Bleah, yet another morning waking up in the clubhouse. At least this time Scootaloo had woken her up on time.
Of course, today it was important to get up, since today she was going to have to go to school, and she needed to get ready. Sweetie Belle could show up at any time, and they'd be heading over to Sweet Apple Acres. She had agreed to push Apple Bloom around in that wheelchair of hers, after all.
While pushing Apple Bloom around would usually be the start of a rather good day, it was all way too much exercise this early in the morning. There wasn't much she could do about it, though.
And she had to go to school, too, where everypony wanted to kill her, or at least inflict some measure of bodily harm on her. Of course, that was true of most places and ponies, these days.
Well, okay, maybe Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo didn't want to kill her.
A mental image of Sweetie Belle's horn pointing directly at her throat popped into her mind.
Okay, Scootaloo didn't want to kill her, at least. Probably, anyways. She was more likely to try to embarrass her to death.
Getting up, everything felt all achy and bruisy, making her wince. She felt like she could use a good long soak in a bathtub, preferably with some bath salts and bubbles and things. Or even a shower would help.
No showers for her this morning, though, or breakfast in bed. At least her injured hoof was feeling better, and her throat wasn't feeling quite as bad.
She splashed a little water on her face, since that was likely to be the best she could get right now, and combed her mane, while watching Scootaloo do a whole bunch of wing exercises across the treehouse.
She was persistent, Diamond would give her that.
It still felt weird knowing that Scootaloo mostly couldn't fly because of what her parents did to her. That wasn't what parents were supposed to do! Parents were supposed to… well, she wasn't really sure what they were supposed to do, but that wasn't it.
To be totally honest, parents weren't really something she was that familiar with. She was used to butlers and maids that she could boss around. The total lack of both around here was pretty irritating, and Scootaloo didn't exactly count.
Admittedly, it'd be fun to try to get Scootaloo to fill in and dress up as a maid, though she was sure it wouldn't last more than a minute. Scootaloo didn't really have the attitude right to be a butler, either, though a top hat, tuxedo, and monocle wouldn't look bad on her.
She still wasn't totally sure where she stood with Scootaloo. Everypony usually had their places, and she didn't quite fit. Scootaloo wasn't hired help, and was pretty unlikely to do anything Diamond said, unless it was something she already wanted to do.
Friends was kind of a murky category for her, mostly occupied with Silvy, and it wasn't one she was really ready to deal with at the moment, though she might have to soon.
Then something occurred to her.
How about roommates? They were roommates, sort of, and she'd read things with roommates in them before, even if she'd never had one of her own.
Roommates had possibilities. Maybe that would do for now. Scootaloo could be the wacky comic roommate that she went on adventures with or something.
"Good morning, Scoots!" the cheery voice of somepony that clearly thought mornings were a good thing called out. "Good morning, Diamond!"
Sure enough, Sweetie Belle was standing in the doorway, grinning as if she thought everypony else should be just as happy as her right now, which seemed likely. Diamond would have loved to have just closed the door right in her face right now and gone back to sleep, but she probably ought to get her things and get going.
"Morning, Mr. Flufflepants!" Sweetie Belle continued cheerily.
Dazzle opened one eye from where he was sleeping, yawned, and pretended to go back to sleep. Lazy cat.
"That's Dazzle," Diamond corrected. She pulled her saddlebags onto her back. Grabbing a scarf from them, she carefully wrapped it around her neck, trying to make it where it wouldn't come loose easily. The bruises there were rather noticeable otherwise.
"Dazzle? Did he like the cat food I brought him?"
"He's a cat, and it was cat food. It was fine," Diamond stated, then, for politeness's sake, followed up with "Thank you."
"You're welcome!" Sweetie Belle beamed, seemingly satisfied with her ability as a cat food provider. "Ready, Scoots?"
"Just … a … minute…" Scootaloo finished a wing pushup, spit on her hoof, and ran it through her mane, disgustingly enough. "Ready."
Scootaloo grabbed her own saddlebags, and the three of them headed out. Diamond was pretty sure that on a normal day, she'd still have been lying in bed eating breakfast, if she was even awake. Still, there wasn't much she could do about it.
