sorry too.”

“We will,” Scootaloo said as the Crusaders strolled off.

“I’d better get going, too,” Diamond said. “Mother and Father probably want me back at the mansion now.”

“We can walk back together if you like,” Silver suggested.

Diamond happily nodded, and trotted alongside her gray friend for the first time in a week. Thanks to the Crusaders, she could finally hang out with her best friend again, and as a bonus, she didn’t even have to abandon her new friends. Now she had FIVE friends instead of one, and she loved it.

“I’m still sorry I was a bad friend,” Diamond said.

“I know you are,” Silver said. “But now, we can be REAL friends.”

An awkward moment of silence passed, as confusion filled the two fillies’ heads.

“What exactly to real friends do?” Diamond asked, breaking the silence.

“I… don’t know,” the gray filly answered. “We haven’t been real friends for so long, I don’t know what we’re supposed to do. I mean, all I remember doing before was bullying other foals, and I don’t wanna do that again.”

“Me neither,” Diamond said, nodding in agreement.

“Maybe we should ask the Crusaders for advice,” she said.

“You probably can,” Diamond said, "but I don’t think Mother will let me anywhere near them.”

“Oh right, your mother,” Silver said. “You should probably ask her anyway.”

“What!?” the pink filly responded. “Mother almost NEVER gives me what I want. And besides, this is the Crusaders we’re talking about. You saw what happened after that election!”

“Well, if you don’t ask her, you DEFINITELY aren’t going,” Silver pointed out.

“I guess that’s true,” Diamond said as they approached Diamond’s home. “I’ll see if I can get Father to let me go when Mother isn’t around. I just hope he isn’t away.”

“Alright,” Silver said as she continued walking to her family’s mansion, which was conveniently next door. “I’ll see you later.”

“Bye,” Diamond said, waving to her best friend. She then turned around and rang the doorbell, prepared for Randolph to answer the door. Much to her surprise, Filthy Rich was the one who answered.

“Welcome back, Diamond,” Filthy greeted his daughter.

“Hello, Father,” Diamond said as she walked in and set her saddlebag down. “Where’s Mother?”

“Oh, right,” Filthy said. “Spoiled wanted me to tell you she is off on a trip to Manehattan for your training. It’s very important that you learn the ways of our family if we want you to inherit our legacy.”

Diamond only then remembered that she was gonna be learning how to handle her family’s fortune. How taking a trip to Manehattan would have any role in her “training”, Diamond didn’t know. Regardless, the same stress she had felt from yesterday when Spoiled first mentioned Diamond's future role rushed back upon her. However, she pushed the thought aside, thankful that her mother was away on a trip for who knows how long. This meant that she wasn’t in the way of her and her new friends.

“Oh, guess what?” Diamond said. “Me and Silver Spoon are friends again!”

“That’s wonderful, Diamond,” her father said. “I always knew you two would make up someday.”

“Well, I couldn’t have done it without the Crusaders’ help,” the pink filly said.

“Ah yes, that group of fillies who are now helping other ponies find their special talents?” Filthy asked. “Some fine girls, I’ve heard.”

“They are,” Diamond agreed. “So can I go play with them? Please?”

“Well, if they helped you and Silver make amends, I don’t see why not,” Filthy said as he sat on the couch with a newspaper. “Just be back before sundown.”

“Thank you, Father,” Diamond said as she zipped out of the front door. Just as she was about to start the trip to Sweet Apple Acres, she bumped into Silver Spoon, causing both fillies to fall over. They collided so hard into each other, in fact, that Diamond’s tiara ended up on Silver’s head and the gray filly’s glasses somehow switched places from on her nose to Diamond’s nose.

“Oops,” Diamond said. “Sorry.”

“It’s alright, but can you hand me back my glasses?” Silver asked, waving her hoof aimlessly in front of her, barely able to see two inches in front of her nose.

“Here you go,” Diamond said, taking off the glasses and handing them to Silver. Now being able to see clearly, she returned Diamond’s tiara.

“So what are you doing here?” Diamond asked.

“My parents said I could hang out with the Crusaders!” Silver answered.

“So did Father!” Diamond replied. Both fillies began jumping in excitement

“Wait,” Silver said. “What were we going to do with them again?”

Apparently all the excitement had made them forget why they were going to Sweet Apple Acres in the first place. “Oh yeah, we were going to ask them what real friends are supposed to do!” Diamond said.

“Oh right!” Silver said. With that, the two fillies left for the Crusaders’ clubhouse.






Sweet Apple Acres was a good few minutes away, but nothing Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon couldn't handle. They took the shortcut that Apple Bloom showed Diamond earlier that morning, and they were at the clubhouse in no time. Just when they were about to open the door though, the two overheard the Crusaders talking in the clubhouse with… Twist? Curious, they creeked the door open and took a quick peek inside.

“So wait,” Scootaloo said. “You’re saying you know this new student?”

“Yup,” Twist answered. “We’re neighborth. Her name ith Thipporwhill.”

“I think I heard that name before,” Sweetie pondered. “Rarity said she and the Pony Tones performed at her cute-cenera.”

“Ah heard Big Mac say somethin’ ‘bout that, too,” Apple Bloom added.

“Uh-huh, and I wath there,” Twist said.

“Zipporwhill, huh?” Scootaloo said. “And she’s moving to our school tomorrow?”

“Yeah,” Twist answered. “Thee was getting bullied for being thmaller than the other foalth. I gueth it wath too much for her.”

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon inwardly kicked themselves in the stomach, as memories of them bullying the Crusaders came flooding back. They hadn't really meant anything by it, but what if they had actually driven the Crusaders away from Ponyville Elementary? It could very well have happened, if things had continued the way they were going. The two fillies grew sick in the stomach at the very thought.

“Hey,” Apple Bloom called. “What are you two doin’ here?”

Diamond and Silver looked back, and saw the Crusaders and Twist were looking at them.

“Well,” Diamond began as she walked inside, "we WERE going to see what you girls did as friends since we forgot what good friends do together.”

“But then we heard Twist say a new student was coming,” Silver finished.

“Yeah,” Twist sighed. “Thee’th had a pretty rough time at her old thchool. I’m jutht hoping thith thchool won’t have any bullying problemth for her.”

“Well aside from Diamond and Silver, there aren’t really any bullies here,” Sweetie said. “And they’re good fillies now.”

“So this new student moved schools because she was being bullied too much?” Silver asked.

“That’s what Twist said,” Scootaloo answered. “She must have had a REAL rough time for her to change schools.”

“Ah can’t imagine how bad bullies would have to be to drive somepony to changin’ schools,” Apple Bloom said, sorry for Twist’s friend.

“Me neither,” Diamond said. “I don’t think I could live with myself if I drove you girls away.”

“I’d be devastated,” Silver added.

“So how did you find out she’s coming to our school?” Scootaloo asked.

“My dad and her dad are good friendth with each other,” Twist answered. “My dad ith actually the one who thuggethted Thipporwhill thould come to Ponyville Elementary.”

“Don’t worry, Twist,” Apple Bloom said. “Now that Diamond and Silver aren’t bullies, there ain’t no chance of that happenin’.”

“And we could probably make a new friend!” Sweetie said happily, a small burst of magic coming out of her horn.

“We’ll try to be good friends, too,” Diamond added.

“Thankth, girth,” Twist said. “Now I KNOW Thipporwhill ith gonna have a great time here!”

“And if somepony TRIES to mess with her, they’ve got another thing coming,” Scootaloo said, pounding her hooves together.

The other fillies simply laughed at Scootaloo, who joined in the laughing mess as well. Then Apple Bloom, struggling to calm herself, tried to get the others’ attention.

“Hey, y’know somethin’?” the farm filly asked. “How come we let Diamond, Silver, and Twist in here when they’re not Crusaders?”

“APPLE BLOOM!” Sweetie shouted, offended. “Why would you say that to our friends!? That’s so mean!”

Scootaloo was confused, but then her smile grew in a size that could match Pinkie Pie’s. “I don’t think that’s what she meant…” she said

“Then what…” Sweetie started, but then realized what Apple Bloom was trying to say. “OH! NOW I know what you mean!”

“Eeyup!” Apple Bloom said, winking at the three fillies in front of them. They were dumbfounded by what was going on, but then it hit them like a ton of bricks, and their eyes went wide.

“Whoa whoa whoa WHOA!” Diamond said. “Are you saying… what I think you’re saying?”

“I think they are,” Silver said.

“Are you thaying we can be Cruthaderth too!?” Twist asked.

“CRUSADERS!” Apple Bloom called. “HUDDLE!”

With that, the three fillies huddles in the corner of the clubhouse, looking back to make sure the other three fillies weren’t listening. As they were whispering, Diamond, Silver, and Twist were waiting anxiously. Were they actually going to be Cutie Mark Crusaders? Diamond and Silver were especially surprised - just a week ago, they were bullying the Crusaders, and they only just came. Even Twist looked shocked, and she was a friend of Apple Bloom.

About a minute passed, and the three fillies turned to their friends. “How would ya’ll like to join the Cutie Mark Crusaders?” Apple Bloom asked.

“You really mean it!?” Diamond asked.

“Tho we can actually be Cutie Mark Cruthaderth!?” Twist asked. When the fillies nodded, she drew Apple Bloom into a hug.

“So, do we have to do something special to get in?” Silver asked. “Like, get stung by a bee on our tongues?”

“That sounds painful,” Sweetie said.

“Nah,” Apple Bloom answered. “Just an oath and an initiation speech.” She then shot a look at Scootaloo. “Ah just hope a certain somepony remembered to shortened it.”

“Oops,” the orange pegasus said, blushing a bit. “I forgot.”

“That’s alright,” Apple Bloom said. “We can just improvise.”

The others agreed, and Apple Bloom went back to the farmhouse to grab a stand to use for the initiation, while Sweetie Belle went to get some spare capes Apple Bloom had in her closet (they had a tendency to tear them during various escapades). When both fillies came back, the white unicorn took her position on the stand as the other Crusaders stood to the side, while Diamond, Silver, and Twist were up front and center.

“Alright,” Sweetie began after clearing her throat. “We the Cutie Mark Crusaders elect Twist, Silver Spoon, and Diamond Tiara to join us as our friends, sisters, and fellow Cutie Mark Crusaders! Everypony in agreement raise your right hoof and say ‘I comply.’”

“I comply,” Silver Spoon said first, raising her hoof.

“I comply,” Twist followed.

“I comply, too,” Diamond said last.

“Great!” Sweetie said. “You three are now solemnly sworn in, here this day, in witness of your fellow friends and sisters as Cutie Mark Crusaders!” After the three fillies gave their applause, Sweete turned to Apple Bloom. “So… what happens now?”

“We give ‘em their capes,” Apple Bloom answered.

“Oh, right,” Sweetie said. She then reached into her saddlebag and pulled out three Cutie Mark Crusaders capes. “So are you girls ready for your capes?”

The three soon-to-be Crusaders rapidly nodded their heads.

“Alright,” Sweetie said, getting off the stand, capes in her hoof. She went over to Silver Spoon first, and took off her glasses so she could put the cape around her, tying it. “There you go,” Sweetie said as she put Silver’s glasses back on. She repeated the same process with Twist. Then, she trotted over to Diamond Tiara, and put her cape on.

