Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon, and Scootaloo arrive at the Ponyville Schoolhouse, joining a few of the other fillies playing outside. Trixie’s wagon is visible next to one of the barns on Sweet Apple Acres, now brightly painted in blues and purples with gold highlights and silver stars. The unicorn is placing a few apples into Applejack’s saddlebags, waving along with Big Mac, Granny Smith and Apple Bloom as Applejack races back towards Ponyville.
Many of the students are kicking balls, jumping rope, or kicking balls at the ponies jumping rope. Scootaloo briefly looks around for the hidden scooter before pulling out the paper Diamond Tiara gave her, her mouth moving as her eyes scan back and forth. Diamond Tiara joins in kicking the balls while Silver Spoon sits off to the side, finding a couple of the young mares in the older class to chat with.
Apple Bloom finally arrives at the schoolhouse, most of the games ending as the ponies get ready to head inside to the basement, basking in the last rays of light they will get until recess. And then lunchtime for the ponies who like to go out for lunch or to stay with their friends doing the same. Or at the end of school, if Applebaum wasn’t cajoled by her sisters to get out every once in a while.
Scootaloo steps out of the shadows, clearing her throat to address everypony. Most of them stop, glancing around to each other in puzzlement. She begins, “So, you all know, we’ll be voting for class precedent today.”
‘President,’ Diamond Tiara corrects under her breath. But, she supposes, Scootaloo isn’t wrong.
A few of the fillies whisper to each other, Diamond Tiara turning to shush them with a glare. They immediately quiet down, contrite looks on their faces.
Scootaloo continues after a bit of hesitation, “So, um, before we do the voting and what not, I thought that Silver Spoon and I would do a bit of, uh, perusing.” She stops speaking, a flick of her eyes to Diamond Tiara before her gaze settles on Silver Spoon.
‘Persuading,’ Diamond Tiara sighs to herself. This is going to be terrible.
Silver Spoon returns a blank stare at Scootaloo before jumping forward, almost as if somepony pushed her from behind. “Oh, you want me to go first,” she says, a short glare behind her at Diamond Tiara, the filly just slightly raising an eyebrow in return. Silver Spoon clears her throat as she turns to address the group of fillies looking at her expectantly.
“I didn’t prepare any sort of statement, so you’ll have to listen to me ramble.” Silver Spoon flicks her ear back, “So, you should all vote for me because I’ll be a great class president. As you can tell by my cutie mark, I’ve got experience and talent at making things look good. So, we’ll be the best looking class in school!” Silver Spoon smiles at the polite stomp of hooves.
A good number of the younger class, especially the Apple herd, is gathering to listen as Scootaloo steps up. "Look, everypony," Scootaloo says as she walks to the front of the class. "When I first put my name is to run for class precedent, I thought it would be fun. Maybe just for kicks. Maybe a way to help out the class, or maybe a way to get my cutie mark.” Scootaloo snickers a little at the last part, as if it is patently absurd.
“But, what I learned is that it takes a lot of time and dedication to lead.” Scootaloo begins pacing back and forth a little as Diamond Tiara’s eyes narrow. “I was watching Twilight Sparkle during Applebuck season back at Sweet Apple Acres. You all know her, she’s the librarian now. And, maybe you wouldn’t have guessed, but there’s a lot that goes on behind the scenes. You have to figure out all sorts of things in order to get apples from the trees to your plate.”
Scootaloo turns to look at Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, then at Meringue as she glances up from her coloring book. “And that’s true about lots of things. Not just about the difficulties you might face, which can be many. But, maybe even more importantly, you also have to know the ponies that you are leading. What they like to do. What they want to do. What they are able to do.”
She turns to each pony, focusing on one characteristic after another. Maybe it’s the large overbite on a pony who has really strong teeth. Meringue’s coloring book. Apple Bloom and the apple she is munching on. "And, I'll be honest with you. While I know each of you, and we're friends, my strong suit has never been dealing with others. You need some speed?" Scootaloo smirks, buzzing her wings as she drops to a racing stance, "I'm your pony!" She gets back up, scanning over each filly in class, "But, if what you are looking for is somepony who will take every different factor into account before making a decision that's best for everypony?"
Scootaloo shakes her head as she paces back and forth, "I've watched my sire at work, when he's planning out some weather schedule, or helping Applejack or Rarity with the finances. And he tried to explain it to me, in case I happened to get my cutie mark there."
Her grin grows a little larger as she flashes her blank flank, "Spoiler alert: it didn't happen.”
She gives a carefree shrug, “And I’ll freely admit, I'm not that great at it. But, I don't have to be. Here's the thing: it doesn’t take being great at lifting things, or making art, or harvesting apples to figure out what other ponies can do. You don’t need a special cutie mark to find out what other ponies like, or what they’re good at. All it takes is talking to them, and getting to know them. And that, my friends, is the essence of Friendship.”
The stomp of hooves against the ground is loud enough for Miss Cheerilee to crack open the door and see what the fuss is all about. Diamond Tiara grins; she may have deviated a lot from what she wrote, but she got the main points. Perfect, now to-
Sweetie Belle interrupts, “That’s great and all, but that doesn’t convince me that I should vote for you as class president.”
Diamond Tiara stifles her gasp; this isn’t supposed to happen! Many of the other ponies are also nodding along, ruining the effect of the speech. How is she going to get phase two of the plan to work without them unified?