Come to think of it, maybe she should have grabbed breakfast first, or brought a lunch. She hadn't actually done anything about her missing schoolbooks, either. Today was really going to suck.
Not that that had ever been in question, really.
Still, she could at least have something ready. As Diamond passed one of the countless apple trees, she quickly snagged a few apples and stashed them in her bags. At least that way she'd have something, even if she was getting a bit sick of apples.
Of course, she could buy lunch, but that was a rather common thing to do. It might raise questions, too, since she never bought lunch at school. She either brought it, or somepony brought it to her, usually Grey.
There was always just taking somepony else's lunch, of course, but she was already in enough trouble as it was. No, it'd be apples today. She did need to save money, after all, since she wasn't sure when she could get more.
Come to think of it, her allowance was normally due in a day or two. Grey had given her last week's allowance because Daddy hadn't told him not to. If Daddy still hadn't, he might still give her this week’s, if she asked. He was kinda funny like that sometimes.
She actually knew the perfect time to check. Every week, Daddy always went out for some business thing at the same time. She could just head there and wait after school that day, and stop by after he left.
Grey might not be willing to give her her allowance, but he might, and she wasn't going to count it as gone until she tried. He might be willing to get her her schoolbooks, too. It wasn't like Daddy would have any use for them.
She continued trudging down the path following Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo, presumably towards the farm. They were chattering along to each other, not really paying much attention. She supposed this was part of their normal routine. Not the part about picking up Apple Bloom in a wheelchair, of course, but meeting up before school and walking there together.
This wasn't really that unfamiliar, since she normally met up with Silvy before school herself. It was just a different place and different company, even if that company was mostly ignoring her right now.
And this wasn't that long of a walk. She could see Sweet Apple Acres now, in fact.
Diamond had assumed that they were going to need to go over to the farmhouse, knock, and get Apple Bloom, but she was already out in front of it in her wheelchair.
In fact, the whole Apple family seemed to be out there. She wasn't sure them standing out there waiting for her was a good thing, since they had wanted to kill her not that long ago. Maybe they'd changed their minds?
It did seem to her like you could probably hide a body for a long time on Sweet Apple Acres if you really wanted to. Who knew what was in all those barrels, or the compost and fertilizer they used for the farm?
Still, she wasn't being rushed with pitchforks, and Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle didn't seem alarmed, not that they'd really have any reason to be. It was best to assume they were friendly.
Or they were all in on it together, and she'd never be seen again.
She did think Scoots would have a problem with that, though, and Granny Smith could easily have killed her in her sleep the other day. She'd been really nice instead, so it was probably okay. And she did have witnesses.
And, of course, if it wasn't okay, it was already too late, since they could see her now.
"Good morning, girls!" Granny Smith waved at them cheerily.
Big Macintosh pointed his hoof at her, looking rather more puzzled than hostile today. "What's she doing here?"
"She's here to be my servant today!" Apple Bloom piped up surprisingly cheerfully from her wheelchair. "Aren't you?"
Sure she was.
She could blow up and get mad, but that was probably what Apple Bloom wanted. In any case, two could play at that game. Apple Bloom wanted a maid, she'd get a maid.
Diamond walked up to Apple Bloom's chair at an even pace, not letting her irritation show.
"Of course, Miss Apple Bloom, ma'am!" Diamond did an exaggerated half-curtsey by Apple Bloom's feet. "Whatever you wish, ma'am."
"Diamond's just here to push Apple Bloom's wheelchair to and from school," Scootaloo blurted out hastily, seeming flustered.
"Well, that's mighty fine of you. Just today, was it?" Granny Smith asked.
"Until she's out of the wheelchair, actually," Diamond said, dropping the servant act. She really hoped that didn't turn out to be forever.
"I suppose we'll all have to get used to seeing you around here, then, won't we?" Granny Smith stated, eying the rest of the Apples. She was good at it, too. No one could eye other ponies like Granny Smith could.
One thing was clear, looking at the rest of them, too. Even if Applejack ran things normally, whatever Granny Smith said, went. The fact that she seemed to somehow like Diamond was extremely lucky for her.
"Now, suppose you let me see that there bad hoof of yours."
Startled, Diamond unwrapped the bandages from her hoof and held it out to Granny, without even really thinking about it.
"That doesn't look so bad, now," Granny Smith said, looking it over. "Be careful with it, and try not to trod on it too much, but I expect it'll be better by tomorrow."
"Oh? That's good," Diamond said awkwardly. "Now, we really did need to get going, er, school and all?"
"You modern fillies, always rushing around everywhere," Granny Smith said. She pulled out four paper bags, leading Diamond to vaguely wonder why she'd already had one ready for her. "Make sure to take some breakfast with you, at least."
Breakfast! Diamond snatched the paper bags away and dumped them in the wheelchair on Apple Bloom's lap.
"Hey!" Apple Bloom yelped, and tried to glare at Diamond, but clearly needed some lessons on the subject from Granny Smith.
"Now git along, y'all," Granny waved them away. "I'm sure you'll have more time for chit-chat after getting some of that highfalutin learnin' of yours."
Diamond waved awkwardly to them, and grabbed ahold of the wheelchair while the others said their goodbyes. After they had walked down the road a short way, Apple Bloom spoke up again.
"You'll at least go along with the whole servant thing at school, won'tcha?"
This again. "I did say I'd do anything you asked if Scootaloo agreed, but— "
"I know, but listen!" Apple Bloom said. "I've got a plan!"
"You planned to make Diamond your servant?" Scootaloo said, coming closer. "This I gotta hear."
"Look. Y'all said that the ponies at school were treating Diamond real bad 'cause she hurt me, right?"
"They did attack me, but I'm not sure what that has to do— "
"So, here's what we do. We let on that your family's makin' you wait all hoof an' hoof on me till I'm better, and that if they do anything to you, I won't have any help. Then nopony'll bother you, right?"
This did not sound fun. She didn't have much to lose, though, and it might work.
"I don't know. You sure you aren't just doing this because you want me to do a bunch of embarrassing stuff in front of everypony?"
It was what she'd have done, after all.
"Well —" Apple Bloom said slowly. "I might hafta do that a few times, 'cause everypony will expect me to. I'll keep it small, though, and you can act all grudging and sulky and surly about it. It'd be pretty weird if you didn't, actually."
It seemed like she was stuck with this. She sighed.
"You share your textbooks and lunch with me while I help you with them, don't push me too far, and we'll see how it goes, I suppose."
"Apple fritters!" Sweetie Belle said suddenly, startling Diamond.
"Apple fritters?" She repeated, not totally sure what was going on.
"Apple fritters!" Sweetie Belle said again, passing one of the paper bags from Apple Bloom's lap over. Diamond stopped pushing and opened it. Looking inside, sure enough, there was an apple fritter. She shoved it in her mouth and tossed the empty bag aside.
Gulping the fritter down, which did taste absolutely delicious, she started pushing again. "You are going to share your textbooks, right?"
"Um, I guess," Apple Bloom said, sounding a little confused. "What I can do is I'll make you sit next to me, pull it out, and flip pages for me, and you'll be close enough to read it. What's wrong with yours, though?"
"I don't have them," Diamond said, simply. "I think they are still in my room."
They might as well be on the moon.
"Oh. Well, this oughta work. We'll play it by ear."
Given they were pretty much at school, and other ponies were already starting to give them confused looks, they didn't really have time to change plans anyways. It was time for a big dramatic entrance.
"Coming through!" Apple Bloom bellowed, as they approached the schoolhouse. Foals scrambled away as she wheeled the wheelchair towards the schoolhouse… steps?
Right. Great. Probably should've thought this bit out more.
"Okay, you two, get on the other side. We'll have to lift it up, I think," she said.
Oof. This thing was heavy.
Fortunately, there weren't many steps, and with Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo helping, she managed to maneuver the wheelchair past them and into the doorway. Anypony that wasn't paying attention before this certainly would be now, though. Shouldn't there have been some other way in?
"Okay. Diamond! That's my desk right there!" Apple Bloom pointed over to it. "Get rid of the chair and just pull me in there. Got it?"
"Yes, ma'am!" Diamond mock-snapped to attention, shoved the chair to one side, and pulled the wheelchair in as close as it could get to the desk without risking knocking her leg against it.
"That desk is now yours," Apple Bloom said, pointing at the next desk over. "Shove it next to mine, and stay right next to me, so you're there when I need you. And I will be needing you."