“Congratulations!” Sweetie Belle said. “You are now Cutie Mark Crusaders!”

Twist was jumping up and down in excitement, while Diamond and Silver were checking out each other’s capes. They were now officially Cutie Mark Crusaders.

“So now we have SIX Crusaders,” Apple Bloom said, who couldn’t wipe the smile off her face.

“Wait, Di,” Silver said. “Didn’t we come here for a reason?”

“Oh yeah, I remember!” the pink earth pony said. “We were wondering what actual friends were supposed to do, since me an Sil only became ‘real friends’ today.”

“Well, what did you usually do?” Sweetie asked. “Besides mess with everypony.”

“We sometimes went to Sugarcube Corner after school,” Silver answered.

“And we sometimes visited each other,” Diamond followed.

“Then do what you do usually, minus the bullying,” Scootaloo said. “And since you guys are now Crusaders, we can help you out if you need.”

“Yup,” Sweetie said. “Crusaders always stick together!.”

“Thanks, girls,” Diamond said. “So Twist, tell us more about Zipporwhill.”

“Well,” the peppermint enthusiast began. “Thee hath a white-colored coat like me and Thweetie, and thee altho hath gold mane. Oh, and thee altho wearth a tiara all the time.”

“A tiara?” Diamond asked. “Like mine?”

“Well yeah,” Twist answered. “Only it’th bigger and gray. Thipporwhill altho wearth glatheth like me and Thilver, though they’re purple.”

“Sounds like a cute filly,” Sweetie Belle said.

“Oh, and thee’th altho GREAT with petth!” Twist added. “Thee hath a cutie mark for it and everything. It’th three paw printths. Thee’th altho a pegathuth and flieth like a hummingbird.”

“Gee, way to rub it in,” Scootaloo said, a little jealous.

“I can’t wait to meet her!” Diamond said.

“Yeah,” Silver agreed. “Why would anypony bully her? Especially for something like being smaller than the others.”

“Well, you two would have done the same thing if she came before the election,” Scootaloo pointed out.

Silver wanted to say against that statement, but knew the orange filly was right.

“Ah hate to ruin the fun,” Apple Bloom said, sitting by the stack of letters. “But what do ya’ll say we take our new members out for their first crusade!”

“I’m in!” Diamond chirped.

“So am I!” Silver said.

“What are we doing firtht?” Twist asked.

“First thing we always do is take a look at our letters,” Sweetie Belle said as she pulled one from the stack in the corner. She opened it up and read it.

“What’s it say?” Apple Bloom asked.

“It’s from a dark-blue unicorn named Smooth Comb on the south end of Ponyville,” Sweetie called.

“Got it,” Scootaloo said. “I think I’ve seen him before. Follow me!”

Scootaloo rushed out of the clubhouse and took her scooter, with the other fillies barely catching up. Diamond and Silver were bringing the rear as the group sped past Ponyville, avoiding one collision accident after the other. They knew the Crusaders were a rambunctious bunch, but the new members were quickly realizing just how reckless they were.

Suddenly, Scootaloo pulled up by a tree and stopped in front of a creek. Apple Bloom skidded to a stop, but Sweetie Belle bumped behind the yellow earth pony, and Twist bumped behind the white unicorn. Then, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon collided with the group, sending everypony careening into the creek below. The soaked fillies climbed out of the water, while Scootaloo couldn’t help but fall over in a fit of laughter.

“OK,” Diamond Tiara coughed, pulling a twig out of her now-ruined mane. “Starting to regret joining you guys.”

“I’m gonna need a bath after this,” Silver whined, fishing her glasses out of the water.

“Oh c’mon, it’s not THAT bad!” Apple Bloom said.

“That was too funny!” Scootaloo said, recovering from her laugh. “Anyways, we’re here!”

Scootaloo gestured to the house in front of them. It wasn’t particularly big, it was a one-story building, but it did look nice and clean. Outside was a blue unicorn colt, matching the one the letter described. He caught sight of the fillies and ran to greet them.

“You must be the Crusaders!” the colt said. “My name’s Smooth Comb, I guess you got my letter?”

“Sure did!” Apple Bloom said. “Me and mah associates promise that we’ll help ya find yer cutie mark, guaranteed!”

“Say… there’s a lot more of you than I thought,” Smooth Comb said.

“Well, we had a couple new recruits earlier today. Lucky you, you’ll be their first customer!” Scootaloo said. “Meet Twist, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon!” The three fillies waved at him.

“Cool!” Smooth Comb said. "More help I get, the better."

“So what’s the problem?” Silver Spoon asked.

“Uh, isn’t it obvious?” Scootaloo deadpanned, gesturing to Smooth Comb’s cutie mark-less flank.

“Oh,” Silver said, blushing. “Right.”

“Hey, since his name is Smooth Comb, you think he could be good at… harvesting honeycombs?” Scootaloo asked.

Apple Bloom answered her with a punch in the shoulder.

“What!?” Scootaloo asked. “It was just a suggestion!”

While the other Crusaders and Smooth Comb pondered and tossed around ideas, Diamond Tiara couldn’t help but notice how clean the house and backyard were. If she didn’t know any better, she’d say she even saw it sparkling from how clean it was. No trash, no cobwebs, not even any collecting dust on the windows.

“Your house looks really clean,” Diamond complemented.

“Thanks,” Smooth Comb said, rubbing the back of his head. “I clean it a lot. Don’t wanna live in a dirty home.”

Then, an idea popped in the pink earth pony’s head.

“Hey Smooth Comb” she asked. “You think you could clean off my cape? There’s a bunch of grass and twigs caught in it since I fell in that creek.”

“Is this really the best time for that?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“And ya can’t just ask our client to-” Apple Bloom began before being interrupted.

“No, it’s fine,” Smooth Comb said. “I’d be happy to.”

He walked up to Diamond Tiara and used his unicorn magic. Dark-blue aura covered her cape, and all the leaves and sticks stuck in it were pulled off. On top of that, he even gave Diamond herself a clean-up, drying her up and taking all the junk caught in her mane from the creek.

“Wow, thanks!” Diamond said, relieved she was no longer dirty.

“Don’t mention it,” Smooth Comb said. Just then, his entire body started glowing as he rose into the air, and a big mark appeared on his flank: a big brush. Everypony stared in awe.

“Well would you look at that?” Smooth Comb said, showing off his cutie mark. “How couldn’t I have known my special talent was helping other ponies get cleaned? It was right in front of me!”

“Believe me, we’ve all been there,” Diamond chuckled.

“And here’th a peppermint thtick for thuch a good job!” Twist said as she pulled out a treat from under her cape. Smooth Comb beamed and grabbed it. “Don’t worry, it’th clean.”

“Thanks for your help Crusaders!” Smooth Comb said. “I’m telling my dad right now!” The blue unicorn ran back into his house, ready to show off his cutie mark.

“Way to go, Diamond!” Apple Bloom congratulated. “Sorry Ah douted ya, Ah didn’t think ya’ll would be so good at it!”

“Hooray for Diamond!” Sweetie Belle cheered as she jumped in place.

“Nice move on giving him a candy cane too,” Scootaloo said. “We could probably make this a regular thing.”

“Thure!” Twist said. “I have plenty at home!”

“You know, I think I could get used to this!” Diamond said, feeling proud of her accomplishment. Who knew helping other foals would feel so good?

“Yeah, it feels good!” Silver Spoon followed. “But uh… you think we could get Smooth Comb to clean the rest of us?”





The rest of the evening was some of the most fun Diamond Tiara ever had. After helping Smooth Comb, they decided to help more foals: they helped their classmate Dinky Doo find out her cutie mark was for helping her friends after finding out she caught Sunny Daze when she flung off the swing on accident, helped a pegasus filly named Cabbage Patch find her special talent in harvesting vegetables, and even helped an Earth pony colt named Buzz Buzz discover his special talent in beekeeping... an activity that went about as well as you'd expect, but thankfully no fillies were stung. Just a couple passersby while the bees were on the loose.

Deciding to put aside the rest of their clients until the weekend, the Crusaders spent the rest of their free time playing a game of hoofball in a makeshift field by the clubhouse. They split into teams of three, with Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Twist on one end and Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and Scootaloo on the other end. The game went on until they tired themselves out, and headed back to the clubhouse. Now, they were chronicling the days events on scroll paper.

“And then we had our first game of hoofball,” Apple Bloom said as she wrote. “Team Apples takes the game against Team Tiaras, 4-3.”

“No no no,” Diamond interjected. “You said we would continue the game tomorrow!”

“Fine,” Apple Bloom said as she scribbled out what she wrote. “Team Apples LEADS against Team Tiaras 4-3. The game resumes Friday.”

“Where did you get all that scroll paper anyway?” Silver Spoon asked.

“Twilight Sparkle let us have it,” Sweetie Belle answered. “We’ve used it ever since we founded the club, it’s like keeping memories of all our adventures.”

“Ah think it might finally be time to ask Twilight for some more though,” Apple Bloom said. “We’re finally startin’ to run out.”

Needless to say, Diamond Tiara was growing quite fond of her new position as a Cutie Mark Crusader. Not only was she able to help other ponies, but she also had a ton of fun doing it with her new group of friends. She really wished things could have been like this from the beginning.

She looked out the window and noticed the sun beginning to set. Then she remembered that Filthy Rich wanted her back home soon.

“It was fun, uh, crusading with you girls,” Diamond said. “But Father wants me back at the mansion by sundown.”

“I should get going too,” Silver Spoon said. “My parents are probably wondering where I am.”

“Have fun, you two,” Scootaloo said.

“Thee you tomorrow!” Twist waved.

“Wait!” Apple Bloom said, stopping Diamond from leaving. “Ya forgot yer cape! Aren’t ya gonna bring it home with ya?”

“And risk Mother finding that?” Diamond said. “Absolutely not. Celestia knows what she would do if she found out I was ‘sinking to your ranks’ as she would put it.”

“Oh yeah, forgot your mom,” Sweetie said.

“That’s OK,” Apple Bloom said. “Ah’ll keep it with mine. You can have it next time we go crusadin’.”

“Thank you, Apple Bloom,” Diamond Tiara said as she and Silver left the clubhouse. On the way back home, the two rich fillies thought about the day they had, and were happy they got to spend it with each other and their new friends.
> All the Buzz
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

As she did every morning, Diamond forced herself out of bed, turned the clock off, and got ready for the day. It being a school day, she grabbed her tiara, and put her saddlebag on. She made her way outside and found Silver Spoon waiting to walk to school with her.

“Hey,” Diamond greeted her friend. “Ready to go?”

“Yup!” Silver answered. The two fillies started walking to the schoolhouse. A moment of silence passed between the two friends, though a realization that Silver Spoon had broke the silence.

“Hey,” she said. “I just remembered - today is the day Zipporwhill is coming to our school!”

“The new student?” Diamond asked. “Oh right, I forgot.”

“Well, hopefully we can start on a good note,” Silver said. “Then we could probably be friends.”

“I'm still surprised that she was bullied enough to... drive her out of her old school," Diamond sighed. "I mean, how bad could it have been to make her do that?"

"Probably much worse than what we were doing," Silver said. "It's kind of scary to think about."

Both fillies shuddered as they kept thinking about it.

"But enough about that," Silver said, trying to change the subject. "We should do our best to make her feel at home, and I'm sure the other Crusaders will help too."