Scootaloo nods, her lips pursed. “You know, Sweetie Belle? That’s right. You’re right. I’m not the best with words. I don’t really know each of you as well as I should. I’ve had other priorities, and I’m sorry that becoming better friends with each of you wasn’t one of them.”
Silver Spoon smirks, but it quickly fades as Scootaloo walks up to her.
“The truth of the matter is,” Scootaloo says as the class glances around at each other, their gaze eventually following Scootaloo, “that there is a pony here who has done that. Who has made it her priority to know each one of you, maybe even better than you know yourselves." The orange pegasus gives a sad smile and shake of her head as she gently rests a hoof on Silver Spoon's withers, "Unfortunately, it isn't my opponent, Silver Spoon."
"Then who is?" pipes up Apple Bloom, the desperation to know plain on her face.
Scootaloo sighs, “Well, when she first came to me, I knew she was scared. She didn’t want to be rejected by each of you because she doesn’t yet know her true calling in life.” Scootaloo’s gaze lingers on Sweetie Belle, a number of other fillies also turning to look at the white unicorn. Sweetie Belle scrunches down, a shy grin at the ponies surrounding her. Scootaloo continues, “And she didn’t want to be rejected by everypony because she, like me, is missing a cutie mark.”
Diamond Tiara grits her teeth. She isn’t supposed to say all that about her!
“But me?” Scootaloo says with a smirk, “I’m tougher than that.”
“Ith okay, Thcootaloo,” Twist says with her lisp, “We’ll thtill vote for you!”
Many of the ponies stomp their hooves, Scootaloo nodding along and smiling. “Thanks Twist, that means a lot to me. And I can tell it means a lot to all of us who haven’t yet found our cutie marks. And it even means a lot to those of us who have.” Scootaloo lifts the hoof from Silver Spoon, “So, the pony that we should be voting for as class precedent - the one who helped me with that whole speech that I never would have been able to do on my own - is...”
Her hoof meanders around before finally pointing at, "Diamond Tiara."
As if on cue Diamond Tiara gets up, practically strutting to the front of the class. Many of the ponies awkwardly shy down as her gaze lingers on them; perhaps she had helped them with something in the past that they didn’t want known they needed help with. Or a secret, or ability, they thought made them stand out from the crowd. Their hooves eventually find their strength, stomping along as they murmur. Diamond Tiara beams as she hugs the pegasus, saying loudly, “Thanks, Scootaloo, for everything you’ve done.” She draws in close, whispering, “Your new scooter is under your desk.”
“You hid it there?” Scootaloo whispers back, shaking her head. “I’d have never looked there!”
Diamond Tiara smirks, “And that’s why it’s the perfect hiding spot.”
Eventually the stomping draws to a close, everypony glancing up at Miss Cheerilee as she clears her throat. “Unfortunately, the school board decided that having three class presidents is too many, and we will be sticking with just the one school president. I’m sorry if this is upsetting for anypony.”
“Awww,” comes the collective groan.
“I’ll thtill vote for you, Thcootaloo!” exclaims Twist, several ponies nodding along.
“No, Silver Spoon!”
“Diamond Tiara!”
The three candidates glance at each other, quickly huddling.
Scootaloo leads, “Well, this is bad.”
Silver Spoon shakes her head, “We’ll never win if all three of us run.”
Diamond Tiara nods, “The votes would be spread too thin. Even two is too many.”
“Not it,” says Scootaloo with a grin. The other two to stare at her. “What?”
Silver Spoon smirks at Diamond Tiara, “Guess you got opponents to beat anyway.” Diamond Tiara merely nods as they break apart.
“Everypony!” Scootaloo announces, “If you think that a blank flank should have just as much a chance as anypony else to win, vote for Diamond Tiara! I’m withdrawing my name as a can!”
“-didate,” Diamond Tiara adds with a scowl.
“And if you’re tired of the upper class always having the final say, vote for Diamond Tiara!” Silver Spoon sighs; she might have liked being president. “I too withdraw my name for school president.”
The crowd of ponies glance around at each other, unsure if they should be cheering at this or not.
“Diamond Tiara!” shouts Apple Bloom, many others quickly joining her in chanting along.
“You better listen to me when I have suggestions,” Silver Spoon whispers to Diamond Tiara, barely managing to be heard.
Diamond Tiara rolls her eyes at having to say it, “Of course! You’re my best friend!” before nuzzling Silver Spoon.
Scootaloo walks over to Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle, trading smiles. “You two did great!” The three each bump a hoof together before they and everypony else heads to the basement, a long day of sitting inside ahead of them.
*
After class that day Miss Cheerilee gathers all of the students outside of the schoolhouse. She drags a filly sized podium towards a small tent. She stands, looking over the class to the stacks of paper printed with a picture of Diamond Tiara’s head, a white lightning bolt, and a leaflet. Next to those is the ballot box, the small tent giving ponies their privacy when they voted.
Diamond Tiara walks to the front of the combined class, glad she was able to place her notes on the podium beforehoof. This way she can spend the entire walk looking as regal as possible, confident in her scanning over the forty seven ponies, including Miss Cheerilee. All are giving the candidates their rapt attention before they can cast their vote on who will be the school president for the next year.
Namby Pamby goes first, an inspirational speech from the sitting president detailing the various things that have happened under her leadership. She draws a good bit of applause, especially the older fillies, whenever she mentions some of the more successful programs. Everypony stomps at the end, a few of Namby Pamby’s friends in the Foal Free Press cheering.
Bolt goes next, a fairly rousing speech about how colts can be leaders too, just like those without their cutie marks. