Diamond Tiara gulped as she heard hoofsteps on the other side. When the door opened, a pink pony with a fancy looking purple mane, a blue shirt, and a golden necklace stood on the other side. She glared in Loyal's direction. "And just what is my daughter doing with the likes of YOU?"
"Hello, mother."
"Pleasure to meet you., Miss." Loyal replied, completely ignoring the insult.
The pony grunted before asking, "To what displeasure do I owe this visit?"
"Your daughter and I figured it'd be nice to drop by and....chat." Loyal finished.
"May we come in, mother?" Diamond Tiara asked, politely.
Her mother sighed heavily and stepped aside. "If you must."
Diamond walked in and Loyal followed. The inside of the mansion was huge. The walls shined, the lights were kind of bright, and the floors were designed with beautiful patterns.
"Nice interiors.." Loyal commented.
"Yeah, I think my ancestors designed the place? 'course, it's been pretty modernized since then. I think the sitting room is this way. Careful not to knock any of the vases over, mom would freak..." Diamond threw a nervous smile in her mother's direction before continuing down the hall.
Eventually, the three arrived at the sitting room. Diamond's mother sat in one chair, Loyal and Diamond sat in the other three.
"So...." Loyal began. "There was something I--no, we--wanted to talk to you about."
Diamond's mother rolled her eyes before asking, "Yes? Do make this quick, I'm a very busy pony."
"Mother, please..."
"I don't believe I was talking to you, Diamond Tiara."
"Your daughter and I were conversating earlier. I eventually asked her about you, and she told me you raised her to be just like you. Why? Why would you raise your daughter instead of raising her to be somepony one could befriend? What led you to lead Diamond to become like you?" Loyal asked. He knew even if she told him to leave, he wasn't going to. He was staying in that very spot until he reformed her.
"Hmph. When you're in a position this high in society like us, it takes a lot to maintain your image. Everypony will be looking for the slightest little things to indicate they're even remotely like you. My daughter appears to have forgotten that."
"I've forgotten nothing, mother! I just want to have friends, I don't care about-" Diamond stopped as she noticed the look her mother was giving her, and glanced down to the floor.
"She doesn't HAVE to be like that. She never did in the first place! If she had continued being the way she once was, she would eventually have been unable to make progress! Look how far she's gotten now that she's reformed! she's gotten farther than YOU ever would have!"
"If what you say is true, then what reason do you have for coming here? Surely, if Diamond Tiara has come as far as you claim she has, she's more than capable of talking to me on her own, isn't she?"
"I..."
"Not if you keep shooting her crude looks. Even one look stops her from trying to speak up! I assume you wouldn't care how ponies feel when you end up making incredibly rude and unappreciative remarks about them, trying to keep your daughter from speaking to them. Even if she is family, she can make friends if she wants to! You should realize, this town is most likely full of ponies who aren't exactly high class, but they're still the friendliest folk around! They're not uptight and snobbish like you figured they'd be! Maybe if you actually gave your daughter a chance, instead of trying to keep her from bonding with lower-class residents, you'd see that what you're trying to do instead is a huge mistake!"
"...He's... right! Everypony in this town that I've met have been so kind to me ever since I stopped trying to live the way you want me to!"
"That's enough, Diamond Tiara."
"No, it's not!" Diamond stood up. "I don't WANT to live life the way you do! I couldn't care less about our status here in town! I just want to have friends, mother! It doesn't matter to me what they think of me, I just want them to like me! REALLY like me! Not act like they do because they're AFRAID of me!"
Diamond's mother was looking increasingly angry. "I said that's enough."
"And I said it's not! Mother, if you won't let me live my life the way I want to, and keep forcing your ideals on me, then I'll... I'll..."
"You'll WHAT, Diamond Tiara? What will you do? Run away?"
"...Yeah. That's exactly what I'll do. I'll run away!"
Diamond took off running, and Loyal continued after her, eventually making it outside, behind the mansion.
"Wow...things went from zero to 100 in no time back there...but I'll be honest, Diamond...I'm very proud of you. Not for running away, of course...but you actually managed to stand up against your mother."
"I've never done anything like that before. I mean, I called her out in front of the whole school one time, but... But I've never really stood up to her that way. It felt good!" Diamond giggled, and then gasped. "Wait! Where am I going to go? I can't ask my friends if I can stay with them, they'll know something's up."
"Well..." Loyal began, and began thinking of where to go.
"I wonder if maybe Fluttershy would be able to take care of me..."
"Who's Fluttershy?"
"She's the local vet. Well, as close to a vet as we have anyway. She lives near the edge of town, but she's very kind and caring, especially with animals."
"I feel like she'd freak out at the sight of me."
"Well.... Sweetie Belle's older sister is good with kids. Sort of. Rainbow Dash, not so much..."
"Are there any other options? Someplace...peaceful?"
"Well, the most peaceful place in Ponyville is probably Sweet Apple Acres. That's where Apple Bloom and her family live. Thing is, I'm worried about going there. They value family above everything else, and I'm worried they'll try to force me to reconcile with my mother when I'm not ready to yet."
"Don't worry...I'll be able to handle that. Shall we go to Sweet Apple Acres, then?"
"Well... I guess so." Diamond shrugged and began heading deep into Ponyville. "It's this way."
Loyal nodded in understanding, and followed Diamond throughout Ponyville. Ponies everywhere gave Loyal a strange look.
"Why are they staring at me?" Loyal whispered.
"Not sure. Maybe they've never seen someone like you before?" Diamond shrugged and continued walking.
Loyal tried his best to ignore the ponies staring at him. Eventually, they reached a gate. On the other side was an acre of land, filled to the brim with apple trees. A bright orange pony approached the gate, with a friendly smile on her face.
"Well, howdy there, Diamond Tiara! Good to see you! You here looking for Apple Bloom?"
"Actually, Applejack, uh... There's... something I need to talk to you about." Diamond rubbed at one of her hooves, and looked up to Applejack. "See, well-"
"Can it wait, Di? I'm actually still in the middle of workin' on the chores for today; I just came over to see if you needed anything. You're welcome to stay for dinner, we could talk then." Diamond Tiara smiled and nodded, before turning to walk into the orchard. "Don't be late, alright?"
"Ehh...okay." Loyal replied, and continued through the gate. Everywhere he looked, there were apple trees. There were also apples of every kind. Granny Smith, Big Mac, Braeburn, Fuji, everything. Loyal also noticed the acres were indeed quiet. Rather peaceful. This definitely seemed like the kind of place to call home. There was also a giant red barn in the center of the acres. It was an interesting place to live, a barn. Loyal never thought a family would live in a barn. But, a home is a home.
Loyal saw a large red stallion pulling a wagon. He felt like talking to the stallion, but it was probably best to wait until things settled with the family and Loyal first. After a bit of walking around, the human noticed that he was hot and tired. He walked around, trying to find a place to cool off, until he saw a good spot behind the barn, between a barrel and a bale of hay.
Loyal walked over to the spot, sat down, and closed his eyes. If he wasn't so tired, he wouldn't have accidentally fallen asleep. Almost an hour later, Loyal's sleep was interrupted by the familiar friendly tone of the orange horse from earlier.
"Hey there. You up? Looks like you dozed off for a while. Diamond Tiara's off in the orchard playin' with her pals, so don't worry, she hasn't run off on you. So, tell me, what's up? How come you're hanging around with her?"
"Well.....it's gonna sound crazy if I tell you."
"You sure? I might not look it, but I've seen some pretty crazy things in my time..."
"Well....all right....she's running away. The reason why is because her mother wanted her to act more like the snobby mother she is. Diamond said she didn't want to be like that. She just wanted to have friends, to have people actually like her, not like her because they feared her. She decided she didn't want to live her old life anymore, so she's running away. she was worried about coming here, because she said you're serious about family, and she feared you'd force her to try and make amends with her mother, and ty to get along. But I wouldn't recommend that.....she really doesn't like her mom."
"Running away? Well, shoot... Apple Bloom told me that little filly's mother wasn't the best pony in the world, but I didn't think she'd be so bad it'd make her want to run away...
...She's right about one thing, though. Family's pretty important to us around here. Thing is? A mother who treats her daughter like that has no business being called family."
"Diamond and I wanted to know if it was alright if we stayed here...we won't really be any trouble."
"'course it's fine! I know AB'd love to have a sleepover with Di. The two don't get to spend a lot of time together outside of school. Shoot, maybe she can invite her other friends over, too! Then they could really get to know each other better!"
"Thank you, Miss....oh, I'm afraid I didn't catch your name."
"Name's Applejack. Sweet Apple Acres here is the place I call home. Family's been livin' off this land for a few generations as it is, and hopefully, it'll still be around generations down the line! Pleased to make your acquaintance.... uh... sir!"
"Call me Loyal. Shall we head inside?"
"Sure as sugar! Just gimme a sec." Applejack turned and ran some distance towards the orchard, before stopping. Then, she hollered, "Apple Bloom! Round up your friends, it's dinner time!"
Loyal waited until the others headed inside the house. then began following Applejack. "I hope they don't fear me.." He said.
"Sweetie Belle might be a little nervous, but she's apprehensive of new things to begin with. Scootaloo will probably think you're cool. Anyway, I hope you don't mind apple-based food, 'cuz that's what we're havin' tonight."
"Sounds like a fruitful way to gain plenty of nutrition."
Yes, I just went there.