“Yeah,” Diamond said. “Oh look, we’re here.”

The conversation had distracted them so much that they hadn’t realized that they were already at the school. Early as usual.

“So what should we do?” Silver asked.

“You wanna take a trip to Sugarcube Corner?” Diamond suggested. “I always have some bits on my saddlebag.”

“Sure,” Silver answered. “We’ve got time, anyway.”

The next hour was spent at Sugarcube Corner. The two friends ordered what they usually did — Diamond got a small strawberry ice cream and Silver got a chocolate milkshake. As they ate their treats, they began talking about how great it was to be Crusaders, what with all the games and the great feeling of helping other ponies find their special talents.

"As much fun as it is, I do have a few concerns with our whole crusading system," Diamond said.

"Like what?" Silver asked.

"Well... think about it," Diamond explained. "We have six whole members, twice the amount the club had a few days ago.  Back then, it made since for everypony to go together, but now that our numbers have increased, I think it'd be smarter and more efficient if we all split in teams and help different ponies at the same time."

"Sounds like a great idea!" Silver said. "Plus it would help clear that piling... pile of letters.  There's probably dozens of foals who haven't gotten help yet. We really need to bring this up with them after school."

"Sounds like a plan," Diamond said as she finished her ice cream. She looked at the clock and saw it said 7:11 AM.

"We should get going," the pink filly said.

"OK," Silver said, slurping up the rest of her milkshake as fast as possible.

"Sil, don't do that!" Diamond said. "You'll get a-"

"GAH!" Silver squealed in pain as she held her hooves over her head.

"...brainfreeze." Diamond finished.

It only took a moment or two for Silver to recover, and after leaving a tip on the table, they made their way back to the shcoolhouse, being right on time. Inside, they met up with the other Crusaders and went to their classroom, where Cheerilee was awaiting her students. One could tell that she had a happy announcement to make, with the giant, toothy smile on her face.

“Alright, everypony, take your seats,” Cheerilee said. “I have an important announcement.”

“Is it more extra credit?” Pipsqueak asked, raising his hoof. He was always deemed the teacher’s pet.

“No, Pipsqueak,” the teacher corrected. “But, we ARE having a new student join us today!”

The foals began talking amongst themselves in excitement. Some questions then began flying around.

“Is it a he or she?” Sunny Daze asked.

“Does she have a special talent yet?” Dinky Doo asked.

“Is he an earth pony, pegasus, or unicorn?” Rumble asked.

“Where’s the pudding?” Snails asked to nopony in particular. He was always credited as the class clown, though it was questionable if it was intentional or not.

“She’s in the principal’s office right now,” Cheerilee said, trying to calm the class down. “I’ll go ahead and get her.”

When she left the classroom to get the new student, the class was buzzing with conversation. All the tension led up to Cheerilee opening the door, with a small, white pegasus buzzing beside her. She was pretty much everything Twist had described, from the glasses to the cutie mark to the oversized tiara on her head.

“So THAT’S Zipporwhill,” Diamond thought to herself. “Twist wasn’t lying when she said she was small...” She quickly stopped her train of thought. “What am I THINKING!? I don’t wanna bully another pony for being different! Not again!”

Diamond looked around the room to see what the other foals thought. On her left, she saw Sweetie Belle, gazing at the new student with a smile on her face. Diamond could tell the unicorn couldn’t wait to get to know her. On her right, Silver Spoon also had a smile and was clapping her hooves. On the other side of the room, she saw Snails… drooling? Weather he was thinking about lunch or was was attracted to Zipporwhill’s apparently good looks was a mystery that was best unsolved for the sake of Equestria.

“Alright, students,” Cheerilee called. “This is Zipporwhill. Do you mind introducing yourself to the class?”

“Sure!” Zipporwhill said. Diamond could deduce she was apparently of Native Equestrian descent, given her interesting accent. Definitely a rare in Ponyville.

She began buzzing around the room, spewing out facts about herself. “My name is Zipporwhill! I’m a pegasus, and my special talent is taking care of pets! I just love love love LOVE pets! Dogs, cats, birds, turtles, snakes, you name it, I love it! I also LOVE the Pony Tones! I’m their biggest fan! I even have an autograph from one of them! See?” She held out a picture of the Pony Tones, with “To Zipporwhill” being upon it. Apple Bloom noticed that it was Big Mac’s distinctive hoofwriting.

“Well, you sure are an ENERGETIC filly,” Cheerilee commented,

“Thank you!” Zipporwhill said happily. “It’s because my mom and dad run a coffee shop, and I have three cups of coffee every morning! No more, no less.”

“Very… interesting…” Cheerilee said. “Well, take a seat, please.”

“Aye aye, captain Cheerilee!” Zipporwhill saluted, causing everypony in the room to giggle a bit. She buzzed over to the only available seat, which just to her luck was next to Twist. Once the class settled, Cheerilee began writing on the board.

“Wait, Twist?” Zipporwhill whispered. “You’re in this class? I mean, I knew you went to school here but I didn’t think we’d be in the same class. This is crazy!”

“Yup,” she answered quietly. “Thith ith gonna be a fun clath. Everypony ith nith to each other, Cheerilee ith the beth teacher ever, and—”

“Twist, Zipporwhill,” Cheerilee called. “Please be quiet. You’re disrupting class.”

“Thorry,” the filly in question said. Cheerilee turned back to the blackboard.

“But don’t worry,” Twist whispered a little quieter. “Nopony will bully you here.”

Zipporwhill smiled and rapidly nodded.





A few hours passed until it was finally time for recess. In a matter of seconds, all the foals rushed outside to play outside and get their minds off of the excruciating learning. Zipporwhill was the last to exit, and looked around. She could see a playground built specifically for the school, complete with a slide and swings, and on the other side of it was a hoofball field. Being the energetic filly she was, she buzzed over there first, hardly able to wait to finally let all that caffeine-powered energy out. When she arrived, she quickly took notice that only colts were playing, but that didn’t stop her. She went ahead and buzzed over to Pipsqueak, who was waiting in his position as defender.

“Hey,” Zipporwhill greeted the abnormally small colt. “Can I join? I don’t really care whose team I’m on, I just wanna have fun! Maybe I can be a defender with you, or maybe-”

“Uhh, sorry, Zipporwhill,” Pipsqueak interrupted. “But both teams are full. Maybe next ti-”

“PIP!” Snips called out from behind. “QUIT TALKING TO YOUR MAREFRIEND AND STOP RUMBLE!”

Pipsqueak looked around, and noticed that Rumble had the ball and was carrying it directly to the goal. “Sorry,” he said while running off to help his team. “Gotta go!”

As he ran off, Zipporwhill looked around, a little upset about the rejection, but her spirits flared back up when she noticed three fillies playing on the swings by the playground, looking like they were having a good old time. The pegasus buzzed over to them, making sure not to accidentally get hit.

“Hi Zipporwhill!” Dinky Doo greeted.

“Hi girls!” the pet-loving filly greeted back. “Can I play with you?”

“Uhh, sorry,” Sunny Daze answered. “But there are only three swings.”

“I could get off if you want,” Peachy Pie offered.

“No, that’s alright,” Zipporwhill said. “I’ll… just go somewhere else.”

“Well, alright,” Peachy said. “See you later.”

With a sigh, Zipporwhill began buzzing around. She thought about going down the slide, but other than climbing up and sliding down, what more could she possibly do? On top of that, she almost never walked - she always preferred to be airborne. Surely there was more to recess than this. At her old school, everypony was doing something different, but here, the foals seemed to just hang out in their own groups. And since she was new, she hadn’t had any time to form any relationships with anypony. The only pony she knew was Twist.

“Wait,” she thought to herself. “Twist! Maybe she’ll play with me! We’re great friends, after all!”

She then began buzzing around, searching for her messy-maned friend. She quickly found her… playing four-square with other fillies.

“Oh no,” Zipporwhill thought. “Even she has friends of her own! And look at how many there are! There’s like six of them!”

She, at first, thought about ditching the idea altogether. But after some thought, she figured she might as well try. Given how the rest of her recess was going, she doubted it, but she did have hope. Twist was her neighbor — her friend, no less. Certainly SHE of all foals would be willing to play with her.

“Hey Twist!” Zipporwhill called, hiding her doubt behind an energetic smile. Unfortunately, she had decided to come out of a bush, completely hidden from the crusaders, so everypony in the game was caught off-guard. Scootaloo, in particular, was so shocked she accidentally bumped the ball into Silver Spoon’s head, knocking off her glasses.

“Ah don’t think this is yer game,” Apple Bloom snickered.

“I get startled easily, alright!?” Scootaloo said.

“Here you go,” Zipporwhill said, handing the knocked-off glasses to the knocked-down Silver Spoon.

“Thanks,” Silver said, putting them back on.

“Anyway, hey Twist!” Zipporwhill said.

“Hi Thipporwhill!” Twist said happily. “Can I introduth you to my friendth?”

“Sure!” the white pegasus said.

“OK,” Twist said, clearing her throat. “That’th Apple Bloom,” she called, pointing to the farm filly.

“Howdy,” she greeted.

“Thith ith Thweetie Belle, and that’th Thcootaloo,” she said, pointing to the two respective fillies.

“Hi Zipporwhill!” Sweetie said.

“‘Sup.” Scootaloo said, her tomboyish nature kicking in.

“And theeth two are Diamond Tiara and Thilver Thpoon!” the candy cane filly finished.

“Hi,” Diamond greeted. “Twist has told us so much about you.”

“She… she has?” Zipporwhill asked.

“Yeah, like how you liked pets, how you always wear a tiara, and how you were made fun of for being small, and—” Diamond said before being interrupted by Twist.

“Thee dothen’t need to know that,” Twist whispered.

“Oh, I see how it is,” Zipporwhill said. “So you’re just gonna be my friends because you feel sorry huh? Is that it? HUH?”

“I… I’m thorry, Thipporwhill,” Twist said. “I didn’t know you’d—”

“Well I have news for you!” Zipporwhill said, a little angry. “I’m not buying your pity! I don’t need anypony’s pity! I don’t need yours, or yours, or ANYPONY’S. No pity! NONE!” With that, she buzzed away.

“Thipporwhill!” Twist called. “Wait!” She looked at her friends, giving a face that said ‘What were you thinking!?’ before running off to catch her friend.

“Well that’s JUST great,” Scootaloo said. “Now we probably lost our chance at having a new friend!”

“Not to mention we probably soiled our friendship with Twist,” Silver Spoon pointed out.

“OH NO!” Diamond thought. “If I had just kept my fat mouth shut everything would have gone fine! I can’t believe I just bullied somepony again...”

“I-I’m sorry, everypony!” Diamond said. “I was just… I didn’t know that—”

“It’s alright,” Sweetie said, putting a hoof around her shoulder. “We forgive you.”

“NONE of us could have known,” Apple Bloom said. “Not even Twist.”

“Speaking of which, we better go find her,” Scootaloo said.

So the fillies left their place at the four-square game and searched the entire school grounds for the two fillies. They eventually found them near the dumpster behind the school. They could hear Zipporwhill crying, with Twist behind her. The Crusaders decided to approach them slowly.

“I-I told you,” Zipporwhill said through tears. “I don’t n-need anypony’s pity.”