There was already a bag on that desk, but Diamond wasn't going to let that ruin their momentum. She tossed the bag onto another desk, then shoved this one over next to Apple Bloom's.
She sat down, trying not to collapse into it and show how tired she was. She never got this much exercise, and it had been a pretty exhausting week.
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo sat down in desks near them, trying to act as if all of this was normal and happened all the time.
Everyone was looking at them and talking to each other. She wasn't sure she was happy about her own role in all this, but there was something to be said for being the center of attention, at least.
As the seats filled up around them, everypony was talking, and she was pretty sure most of it was about them.
Miss Cheerilee watched from the front of the classroom. Once the school bell rang and everypony was in their seats, she cleared her throat.
"Let's settle down everypony, now." She looked the class over, and the talking came to a stop.
"Now, everypony, as I'm sure you are aware, Apple Bloom is out of the hospital now, and is rejoining us a bit early today. Why don't you all give her a warm welcome?"
At that, the other foals gave her a round of applause, both because it seemed to be expected, and possibly because of the spectacle Diamond and Apple Bloom had made coming in.
Miss Cheerilee cut off the applause after a moment.
"Now, since she's still recovering, I'd like everypony to help her out as much as you can, though this does not extend to doing her homework for her, or anything similar." A colt who had started to raise one hoof lowered it. "Apple Bloom, did you want to say a few words?"
Apple Bloom leaned forward. "First off, Miss Cheerilee, we really had a hard time getting over those stairs. It's gonna be really tough if we hafta do that every day."
Miss Cheerilee squeezed her eyes closed for a moment. "Facilities was already notified and should be getting a ramp ready. We weren't expecting you back for a day or two, but I'll have them hurry. Anything else you wanted to say?"
"Right." Apple Bloom looked around the classroom. "First off, I wanted to thank everypony that came and visited me in the hospital. That place was driving me stir-crazy, and your visits helped."
"As you can see," she gestured downwards, "I'm still stuck in this wheelchair, and I will be for at least a couple of months. I am gonna need help, and since Diamond was the one that got me stuck here in the first place, she's gonna be wheeling it around for me and acting as my hooves for everything I need done until I'm all healed up. So you might all want to get used to seeing us together for a while."
"Thank you, Apple Bloom," Miss Cheerilee said. "Before I start, Diamond, can I see you for a moment?"
Oh, right, missing class. She grabbed the note she'd written and signed in Daddy's name, hoping it was enough, and walked up to the front of the class slowly, feeling all eyes on her.
"Um, I've got a note for the days I missed here— " she started.
"Don't worry about it, Diamond. Your butler stopped by while you were out."
Grey had come by? Her heart skipped a beat. Did Miss Cheerilee know?
Oblivious to the look of panic that crossed Diamond's face, she continued. "He let me know you weren't feeling well and wouldn't be in. I've heard what happened, in any case, and I've talked to everypony involved. It won't happen again."
It shouldn't have happened in the first place!
"Um, Miss Cheerilee, where were you at the time?" she ventured.
Cheerilee sighed. "I'm sorry, Diamond. There was supposed to be someone watching outside. I was in the classroom picking out a new editor for the Foal Free Press. It seems we just can't keep anypony in the position."
You shouldn't have taken it away from me, then!, Diamond thought. She was tempted to volunteer to take it back over, but she doubted it would be accepted, and she was pretty sure she couldn't do that on top of everything else even if it was.
At least it didn't sound like Grey had told on her. What had he been doing here?
"Was there anything else?" she asked, hoping there wasn't.
"That should be it," she said, cheerfully. "It's good to see you helping out Apple Bloom like this."
"It wasn't really my decision on that. Daddy was pretty angry."
"It's still a good opportunity for the two of you to spend some time together. Maybe you'll even be friends by the end of this!"
Friends? Diamond thought, as she walked back to her desk. Fat chance of that! Maybe we won't kill each other, at least.
"Now, class, if you'll take out your Algebra book, and turn to page 274 —-"
"Diamond, my book?"
She reached into Apple Bloom's bag, and hunted around for the textbook in question. Flipping to the correct page, she placed it on Apple Bloom's desk, and leaned over so she could see it properly.
This was going to be a long day.