Diamond Tiara was having a bad day.
No, that was an understatement. The past few weeks have been bad too. Standing up to her own mother had been the start of it, and Diamond wouldn’t take that back for the world, but it was still the starting point, seeing as her mom had tried to ground her after they both got home. Her dad stopped it, but it didn’t make Diamond feel any less insulted. The rest of the weeks weren’t much better. Her mom was doing everything she could to make everypony miserable it seemed.
Especially Diamond.
For the past few weeks, whenever her mother noticed she was there, she would make her displeasure about her behavior known. Diamond could hear it in her head; “Why are you consorting with the lower class still?” There was also, “Any minute now they’ll corrupt you.” Or even, “Such a disappointing daughter. To disobey her own mother like that, in public no less!”
To be completely honest, the pink filly was more than ready to tell the older pink mare to shove it somewhere it didn’t belong. Or did it? She didn’t really care anymore.
But none of that was directly the reason for why today was a bad day. No, today was terrible because of how it associated with the mare in question.
It was her mother’s birthday, and it was only troubling so far for the little filly.
First, her dad was going crazy over making sure the house was ready for her mother's party and had her going shopping to find a gift for her mom. Don’t get her wrong, she loved her dad and would do what she could to help make dealing with her mom easier on him, but she was kinda annoyed that he pushed her out of the house to do something she didn't really want to do.
Which lead to the second reason. The little filly was still somewhat upset with her mom about what happened at the school earlier in the month. Sure, her mom wasn't super overbearing anymore, but it didn’t make her act any nicer to anypony. If anything, not shouting disappointments at Diamond was making her scream them at everypony else.
And on top of it all, her dad wouldn’t let her bring the butler to help carry everything! She may have reformed from being a miniature copy of her mother, but she still had standards to how much she was going to do physically! She was still her daddy’s precious filly after all.
Wanting to get it over with, Diamond had gone straight to the market district of town to cut through and get to the more expensive stores. If she was going to give a gift, even if it was to a pony she didn’t really like more than she was obligated to, it was going to be a great gift.
It was when she was going through the shopping district that she spotted the ultra snobbish mare that was her mother arguing with yet another pony who was just trying to do their job and sell some perfumes. “What do you mean you don’t take custom orders!? The perfume I am wanting needs to be imported from Prance, and is far more expensive than any of this drabble! I demand to speak with your boss immediately!”
The poor mare looked like she ultimately lost the will to live, or smile, and was just standing there because it was what she was paid to do. It was like the deadpan stare on the stall clerk’s face had been ripped right from a magazine featuring Zesty Gourmand after that scandal in Canterlot. Then again, Spoiled Rich was berating the mare over something that wasn’t even under either of their control so Diamond could sympathize with the stall clerk. It was one of Diamond's favorite places to get some perfume, and despite being a little filly herself had their policies memorized.
“My boss is not even in Ponyville right now and would tell you the exact same thing I did. We do not take custom orders while she is away-.”
“Fine then, see if I do business with you ever again! I’m positive even my daughter has enough sense to not come here, despite those rabbles she calls friends.”
Diamond heard a quick mutter under their breath as her mother walked away. “That’d be too soon.”
However, it was the last part of Spoiled Rich’s rant that stuck with the little filly.
Even my daughter has enough sense not to come here, despite those rabbles she calls friends.
The pink filly growled a bit at the thought as she started her own rant in her head. I hate it. I hate how she just goes around and makes everypony feel like dirt! I don’t even get why she thinks this will put her higher up on the social ladder. When I did it, it only ever put me in detention with Silver Spoon! Kicking a pebble, Diamond started walking again. I bet the only reason she’s still head of the school board is because of daddy’s money and influence. They’re the only thing she cares about growing bigger, and not even because it helps daddy!
Grumbling and moving through the crowd to keep herself out of her mother’s view, Diamond muttered under her breath. “If only there were a way to make you grow a heart. That’d be a nice birthday gift.”
Just then, Applebloom, Sweetie, and Scootaloo passed by and caught Diamond’s ear. The pegasus was a little bit louder than her friends. “So, how’s your potion making coming?”
Not wanting to be seen immediately, Diamond followed as Sweetie piped up. “I hope it’s coming along like my magic!”
Applebloom was smiling as they all headed towards Sugarcube Corner. “It’s goin’ just fine. Twilight helped me make a really cool one yesterday! Called it the Suggestive Scents.”
Sweetie blinked for a moment before having to catch up with her friends. “That sounds like something Rarity would read about in those books I found under her bed.”
Diamond furrowed her brow as she took in Sweetie's comment. Taking note that it kinda did sound like some of the things she found under her own parent's bed.
The three fillies paused in front of the store, and Scootaloo cocked her head to the side. “What’d the potion do?”
The youngest apple tapped the side of her head. “Well, It’s supposed to make it easier for psychologists to get into a pony’s head when they smell it.”
The white unicorn filly grimaced at that. “Why would you want to get inside a pony’s head? That sounds gross.”