“Well, you look like you could use a friend,” Sweetie said in her warm voice.

“W-well what if T-Twist didn’t tell you I was bullied!” Zipporwhill asked. “Huh? HUH? Ever think of that? You all would probably think I was just another regular filly that you’d pay no mind to! I don’t see you hanging out with any of the OTHER foals!”

“I’d still be your friend,” Diamond said from behind, wiggling around the group to get closer to Zipporwhill. The white pegasus glanced at her.

“It really wouldn’t matter if I knew you were bullied or not,” Diamond said comfortingly. “All that matters is that you’re, y’know, you.”

“Ah agree,” Apple Bloom said, backing her pink friend up. “While Twist did tell us you were bullied a lot, we would have been yer friends regardless.”

“A friend of a friend is always a friend to me,” Sweetie added.

“But… but you just have pity for me,” Zipporwhill said, still having watery eyes. “A-and you-”

“Look,” Scootaloo interrupted. “I don’t really like these kinds of moments, so I’ll make it snappy. Even IF Twist didn’t tell us you were bullied, she would have told us you were her friend at SOME point. That’s all we would need to know to be your friend.”

“Not only that,” SIlver chimed in. “Twist didn’t just say you were bullied. She also told us about how great you were with pets, how unique of a flier you were, and how nice of a filly you were.”

“Basically we’re sayin’ that you’re wrong,” Apple Bloom said. “And we’d probably be yer friends regardless.”

“Do… do you mean it?” the white pegasus asked.

“I KNOW they do,” Twist consoled.

Zipporwhill wiped a tear from her eyes, then realized all that she had just done. “I’m sorry,” she said. “I probably shouldn’t have flown off like that.”

“It’th alright,” Twist said. “Tho you wanna play with uth now? We thtill have time before retheth ith over.”

“WOULD I!” Zipporwhill said as she buzzed happily as if nothing ever happened. She quickly followed the other fillies to the four-square court, though Apple Bloom held Diamond Tiara back. She looked back and saw the farm filly giving her a warm smile.

"That was mighty nice of ya to offer to be Zipporwhill's friend," Apple Bloom said.

"Oh come on," Diamond blushed. "All of us went up to-"

"But yer the one who started it," Apple Bloom interrupted. "Ya'll were so quick to make amends with her after ya said somethin' ya didn't even mean. Ah'm proud of ya, Di."

"Thanks," Diamond smiled.

"Hey!" Scootaloo called from behind. "Are you two slowpokes coming or what?"

Both fillies giggled and went back to the four-square court.





“Great!” Sweetie called. “You are now solemnly sworn in, here this day, in witness of your fellow friends and sisters as a Cutie Mark Crusader! And here’s your cape!”

Once school had ended, Zipporwhill and the Crusaders became fast friends, so much so that they decided to let her join the Crusaders. It was actually Twist who suggested it, and the others quickly agreed, considering the white pegasus was the candy cane enthusiast's friend and all. Zipporwhill sat still as Sweetie hooked the cape around her neck, and she instantly took off the ground, hovering around and admiring her new look.

“Tho how doth it feel to be a Cutie Mark Cruthader?” Twist asked.

“It feels GREAT!” Zipporwhill said. “Now I’ll get to help OTHER ponies get their cutie marks, and helping ponies is always fun! Especially cute little baby foals! Those are fun to help!”

"And Ah like yer suggestion of splittin' into teams and helpin' multiple foals at once," Apple Bloom commented, putting a hoof around Diamond's shoulder.

"Thanks," Diamond said. "I just thought we could be more efficient about our crusading."

"Well thank goodness," Scootaloo said. "These letters have been piling up for months!"

"But we only started helping ponies last week," Sweetie Belle commented.

"It's an exaggeration," Scootaloo said.

"So who decides the teams?" Zipporwhill asked as she practically bounced off the walls. "Are we doing Team A and Team B, or Team A, Team B, and Team C? Since we have seven members, we can't split evenly, so maybe we... should..." Just then, the normally energetic white pegasus yawned, and donned a drowsy look.

“I think all that coffee has taken its toll,” Silver pointed out with a giggle.

“Don’t worry,” Zipporwhill said, yawning again. “This happens every day.”

“Hey girls, anypony else feel kinda… cramped in here?” Scootaloo asked.

“Hmm… now that you mention it, this clubhouse DOES feel a little small now,” Sweetie Belle said.

None of the other Crusaders could argue. The clubhouse was really only made with Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle in mind, and in just a few days their numbers more than doubled. There was just barely enough room for everypony now, even if Zipporwhill being airborne gave the girls some more wiggle room.

“Yeah, Ah think we’ll need to do some rebuildin’ and renovatin’,” Apple Bloom said. “This clubhouse is gettin’ pretty small.”

“Well it IS the weekend,” Diamond Tiara pointed out. “We could probably get started now and be finished by the time school starts.”

“Maybe, but we’re ALL gonna need to help,” Scootaloo said. “We should probably get Applejack and Rarity too.”

“Hold up hold up hold up,” Zipporwhill said. “Did you just say Rarity? As in, THE Rarity? One of the Pony Tones!?”

“Yeah, she’s my sister!” Sweetie Belle said.

“OMC OMC OMC!” the pet enthusiast cheered as she was practically bouncing off the walls. “I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M FRIENDS WITH A SISTER OF THE PONY TONES! YOU JUST HAVE TO TAKE ME TO HER SO I CAN GET HER AUTOGRAPH!”

“Y’know, Big Mac is also mah big brother,” Apple Bloom said.

“WHAAAAT!?” Zipporwhill said, eyes as big as dinner plates. “I’M FRIENDS WITH TWO SISTERS OF THE PONY TONES!? I’M SO EXCITED I COULD JUST-”

Just then, Zipporwhill crashed on the ground and began snoring.

“What the hay was THAT about?” Apple Bloom asked.

“I dunno, but I sure ain’t drinking coffee for breakfast,” Diamond said. Everypony had a good laugh over that.
> Destruction and Reconstruction
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

The past few weeks had been the best Diamond ever had. With her mother out of the picture, she was able to hang out with her fellow Crusaders whenever she pleased. Not only was there a sense of pride and accomplishment whenever she helped a foal find their cutie mark, but it was shared with the group of friends she felt like she belonged. A group that cherished her company as much as they cherished hers. She felt like she was on top of Equestria, and absolutely nothing could go wrong…

...until today. Diamond Tiara was on her way to meet the other Crusaders at the clubhouse for another day of crusading, but upon reaching there, she saw everypony in a group huddle, discussing something. The pink filly started to go to them to see what the commotion was about until she saw Twist sitting under a tree, bawling her eyes out. Concerned, she trotted over to the frizzy-maned filly to help her.

“Hey Twist,” Diamond greeted, holding out a hoof. “What’s wrong?”

“What’th wrong?” Twist asked. “WHAT’TH WRONG!?” Diamond took a couple steps back, surprised at her outburst. “How could you do thith to me, Diamond!? I thought I wath your friend!”

“Wh-what are you tal-” Diamond began before being interrupted.

“THERE SHE IS!” Apple Bloom called out from behind.

Diamond whipped her head around to see the other Crusaders approaching her. Sweetie Belle was tearing up, but everypony else was looking daggers at her. She couldn’t process what was going on, everything seemed to be happening so quickly.

“What’s gotten into everypony!?” Diamond asked.

“How could you do that to her!?” Apple Bloom shouted. “After makin’ ya a Crusader and everythin’!”

“What did I-” Diamond tried to say before being interrupted again.

“Oh don’t you DARE play dumb with us!” Zipporwhill shot at her. “We all know you wrote that letter! It had your hoofwriting and everything, HOW COULD YOU!?”

"Wh-" Diamond began, only to be interrupted again

“I became your bestie again because I thought we were going to be good ponies together,” Silver Spoon said. “I should have known you set us up from the start!”

“WHAT LETTER!?” Diamond screamed.

“You got a lot of nerve putting THIS on her front door!” Scootaloo said as she shoved the letter in her face.



To Twist,

I just want to say you are probably the most wretched foal I have ever met. Your mane is messy and unclean, your glasses make you look fat, your lisp is ear grating, you smell like a dumpster, and your candy canes are the worst “treats” I have ever had the misfortune of tasting. You should get bucked in the face every single morning when you wake up you pathetic waste of a pony, I hope you get run over by a carriage.

From, Diamond Tiara



Diamond Tiara didn’t know what to do. She opened her mouth to say something, but couldn’t form words. She wanted to push the latter back, swipe it away, run off, do ANYTHING, but her muscles locked in place. All she could do was stare and read the writing.

“You think this is funny!?” Scootaloo chided her. “Doing things like this and wishing death on your fellow Crusaders? Your friends? Your FAMILY!?”

“I-” Diamond stuttered in defense, only to be interrupted once more.

“Well we’ve got news for you!” Zipporwhill said as she buzzed into Diamond’s face, close enough to where their noses were almost touching. “It’s not funny at all! We don’t take kindly to bullying around here, and we’re not gonna be your friends if you’re just bullying everypony again! So make like me and BUZZ OFF!”

“Ah agree with that,” Apple Bloom said. “C’mon, we’re out of here!” She took Twist’s hoof and walked away, with Zipporwhill following. The farm filly stopped, turned around, and gave Diamond a murderous glare. If looks could kill, Celestia herself would perish.

“And if you EVER step hoof near our clubhouse again, Ah’ll buck yer face so hard that it may as well be cut off!” she threatened, and with a huff, she went away, leaving Scootaloo, Silver Spoon, and Sweetie Belle.

“Oh yeah, and don’t worry about your cape,” Scootaloo said. “We already threw it away. Good riddance.” And with that, she followed Apple Bloom.

“I really expected better of you,” Silver Spoon said, her tone being a mix of sadness and anger. “I can’t believe I made the mistake of being your bestie again. Well, we’re no longer besties, and this time I MEAN IT!”

The gray filly walked away, leaving Sweetie Belle, who said nothing the whole time. Diamond didn’t say anything - what COULD she say? She hoped against hope that Sweetie would understand. Would tell her that this was all just one sick prank. Would find it in her heart to forgive her for this injustice. Instead, the unicorn turned around and walked away. She glanced at Diamond Tiara one last time before running for her friends, bawling her eyes out. Sweetie’s crying could be heard for miles.

Then, Diamond began hyperventilating. She felt tears of her own began to form. And the once happy and sunny day became dark and cloudy, rain pouring onto the ground below. She got up and ran away, as quick as she could. She didn’t know where she was going, but she wanted to get as far as possible away from here. She took one last glance at the clubhouse, getting farther and farther away every second.

Suddenly, while she wasn’t looking, she tripped over a stray rock and fell onto the mud-





Diamond shot up, breathing heavily, eyes wide, and sweating buckets. She looked around her surroundings. The first thing she noticed was that she was in her bedroom, and not outside. She saw her dresser, her TV, and her bathroom door, no trees or rocks in sight. She looked down at her hooves, and saw that they were clean aside from a few drops of sweat. No mud at all.

Then she realized it was all a nightmare.

She sighed in relief, and flopped out of bed. She made her way to the bathroom to-

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Diamond growled under her breath, but let her anger slide. She went to her clock and shut the alarm off, seeing it was 6:00 AM. It wasn’t a school day, but she still usually woke up at this hour; it was routine. She went into the bathroom and looked in the mirror, noticing all the tear stains and sweat on her face, as well as her messy mane. Diamond quickly washed herself off, put her tiara on, and trotted downstairs. She could hear Randolf on the kitchen, preparing breakfast. The butler turned and noticed her in the living room.

“Good morning, Mistress Tiara,” Randolf greeted.

“And to you, Randolf,” Diamond said, trying to mask the shakiness in her voice. Luckily, he didn’t seem to notice.

“Breakfast should be ready in the next hour,” Randolph said. “Your father should be joining us shortly.”

“Thank you, Randolf,” Dianomd said. She sat on the couch and stared at the ceiling, deciding to not say anything about her nightmare. Sure, Randolf was around the mansion so often that he felt like family, but the butler wasn’t exactly the best pony to go to when dealing with personal problems. She resolved that the Crusaders would be the best ones to talk about her nightmare; they were her friends after all.





At about 7:00 AM, Filthy Rich woke up and sat in the dining room, reading the morning newspaper. Diamond took her seat and waited patiently for Randolph to serve them their food. When he arrived, he handed the pink filly a plate of chocolate chip pancakes with fried eggs - not exactly her favorite dish, but that was the least of her worries at the moment, with memories of her nightmare still plaguing her mind, and she wasn’t all that hungry either. Not wanting to be rude, she slowly ate her meal.

“Something wrong, dear?” Filthy asked, taking his eyes off the papers to look at his daughter.

“It’s nothing, Father,” Diamond answered. “I’m just not that hungry this morning.”

“Master Filthy, while preparing breakfast, I got a call from Mistress Spoiled,” Randolph said while handing Filthy his plate. That caught Diamond’s attention, and she listened.

“You don’t say?” Filthy said, taking a bite out of a pancake. “How was Manehattan?”

“She said everything for Mistress Tiara has been arranged, and she will be returning tomorrow afternoon,” Randolph said.

“Excellent,” Filthy said with a smile, taking another bite. “I’ve certainly missed her being around the mansion, it will be great seeing her again.”

“Indeed,” Randolf nodded in agreement.

“Won't you agree, Diamond?” Filthy asked, directing his attention at the pink filly.

“Y-Yeah, Father,” Diamond nodded. “I missed her too.” That wasn’t entirely a lie, but was nervous about what Spoiled had planned for her, and more importantly, how she would keep her from finding out about the Crusaders.

Once Randolf returned to the kitchen to wash the dishes, silence fell on Filthy and Diamond. She ended up eating the rest of her food, and saw that it was 7:21 AM on the clock on the wall. She figured now would be a good time to leave and hang out with the Crusaders.

“Can I go play with my friends, Father?” Diamond asked.

“I suppose you can,” Filthy said, finishing his meal and dabbing his face with a napkin to clean it off. “Just make sure you’re back by sundown. We must prepare for your mother’s arrival.”

“Understood,” Diamond said as she got off the table and trotted out the front door.





The path to Sweet Apple Acres was engraved in Diamond Tiara’s mind at this point. With the shortcut Apple Bloom showed her a few days prior, she could probably make the trip within 10 minutes. Walking down this path would normally bring her a sense of joy and excitement, but that darn nightmare just wouldn’t leave her head. Memories of it kept playing like a broken record player.

“Stop thinking about it!” Diamond scolded herself. “It was just a dream… an awfully realistic dream, but a dream nonetheless. I am NOT gonna let this get between my friends!”

She looked around for a distraction, and thankfully just outside Ponyville, she saw Sweetie Belle at a nearby flower shop, purchasing seeds. Hoping the white unicorn could help ease her mind, she trotted to her side once she bought whatever she was purchasing.

“Oh, hi Diamond!” Sweetie greeted warmly. “Are you heading to the clubhouse too? We could go together.”

“Sure,” Diamond answered. “Why did you buy seeds?”

“Well, we’re not gonna be able to rebuild the clubhouse until later today when Applejack and Rarity can come,” Sweetie answered. “But Apple Bloom asked me to buy sunflower seeds so we can get a head start on making the place look prettier!”

“Oh yeah, I forgot we were rebuilding it this weekend,” Diamodn said. “Mother will be pleased about THAT, I’m sure,” she thought to herself sarcastically.

“Something wrong, Diamond?” Sweetie asked.

“Oh, uh, it’s nothing,” Diamond lied.

“I know a sad face when I see one,” Sweetie Belle said as she put a hoof over the pink filly’s shoulder. “We’re friends, you can tell me.”

“I make it that obvious huh?” Diamond said as she forced a chuckle. “Well, I wanna wait until everypony comes to the clubhouse. They all need to know.”

“OK,” Sweetie said. The two continued down the path to Sweet Apple Acres and they reached the clubhouse. They walked up the steps and through the door, seeing Apple Bloom looking over a bunch of papers on the floor.

“I’m back Apple Bloom!” Sweetie cheered. “And Diamond’s here, too.”

“Sweet!” Apple Bloom said. “That’ll make plantin’ these seeds so much easier. Ah drew out all the places we could plant ‘em, and I even got some pots from the farmhouse to-”

“Uh, Diamond isn’t feeling very good,” Sweetie said. The farm filly snapped out of her rambling and saw Diamond, who indeed was looking pretty sad.

“Huh?” Apple Bloom said, approaching the rich filly. “What’s bitin’ ya?”

“I’d rather wait until the others get here,” Diamond said. “It’s something you all need to know.”

“Alright,” Apple Bloom nodded. “But in the meantime, ya mind helpin’ me and Sweetie plant these here seeds?”

For the rest of the hour, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Diamond Tiara dug up holes around the clubhouse and planted the seeds. When Scootaloo arrived, they assigned her to plant seeds in the flower pots Apple Bloom gathered. By the time they were done, 10 flower pots had been filled, and the seeds outside the clubhouse formed a nice, big ring around the tree. Silver Spoon and Zipporwhill arrived at the clubhouse shortly after, followed by Twist a couple minutes later.

“Thorry I’m late,” Twist said. “But I brought everypony peppermint thtickths. Made by me of courth!”

“Maybe later, Twist,” Scootaloo said. “We’re kinda in the middle of something.”

“What’th wrong?” the cream-colored filly asked.

“‘What’s wrong’ is that Diamond is feeling sad and she wanted to wait until everypony came to the clubhouse to talk about it,” Zipporwhill said. “But now that you’re here, everypony is here, which means Diamond can tell us, so tell us tell us tell us TELL US!”

“Uh, Zip, you mind backing off?” Silver said. “I don’t think Diamond appreciates you flying so close to her face.”

“Oh, sorry,” Zipporwhill said, flying back a bit. “But I REALLY wanna know, so tell us!”

“Yeah, if yer sad, then we can help you out,” Apple Bloom said. “That’s what friends do.”

“Thanks girls,” Diamond sighed. A moment of silence fell upon the fillies, Diamond wanted to tell thing about the nightmare that was eating her from inside out all morning, but couldn't form the right words. Looking for a distraction, she suddenly remembered something.

"Mother is coming back tomorrow afternoon," Diamond finally said.

"Oh right," Scootaloo sighed. "Ms. Prissy-Pants. Whoopee."

"Ah forgot about yer ma," Apple Bloom said.

"Who's Diamond's mom? And what's her coming back supposed to mean?" Zipporwhill asked.

"Oh, that's right, you weren't here," Diamond said, rubbing the back of her neck. "In the nicest terms I can possibly use, Mother being home means less time I can spend with you all."

"Aw man!" Zipporwhill moaned while stomping the ground with her hoof... or the air above the ground since she was hovering in typical hummingbird fashion. "But hanging out with you is fun! It's not gonna be the same if our seven-tet is down to a six-tet!"

"Seven... tet?" Scootloo said. "That's not even a word!"

"Well what else would you call a team of seven?" Zipporwhill argued. Diamond couldn't help but giggle at this argument.

"Alright, enough about seven-tet," Silver giggled before turning to look at the pink filly. "We know your Mother is pretty hard on you, but all of us are here for you."

"Yeah," Sweetie Belle agreed. "Cutie Mark Crusaders always have each other's backs!"

Diamond's smile faded at the mention of Crusaders looking out for one another, as once again memories of her nightmare played in her head.

"There's... something else I wanna tell you," Diamond said. Everypony paid their undivided attention as Diamond relived the episode.

“So I had a nightmare,” she began. “A REALLY bad nightmare. It was a nice sunny day and I was going to the clubhouse when I found all of you in a huddle talking about something. Then I saw Twist crying and went to see what happened, then she snapped at me saying it was my fault. Then the rest of you confronted me and showed me an extremely mean letter that I wrote, calling her fat and smelly, making fun of her mane, and telling her to get… run over by a carriage. Then y-you all walked away and told me to never come back to the clubhouse again and… and I r-ran away and tripped in some mud and… and th-th-that’s when I woke up.”

Wiping the tears forming at the corner of her eyes, she darted her eyes around the room to see everypony’s reactions. Apple Bloom and Scootaloo’s eyes were as wide as dinner plates, Zipporwhill gaped with the only thing not frozen in place being her buzzing wings, Silver Spoon had a hoof over her mouth, and Sweetie Belle looked like she was on the verge of being a crying mess. Twist took it the hardest, and immediately threw Diamond into a hug.

“I’m THO thorry about that dream,” she whailed.

“That sounds awful!” Silver said.

“So we… we kicked out to the curb?” Sweetie said, her voice going just above a whisper.

“OMC! OMC! How can you even GET a dream that bad!?” Zipporwhill said as she was practically bouncing off the walls.

“And you just acted so calm and collected after that!?” Scootaloo said.

“QUIET!” Apple Bloom shouted, everypony turning to face her. “Ah don’t think Diamond appreciates this much ‘in yer face’. We should give her some space.”

“Thank you,” Diamond said meekly.

"We're all sorry ya had to have a dream like that," Apple Bloom said. "But Ah don't think anythin' like that's gonna happen in real life anytime soon. We're as close as Zap and Apples!" Everypony else nodded in agreement.

"Thanks," Diamond said, wiping off a tear and hugging Apple Bloom.

"GROUP HUG!" Zipporwhill called as she flew right behind Apple Bloom and hugged her. Soon enough, everypony else laughed and joined in on the group hug too.

As she shared everypony else's embrace, Diamond felt comfortable and safe. She knew they appreciated her as much as she appreciated them.

"Tho," Twist said, breaking from the hug. "When are we gonna thtart recothtruction?"





At around 12:30 PM, Applejack and Rarity came over to the clubhouse. Rarity's business was having a slow week and Applejack agreed to finish all her farm chores as quick as possible, so both mares were more than open to help. Applejack laid out the blueprints for the new clubhouse she and Apple Bloom made the night before. It was significantly bigger than the old one, being two stories tall and about twice as wide; definitely enough room for seven fillies to hang out together comfortably. The plan also included simpler details like where windows should go, bigger stairs to fit more fillies, bigger closets to store more things, and a special rug with the Crusaders' symbol on the floor.

"Now then, this clubhouse is gonna be bigger, so Ah think it'd be smart to add some extra support," Applejack said.

"So we'll need a couple of big planks of wood to put under the clubhouse and hold it up," Apple Bloom explained. "And then, we'll need more wood to attach 'em to the tree. Everypony understand?"