Scootaloo looked like she thought it’d be cool, and had an excited smile at the thought. “Did it work?”
Nodding, Applebloom started pushing the door open. “We had Spike smell it to test it out, with his permission of course. One second he was himself, and the next he was all cloudy-eyed and dazed. All ah had to do was ask him, and he was jumping around the room!”
They continued to talk about the potion as they headed inside, out of hearing range. Diamond stood in the middle of the road as she processed the information. First, her eyes started to get wider at the realization that such a potion existed. Then they narrowed, and a grin spread across her face. It was a twisted, plotting grin, laced with years of payback left untold.
The young filly quickly trotted into the restaurant to catch up to the crusaders, shaking her head to smile a little more calmly. Seeing them still in line, she moved towards them with determination. “Hey, can I talk to you girls for a sec?”
The three looked over, and Applebloom smiled. “Hey there Diamond! What brings you around?”
Groaning, the pink filly rolled her eyes at the thought of her job for the day. “I was out shopping for my mother's birthday.”
Scootaloo raised an eyebrow as she frowned. “You don’t exactly sound too thrilled about it.”
Diamond shook her head and looked over her shoulder for a moment, making sure her mother hadn’t wandered in. She doubted that she would, but you could never be too careful with Spoiled. “I’m not. Don’t get me wrong, I do love my mother, but she’s...”
“A huge jerk?”
“A Snob?”
“Somethin that Ah’m sure my family wouldn’t mind kicking into Ghastly Gorge?”
“All of the above.” Diamond deadpanned at the three of them, before raising an eyebrow and pointing at Applebloom. “And really? Ghastly Gorge?”
Applebloom raised her hooves in defense as she shook her head. “Y’all haven’t heard some of the things my sister has to say in private about yer ma.”
Diamond paused mid-start, before frowning and lowering her hoof. “Point taken.” She also made a note to never let her mother go to Sweet Apple Acres, as it would likely lead to a prolonged stay in the hospital.
... actually....
Scootaloo scooted the other two closer to the counter as the line got shorter, and turned back to the pink filly, breaking the train of thought that almost formed. “That’s great and all, but why’d you come to talk to us? I know we’re friends now, but you’ve been pretty clear about not getting too buddy-buddy with us.”
“About that.” Smiling deviously, she waved a hoof and brought the three over to hear her discreetly. “See, I overheard you three talking a moment ago while I was looking at a stand outside, and I got the perfect idea for a gift.”
After a few hours of helping the Crusaders brew and bottle the potion before heading home, Diamond looked over the vials in her hooves. They were small and fancy looking glass bottles she was able to buy cheap from the perfume vendor with an apology for her mother’s behavior and a history of being a good customer.
They’d decorated one with a black and yellow swirl sticker, courtesy of Pinkie providing the four fillies some from her supplies. Inside the first, the bright vermilion potion swirled with a very subtle glow, ready to be unleashed with a squeeze of the little cushion that hung from the top by a small hose.
The other had an antidote to the brew, as recommended by Applebloom. They put a sticker of an eye on that one, even though you could tell it apart from the other potion by the royal blue color it held.
She hadn’t exactly been thrilled to be involved in making the potion, what with how dirty a lot of the ingredients were before they got put in. Swamp moss had no right to be that slimy, nor be on her hooves at all.
If this didn’t work, she’d get Applebloom back for that one.
She quickly tucked away from the both into her bags as she got closer to her home, slipping inside and saying hello to Rudolph. She always did like him more than the other servants under her family’s employ. Even when she was the embodiment of a nightmare foal, he was patient with her and her demands. Lately, she’d been pushing her dad to give him a raise. He did deserve it after all the time he spent under fire from her mother’s wrath.
If she could have read her dad’s mind over the past month, she’d have learned that he agreed. It just wasn’t a matter of want but funds that kept the raise from going through.
In Diamond’s mind though, that was one of many problems soon to be gone with just a puff of air.
She trotted up the stairs and down the hallway, quickly finding her parent’s bedroom. Her dad was still going over the Barnyard Bargains finances again, and taking his time by the looks of it.
Diamond had some mixed feelings about that. On one hoof, she understood the desire to spend as much time as possible out from under her mother’s gaze. At the same time though, it made her wonder when their feelings for each other shifted to leave him so afraid of her. Didn’t they love each other before they got married?
Maybe she’d let her dad in on her plan after she tried it out herself? She didn’t want him to end up getting chewed out for something she did, after all. He gets blamed for random stuff lately enough as it is.
Stepping away from the door, Diamond looked around to see if she could find her mother anywhere. She poked her head into several rooms, seeing Rudolph putting up overly complicated decorations in the foyer, the maids cleaning the kitchen, and the cook making an elaborate cake that would compliment the ice sculpture of her mother that was being carved, before noting her mother was still out of the house.
Perfect.
Sneaking over to the tables, she quickly placed the perfumes on the gifts table and darted back out of the room. Now all she needed to do is wait for the party to go underway, and she could begin her plans.