"Yup!" Scootaloo eagerly said.

"Alright, the first thing we need to do is to move everything out of the clubhouse," Diamond said.

"Right," Rarity agreed. "Me, Diamond, and Silver will work on clearing it out, the rest of you work on getting supplies for construction."

"Sounds like a plan," Applejack said. "C'mon everypony, we got everythin' we need in the farmhouse!"

As the orange mare and her assigned fillies raced off, Diamond, Silver, and Rarity climbed into the clubhouse and got to work. Admittedly, as much as Diamond loved hanging out with the Crusaders, she felt a little uneasy being around their big sisters. No doubt that Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle told them of the former bullies' antics, and Applejack even saw her behavior for herself. Would they be as forgiving as the foals she bullied were?

"Anything wrong, darling?" Rarity asked.

Diamond snapped back into reality. She quickly took down a bunch of pictures of foals the team helped off the wall and carried them on her back.

"Nothing's wrong," Diamond said. "It's just... we haven't really 'met' before, and you probably don't know me all that well."

"Believe me, Sweetie Belle has been telling me everything I need to know," Rarity chuckled as she used her magic to carry more pictures outside. "Ever since she made one, two, three, FOUR new friends, she's been running her mouth nonstop of all the new adventures you girls have."

"Did she tell you about the time Diamond and Scootaloo argued about weather red or green grapes were better?" Silver Spoon joked from inside, pushing a table down the steps. "I've never heard them throw so many insults at each other in my life!"

"It wasn't an argument, it was a discussion!" Diamond quickly corrected, putting the pictures she was carrying neatly in a large wooden cart. "Besides, that filly deserved all those insults, who the hay prefers green grapes!?" Despite her wanting to sound high and mighty with her opinion, she couldn't help but let a giggle slip.

"Sure it was," Silver replied sarcastically as she continued pushing the table.

"Well, don't worry about me," Rarity said as she laid her pictures down with Diamond's. "Sweetie was always close enough to the girls that I could practically call them family, I'm sure with time we'll get close to one another."

"Yeah but..." Diamond said. "What about all the times I called her names? Aren't you at least a LITTLE concerned I might hurt her again?"

Rarity simply gave the pink filly a warm smile. "Sweetie told me how she and the other Crusaders helped you rekindle with Silver Spoon. She explained how genuine you seemed about wanting to turn over a new leaf. About wanting to abandon your old ways and become a better filly. And that's all the confirmation I needed."

"So... you aren't upset with me?" Diamond asked as she picked up a stool and carried it down the steps.

"Perhaps I was in the past," Rarity answered, using her magic to roll up a rug. "But that's ancient history now. I now see you for the filly you are, one who wants to be a friend and help everypony."

"Thank you Ms. Rarity," Diamond smiled. "I... really needed to hear that."

"Please, just call me Rarity," the white mare giggled. "The others should be back soon, so let's hurry up and- Silver, you're going to hurt yourself if you try to carry that toy chest on your own! Let me help you!"





By the time Applejack and the others came back with a giant cart of supplies, the clubhouse was already cleared. The foundation of the clubhouse could stay, but everything else needed to be taken down, which Applejack took care of by herself. All the bucked-down walls and windows were safely picked up by Rarity and Sweetie Belle's magic, so as to avoid anypony getting splinters. Once Applejack was done, Apple Bloom and Twist took down the stairs. Rarity headed back to the Carousel Boutique to start on the giant rug, leaving everypony else to start construction.

"Alright everypony," Applejack called. "It won't be easy, but if we all work together, we can get this clubhouse built in no time!"

"What do we do firtht?" Twist asked.

"You girls start buildin' the stairs," Applejack said. "Me, Apple Bloom, and Diamond are gonna start on the walls. Sweetie, go check in with Rares to see how the rug is goin'."

"Got it!" Sweetie said as she ran for the Carousel Boutique. Everypony else went for the cart of supplies. Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara grabbed hammers and a large box of nails, while Applejack pulled out a couple large pieces of wood.

"So how's this gonna work?" Apple Bloom asked.

Diamond took a look around and saw a pretty tall, square piece of wood. Then she saw another next to it.

"Apple Bloom, grab one of those wooden rods and hold it upright," Diamond said. "Applejack, do the same with the other."

"Ah see where yer goin' with this," Applejack said as she and Apple Bloom took the wood and held them in the ground facing upward. The two stood a good distance away from each other. Diamond then took a plank and pushed it across the ground, leaning it against Apple Bloom's rod, making the edges parallel to each other. She took another plank and held it against Applejack's, with about half going past the wooden pole.

"Applejack, move a bit farther away," Diamond said. The farm mare obliged, and scooted the rod over.

"Perfect!" the pink filly said. "Now stay there while I hammer these in!"

Apple Bloom couldn't help but giggle as Diamond raced to grab a hammer.

"And what's so funny?" Diamond playfully asked.

"Ah never would have pegged ya as the handymare type," Apple Bloom said. "Snooty rich fillies like you wouldn't be caught dead workin' on a construction site!"

"Yer Crusader ways rubbin' off on old Diamond over here?" Applejack joked.

"Ah guess they are," Apple Bloom nodded.

"Well to tell you the truth... hard work like this isn't bad at all," Diamond said before hammering a nail in the plank, nailing it to the rod. "It's kinda fun with friends."

"Now do ya see what ya'll were missin' out on?" Apple Bloom said.

"Yeah," Diamond said bashfully as she trotted over to Applejack's wooden pole.

"Man, if Ah didn't know any better, Ah'd think yer a long-lost Apple family member!" Applejack said, admiring how eager Diamond was to get to work.

Diamond hammered another nail in before she spit the hammer out. "Thanks, Applejack. I'm... real glad all of you gave me a second chance."

"Aw shucks," Applejack said. "Ya'll may have had some bumps in the road, but in the end ya came out a good filly. If Apple Bloom says yer a good friend, that's all Ah need to hear."

"Alright," Diamond said. "I just need to nail in a few more planks, then one of you will need to hold a third rod in the middle for me to nail so that they all stay in place. Then, we can lay the wall on the ground and all work on it easier."

"What about that stray piece of wood?" Apple Bloom said, gesturing to the wood bulging out on Applejack's side.

"We can cut that off later," Applejack said.

"We finished the stairs!" Silver Spoon called out from behind. Right now Scootaloo and Zipporwhill were placing the stairs by the old clubhouse's foundation. It was probably big enough to hold their entire class!

"Yee-haw!" Applejack cheered. "At this rate, we'll be done in no time! Now how's about the rest of you help us with the walls?"





It was 6:45 PM by the time the clubhouse was finished, and it was quite a sight to behold. It was bigger, prettier, and sturdier than ever before. It had all the colors the old clubhouse had, but with far more decoration. Rarity and Sweetie Belle came back with not just a large rug with the Crusaders' logo, but matching curtains to put over the windows too. The giant planks of wood that held up the clubhouse made it look like it was a floating castle, and to the Crusaders, it may as well have been.

Right now, everypony was celebrating inside the Apple family's house, with two apple pies and plenty of cider for their troubles.

"Ah'm proud of ya'll," Applejack said warmly. "If it weren't for everypony in this room, and especially Diamond's leadership, we probably never would have finished that clubhouse."

"And now our clubhouse is bigger and better than EVER!" Zipporwhill said as she took a big bite out of her slice of pie. "We can now have much more fun crusading or coming up with games to play or playing the games we come up with!"

"Hey, has Zipporwhill asked for your autograph yet, Rarity?" Scootaloo asked. "She went ballistic when she found out she was friends with a sister of the Pony Tones."

"I sure did go ballistic!" Zipporwhill cheered.

"She did ask for my autograph..." Rarity giggled, taking a small sip of cider. "More than once..."

Diamond simply sat in her seat and ate the rest of her pie. She was probably the most proud of how the clubhouse turned out. After only recently finding her cutie mark was to represent her being a natural-born leader, she was happy she was able to use it to complete such a project.

Then she looked at the clock. 7:15 PM. Filthy Rich wanted her back soon, but she figured she could stay for a little longer. That got her to think about the return of Spoiled tomorrow afternoon. She still needed to find a away to keep her new position as a Cutie Mark Crusader secret from her mother, and just what did she have in mind about training Diamond to inherit the Rich family's fortune? She was about to find out soon.

But she pushed those thoughts aside, and looked around the room. She saw Apple Bloom and Scootaloo playfully nudging each other, Zipporwhill making faces while Twist laughed, Sweetie and Silver having a nice conversation, and Rarity and Applejack smiling at the fillies who worked so hard today. A smile grew on Diamond's face, for she knew that no matter what would happen, she would always have them as friends.
> Return of Spoiled
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

"So ya'll are goin' all the way up to TROTTINGHAM?" Apple Bloom asked, stunned at what she just heard.

"That's what Father said," Diamond sighed.

"OK I'll be real," Scootaloo said. "Waiting until a few hours before you leave to announce you're being taken to the other side of Equestria is kind of bad parenting."

Diamond wasn't going to deny that statement. Waking up to her father just nonchalantly saying that she and Spoiled would be going to Trottingham and be out of Ponyville for close to a month and a half took some time to process. She knew her mother was in Manehattan all this time, but how was she supposed to know the classes Spoiled Rich had planned for her were supposed to be on the other side of the planet? These new developments had to be shared with the rest of the Crusaders, and with Filthy's pardon, she ran straight for the clubhouse. Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and Zipporwhill were all there, and were listening in on what the pink filly needed to say.

"Wait, what about school?" Sweetie Belle said. "You're gonna miss so many lessons!"

"Father said that Mother already let the school know I would be away," Diamond said. "Ms. Cheerilee is giving me a couple papers I need to find time to do before I come back. Not nearly as much as the amount of homework I would have to do if I stayed, so that's something I suppose."

"Lucky," Scootaloo muttered, crossing her hooves.

"Why are you even GOING to Trottingham?" Zipporwhill asked, hovering around the room. "I've been there before and I didn't see anything you would like. Well that's not true, I've never been to Trottingham before but Pipsqueak is from Trottingham and he's been telling me ALL about it! My favorite part is-"

"Maybe if you stopped talking for two seconds she could tell you," Scootaloo interrupted.

"Sorry," the white filly said as she immediately sat down.

"Anyway," Diamond said.  "My parents are getting pretty old and it's family tradition that the firstborn pony of the Rich family, in this case me, to inherit the family fortune and carry our legacy. Mother has enrolled me in special classes to help me learn how to do so, which is apparently up in Trottingham."

"So you're going to COLLEGE!?" Zipporwhill cheered as she buzzed around the clubhouse. "Who knew somepony as young as you would be smart enough!"

"Zip, nopony's goin' to college," Apple Bloom said.

"I swear you're almost as weird as Pinkie Pie," Scootaloo commented. "Almost."

"Well, we're going to miss you," Sweetie said, hugging Diamond.

"I'll be fine, Sweetie," Diamond said. "I'll be back in no time. Also, you mind telling Sil and Twist what's going on? I would myself, but Father wants me back at the mansion before noon."

"Course we will!" Apple Bloom said. "Be safe, ya hear?"

"And don't forget to write!" Zipporwhill added.

"Don't worry, I won't," Diamond waved goodbye as she ran out of the clubhouse.



The wait for her mother's return wasn't anything too exciting. Once she came back from the clubhouse, she was ordered to wait in the foyer to welcome Spoiled Rich, who would be arriving any minute now. She simply sat on one of the couches and stared off into space, deep in thought. Yes, some of her anxiety was lifted now that the Crusaders were in the know of what was going on, but that didn't really help her get used to the fact she would be going to the other side of Equestria. Diamond and her family traveled a lot, of course, but nowhere near as far as Trottingham. How long would it take? How would they even get there? And what about the classes? What was she supposed to be taught, and how would it all play into her being heir of the Rich family fortune?

And then there was the matter of her mother. Having to make the trip was bad enough on its own, but the idea of her mother being around every step of the way made it sound all the more miserable. It was going to be difficult having Spoiled Rich in her day-to-day life again, especially after having the days of freedom with the Crusaders she was graced with. Of course Diamond loved Spoiled, as any daughter would love a mother, but both of them having to travel together wasn't doing anything to make her more excited. And that wasn't even mentioning the possibility of her finding out she had been with the Crusaders. What would she think of her daughter going behind her back while she was away to mingle with the "riff-raff" as she'd call them?

A ring from the door had Diamond put aside her thoughts. Randolf came to the front door, Filthy Rich close behind, and opened it, Spoiled Rich standing on the other side.

"Welcome back, Mistress Spoiled," Randolph greeted with a bow.

"Oh how I've missed you so," Filthy sighed. "How was your trip to Manehattan?"

"I wish I had time to tell you all about it, but we're on a tighter schedule than I thought," Spoiled said. "Now, where's Diamond?"

"Over here, Mother," Diamond called from her couch, waving a hoof.

"Diamond, I need you to run upstairs and get all of your belongings you need to bring along," Spoiled ordered. "And make time, the carriage taking me to and from here is waiting."

"Got it," Diamond said. Before she could run upstairs, her mother stopped her in her tracks.

"Nuh uh uh," Spoiled chided. "What do you say to your mother?"

"Yes ma'am," Diamond sighed.

"That's my sweet little gem," Spoiled nodded. "Now run along."

Diamond rolled her eyes as she made her way upstairs. She was going to need to get used to that. She took her saddlebag and scavenged the room for any items she would need. Diamond eventually decided on her mane brush, a spare tiara, her alarm clock, and her Foal for Hire book. After double- and triple-checking to make sure she had everything she needed (or rather everything she could fit in her saddlebag), the pink filly ran back downstairs.

"Stay safe, Diamond," Randolph said.

"We'll miss you a lot," Filthy said. He spread his hooves out for a hug, and Diamond was just about to embrace him before-

"There will be plenty of time for hugs when we get back," Spoiled said. "Now let's go Diamond, the carriage is waiting."

Filthy simply settled for stroking her mane, and after waving her hoof farewell, Diamond followed Spoiled to the carriage outside the backyard. A deep-red stallion was waiting for them, and Spoiled fished for a bag of bits in her luggage to show him.

"Back to the Ponyville train station, please," Spoiled said.

"Sure thing," the stallion said. "Leave it in the carriage."

Spoiled and Diamond quickly climbed inside the carriage, and the stallion made his way back to the station. "So how long will this trip take, Mother?" Diamond asked.

"We'll be taking a train to Manehattan," Spoiled answered. "Where we will stay at for two days before going to Trottingham by airship. It should take a week to get there, a week for the classes, and a week to come back."

"So close to a month," Diamond deadpanned.

"Both you and I know this is important for your future," Spoiled said. "They will be teaching you the ins and outs of finance and how to continue the family legacy when your father and I... err..."

"I know," Diamond interrupted. She was already feeling uneasy, she didn't need a reminder that her parents were a hoof in the grave to make things worse.

The two remained silent for the rest of the trip. A couple minutes passed before the Ponyville train station came into view. Spoiled and Diamond disembarked the carriage, bid the stallion farewell, and headed inside. Spoiled went to the registration table while Diamond sat in one of the waiting seats.

"Reservation to Manehattan for 'Rich'," Spoiled said, handing the mare behind the desk two tickets.

"Of course," the receptionist said, reaching below to grab a room key from a drawer. "Your cabin is Room B3, the train will be departing soon."

"Thank you," Spoiled said as she took the room key. She sat in the seat next to her daughter, waiting for everypony on the train to disembark so they could get back on. Diamond looked around and noticed that the train they were going on looked a lot different than the regular trains that came from here. It was bigger and fancier... probably more expensive too.

"The train looks different than the ones we normally go on," Diamond commented.

"That's because this is the Running Ruby, one of the best trains in Equestria," Spoiled said, taking a magazine from the counter and reading it. "I found out about it in Manehattan, and it's a lot better than the normal trains the common ponies use. It's also expensive, so less chance of us being mixed in with the riff-raff."

Spoiled looking down on other ponies was also something Diamond would have to get used to. Her being apart of the Crusaders really opened her eyes about how wrong she was to think of everypony else as lesser than her, and seeing her mother doing just that wasn't easy. Diamond had to wonder if she would become just like her if the Crusaders never became her friends... a thought she immediately brushed off for it being too horrifying.

More negative thoughts soon followed. Diamond and Spoiled rarely spoke to each other at home, and being stuck on a train with her mother still didn't sound like a fun experience. She then thought about the Trottingham class she was being taken to, and a few concerns rose. Would she even like the class? Would the teacher be super-strict? What would she and Spoiled be doing when she wasn't in class? So many questions with no answers.

"Anything wrong, Diamond?" Spoiled asked.

Diamond had to do a double-take. Did she really ask that?

"Is there anything wrong, Diamond?" Spoiled repeated, putting down her magazine to turn her full attention to her.

She did. The filly was shocked, she couldn't remember the last time her mother asked something like that to her. But not wanting to keep her waiting and possibly irritate her, she gave an answer.

"I'm just... nervous," she began. "Like... will this class be long and boring? Will I even like it?"

"I understand," Spoiled nodded. "Those are often concerns of foals who enter this class. But reviews from parents do say that their little ponies passed the class with flying colors and became experts on financial management, so it should benefit you very much i the end."

Spoiled went back to reading her magazine, but Diamond just sat there in astonishment. What... just happened? Did Spoiled actually show concern for her? All this time, ever since Diamond stood up to her that fateful day, she was wondering what her mother thought of her. She was starting to think she was caring less and less for her, but those words immediately put those thoughts to rest. Those words she spoke proved that she cared, even if she didn't always show it. Diamond always thought there was a kind heart buried deep below her mother, and now it was starting to show.

"Maybe staying with Mother on a train isn't going to be so bad after all..." she thought.

BING! BONG! BING! BONG!

"ATTENTION EVERYPONY!" the conductor's voice boomed. "WE WILL BE LEAVING FOR MANEHATTAN IN 10 MINUTES! PLEASE GRAB YOUR LUGGAGE AND BOARD THE TRAIN. THANK YOU FOR CHOOSING THE RUNNING RUBY!"

"Come along, Diamond," Spoiled said. The two got up from their seats and were ushered into the train. They eventually found their room, and to say Diamond liked what she saw would have been an understatement. The room was larger than two regular train cabins combined, covered in beautiful purple wallpaper, a large rug, two beds, a TV, and even a mini-fridge with snacks and drinks. The filly almost couldn't move.

"Now, there are menus by the TV," Spoiled said. "So find out what you want to eat for lunch when we order room service."

Room service too!? Since when were train rides as good as staying in hotel suites? Diamond quickly snapped out of her trance, grabbed a menu, and plopped on the bed, looking through it.

"It's like we're in a hotel," Diamond commented.

"Indeed," Spoiled said. "I can see why the Running Ruby is considered the most prestigious train in all of Equestria. One of the best train rides of my life when I was going back to Ponyville from Manehattan. I had a feeling you would like it."

Diamond wasn't going to argue with that. In just a few minutes, the idea with staying on a train with her mother went from being miserable to one of the best train rides of her life. She kept sifting through the menu, finding so many good food items that she was going to have trouble picking one.

BING! BONG! BING! BONG!

"ATTENTION EVERYPONY! EVERYPONY HAS BOARDED THE TRAIN AND WE WILL BE DEPARTING TO MANEHATTAN RIGHT NOW! ALL ABOARD!"

Diamond suddenly felt like this month was going to go by really quick. As the train started moving, she smiled, finally deciding on the Mega Hayburger Deluxe.
> The Road to Manehattan
> --------------------------------------------------------------------------

Diamond was more than a little excited to learn that this train had a foal's playground in one of the cars. Just how expensive was this train? After her lunch, she immediately went to see what was in the play zone. It was typical playground fare, from swings, to slides, to merry-go-rounds, even a jungle gym. But what really caught her attention was how none of the foals in it were playing. They were all huddled in one spot discussing something. Curious, she trotted over to see what all the commotion was about.

"I just don't get it!" she heard a colt say, a green earth pony. "Who would steal my hay fries?"

"Yeah!" a white unicorn in sunglasses said. "It's not like, hay fries can like, sprout wings and fly away."

"But we ARE living in a world where if hay fries DID sprout wings and fly away nopony would bat an eye," an orange unicorn colt said. Everypony in the room just stared at him in confusion. "What?" he asked.

"Sooooo..." Diamond began. "Somepony stole some hay fries?"

"MY hay fries!" the green colt said. "They were right by the jungle gym when I left to go to the bathroom, and now they're gone!"

"Well my friends, this is most definitely a case we have on our hooves," a brown earth pony colt said as he approached the group. "But what shall I call this case? 'The Case of the Colt's Hay Fries that Suddenly Went Missing'? Nah, that's a bit too on the nose..."

"And like, WHO are you?" the white unicorn filly asked.

"I'm glad you asked that my friend," he said. "As you can tell from my cutie mark, I happen to be a detective. One of the best in fact. Back home, they call me 'The Colt Whose Brain Knows No Bounds'." His cutie mark indeed did look like it could be a detective's, with magnifying glass looking down at a plant.

"Cool," the orange colt said. "Are the rest of us gonna get an opportunity to introduce ourselves and our cutie marks?" Everypony stared at him again. "Seriously, why do you keep looking at me like that?"

"Anyway," he went on. "I have been listening in on your little predicament, and as the best detective on this train, I have immediately deduced the facts to find the culprit!"

"Really!?" the green colt asked. "Who?"

"Why it's none other than... YOU!" he bellowed, pointing to the white unicorn. "YOU were the one who took the fries, you gluttonous filly!"

"WH-AT!?" the filly yelped. "I have like, no idea what you're talking about. I don't even like hay fries, nasty!"

"...I see," the brown colt said, scribbling some notes in his note pad. "My mistake, my dear, the evidence clearly shows you are not our thief."

"Man, this place is for total squares," a purple colt who was also wearing shades said. "C'mon babe, let's ditch this place."

"Hmmmmmmmmmmm," the brown colt said, walking around the other colt and inspecting him. "In a hurry to flee the crime scene, are you? You're looking awfully suspicious right now!"

"Are you like, suggesting MY coltfriend would steal hay fries!?" the white unicorn protested. "C-E-L-E-S-T-I-A no! He would like, NEVER do that!"

"So lemme get this straight," a blue pegasus colt with glasses said. "So what we know so far... is that we don't know who the thief is... and that's it."

Diamond lost all interest in the conversation at this point. She just rolled her eyes and walked back to her room before she stepped in some ketchup. Looking at the floor, she could see a trail of ketchup drops leading out of the car. Following them through the cars, she came to one particular room that was wide open, where she saw a pretty obese unicorn colt eating some hay fries covered in ketchup. Upon noticing he wasn't alone, the colt immediately hid the fries.

"So I'm guessing you took those hay fries everypony's talking about?" Diamond asked.

"Oh, REAL nice!" the colt protested. "Some food goes missing and you blame the fat kid. How original!"

"Whatever, I don't want anything to do with this circus act anyway," Diamond said as she rolled her eyes. But before she could leave the brown colt from earlier stormed into the room.

"I've GOT IT!" he said. "It's all clear to me now. With these ketchup stains on the floor, I was able to track them down to this very room, meaning that the culprit is standing right in front of me."

The obese colt was holding the worst poker face Diamond had ever seen. She just sighed and tried to walk off.

"It was YOU!" the colt said, grabbing Diamond by the shoulder and turning her around to face him. That had certainly caught her by surprise.  "You were acting so disinterested in the case that you turned around to walk away. Little did you know you were leaving stains from the condiments you were planning to use with your snack. Well, the jig is up!"

"I... uh... um..." Diamond stammered, to taken aback for words at the sudden accusation.

"OK I CONFESS!" the fat colt cried from behind. "IT WAS ME! I TOOK THE FRIES FROM THE JUNGLE GYM! I WAS JUST SO HUNGRY AND MOMMY SAID I ALREADY HAD MY LUNCH SO I COULDN'T EAT UNTIL DINNER! PLEASE FORGIVE ME!"

Now both of them were caught off-guard. "Well, uh, YES!" the brown colt said. "I knew you were the thief all along! I was simply accusing this fair maiden of the crime just to get you to confess to it yourself. How's that for some detective work?"

"Sure it was," Diamond said, clearly unimpressed.

"We'll leave this sorry sap to his own room," the colt said. "I'm sure the grief is punishment enough."

With the obese foal still in tears, both Diamond and the "detective" exited the room and closed the door. "That was some exceptional decoy work," he said. "The surprised look on your face, what a perfect facade!"

"Uh... huh," Diamond said.

"Oh, and where are my manners!?" he said. "The name is Clear Specs. As I mentioned, my cutie mark is in detective work! And you are...?"

"I-" Diamond was about to say before being interrupted.

"WAIT!" Clear Specs shouted. "I demand you not answer. I've seen you around Ponyville before. You're... one of the famed Cutie Mark Crusaders, are you not?"

Diamond blushed. Was the club this well known? "Well, um, yeah, I am!"

"And those ocean blue eyes... that sweet pink coat... that glamorous tiara on your mane..." he went on. "It's no secret! You are none other than-"

Diamond's blush grew harder. She couldn't believe she was famous enough to be recognized!

"-Silver Spoon!"

If Diamond had been drinking water, she would have spit it all over Clear Spec's face. Silver Spoon!? How could he mistake her for SILVER SPOON!? They looked absolutely nothing alike, and what's more, her coat and mane were SILVER-colored! Her flank had a SPOON on it! The TIARA that Diamond wore was made of DIAMONDS!

"No need for confirmation," Clear Specs said. "My brain has infinite amounts of memory."

"But I'm... ugh whatever," she said.

"Say, what brings you to the fanciest train in Equestria?" Clear Specs asked.

"Well if you must know, I'm going to Trottingham with my mother to take some special educational classes,"  Diamond said.

"You're on your way to Trottingham too?" Clear Specs asked. "What a coincidence, I'm returning there from visiting some family in Ponyville."

"I see," Diamond replied.

"IT IS DECIDED!" he said. "From this day forth, I shall appoint you, Silver Spoon, as my assistant in detective work! Your knowledge and know-how should prove useful for any future cases."

"You do realize that what I did back there was like, really nothing to write home about, right?" Diamond said.

"Nonsense!" Clear Specs said, shaking her hoof. "Don't be so humble, you're a hero for playing into my scheme of getting that colt to admit his wrongdoings!"

"Wow, you're uh... still going with that story, huh?" Diamond said.

"If you need me, I'll be in Room D1," he said as he started walking off. "If anymore cases pop up, you will be the first filly to hear!"

"OK... that was super weird," Diamond said to herself. Not wanting to think about what had just happened any further, she turned back and headed to her room. At least with Spoiled she knew what to expect.



BING! BONG! BING! BONG!

ATTENTION EVERYPONY! WE WILL BE MAKING A SCHEDULED STOP AT APPLELOOSA FOR REFUELING! HOWEVER, DUE TO AN UNEXPECTED DELAY, WE WILL BE DEPARTING FOR MANEHATTAN TOMORROW MORNING! PLEASE WATCH YOUR STEP IF YOU ARE DISEMBARKING!

Things could not be worse for Spoiled. It wasn't the fact that they were making a stop at Appleloosa. She had known about that when she booked the trip in the first place, and had fully intended on staying in her cabin until the train got under way again. No, what was REALLY going to make this stop a bad time was that the incompetent hicks that allowed the Appleloosa train station to run out of coal, and the new shipment wouldn't be arriving until sunrise. As such, it was suggested all passengers disembark and schedule a night at the nearby motel.

Well, it was less of a recommendation and more of a requirement.

The moment Spoiled Rich stepped hoof off the train, she had to muster every bit of energy, will, and magic in her body to not reel back in disgust and anguish at the western feel. There was very little plant life aside from a few cacti and the occasional tumbleweed, the ground was hard and rugged, and the buildings were all in poor quality compared to even the common homes in Ponyville. Worst of all though was the ponies living here. Many of them wore attire that was a couple centuries past season, and spoke with the western dialect — no, "dialect" made it sound classy and somewhat acceptable — the western drawl that Spoiled just could not stand.

Diamond, in contrast, was quite curious. She had never been to Appleloosa before,  and was not by any means familiar with the lifestyle aside from the occasional off-comment from Apple Bloom or one of the other Crusaders. It was all interesting enough to catch her attention. The old-timey buildings had a much different design than the ones she was familiar with; the saloon doors were novel, and storing supplies in barrels was an exotic take. The ponies here were also quite different than the ones in Ponyville, and was allured not just by their attire, but their accents as well. Overhearing conversations as she and her mother strolled past, they reminded her a lot about Apple Bloom and Applejack.

"Pay no mind to these lowlives," Spoiled whispered, not wanting to draw unwanted attention. "You are of a higher class, and you should act like it."

A small part of her curiosity died when reality struck and she realized Spoiled was still with her. Still, she couldn't help it. Diamond was always raised in the high class - it felt refreshing to be in a place like Appleloosa.

The entire process of renting a room for two and staying the night went by faster than Rainbow Dash's flying speed. Spoiled was intent on renting a room as quick as possible so as to stay away from anything she deemed "low-class". Plus she wanted to get the best room the motel could offer, as that would only be barely passable, if that. She just couldn't stand Appleloosa — a fine pony such as herself should not have to waste any time in an empty desert like this. Granted, the room she rented wasn't much to write home about either. Each of the rooms had two beds, as well as a third that could fold out of a couch. There was also a bathroom, cabinets with stored food in them, and a wooden floor topped with a rug. She certainly did not like it, but she decided the bare minimum was a lot better than staying outside.

Diamond analyzed the room — it was certainly different than what she was used to. There weren't any fancy carpets or wallpaper around the walls, and the beds were rather small; her own bed at home was larger than the both beds in the room combined. Needless to say even she was quite surprised the motel charged as many bits as they did for rooms like this. Although she did have to admit admit the wooden floor felt nice on her hooves, and her bed was surprisingly comfortable.

"I'm going to see if I can find a restaurant clean enough to have dinner in," Spoiled told her daughter. "Behave yourself while I'm gone. And do not, and I repeat DO NOT let anypony else in the room. Do you understand?"

"Yes Mother," Diamond answered.

As Spoiled exited the room, she wondered why Diamond was so unwary of the lowlives of this place. It made her wonder if something had happened while she was away.

"No matter," Spoiled thought to herself. "She'll be acting like the high-class filly she is soon enough."

With Spoiled away, Diamond was left with just herself and her Foal for Hire book. Minutes passed, and she was starting to regret not bringing the next installment as she was nearing the end. Just then, Clear Specs burst into her room, breaking the peace and tranquility.

Diamond jumped nearly 10 feet at the intruder's sudden presence. "What are you doing here?" she asked, regaining herself.

"Well, Silver, we have another situation on our hooves," Clear Specs answered.

"Oh yeah," Diamond realized. "He still thinks I'm Sil."

"Well don't just sit there," he said. "This case is of utmost importance."

"I'm coming, I'm coming," she said. She hopped off the bed, abandoning her comfy quarters, and followed him outside. He led her to the same small, blue pegasus from the day before.

"Alright," Clear Specs said to the pegasus. "My mystery-solving assistant is here to help us with the case. Now explain to her very slowly."

"O-OK," the timid colt began. "S-so I my dad works for this company, and we were going to Manehattan on a business trip. On the trip, he was going to show his newest product idea to them, which he says could possibly revolutionize how ponies live. Well, I thought it would be fun to pretend to be Dad, so I went around Appleloosa with his suitcase… and… a-and I turned around and... IT WAS GONE!"

"Oh dear," Clear Specs replied.

"Now my dad is gonna KILL me!" the colt said in worry.

"I know how that feels," Diamond inwardly replied.

"So this is definitely a serious case," Clear Specs said, taking out his notebook. "I shall call it… 'The Case of the Missing Case'. No no no, that won't work. Perhaps… 'The Case of the Case that Went Missing'. Yes that fits a lot better—" Clear continued rambling.

"So… do you know where you were when you last had it?" Diamond asked.

"I was behind that building," he replied, pointing to the nearby saloon.

"Well, have you tried looking there?" she asked.

"No, but I'll check," he said. The pegasus raced to the saloon, going in between it and another building. At this point Clear Specs had just finished marking down everything in his notepad.

"So I have a few questions for—" He stopped as he realized the pegasus left. "Where has he gone off to?"

"I told him to check behind the saloon," Diamond answered.

"HEY I FOUND IT!" the pegasus called as he ran to the two foals, the briefcase on his back. "Thank you so much for helping me," he said.

"Impressive," Clear Specs said. "That's TWO cases you solved before I did. And here I thought it was snatched by a wild desert snake and taken all the way back to its den on the edge of town. You may very well be a better detective than I am."

"Uh, it REALLY wasn't anything special," Diamond replied.

"Well, I have to go now," the colt said. He took the briefcase and ran off.

"Good show, Silver," Clear Specs said. "You should be heading back to your room now."

"He is SUCH a weirdo..." she thought as she trotted off to her room. Only a few seconds later, Spoiled came in and told Diamond that she, much to her surprise, found a well-respected place to eat. The evening went on, until Luna's moon began to take the place of Celestia's sun, signalling bedtime for ponies, where Diamond lay asleep. All things considered, this trip was going better than she thought it would. Sure, it wasn't perfect... but she could confidently say she wasn't miserable like she predicted she would be earlier this morning.

"One day down," she thought as she drifted away. "Roughly three more weeks go.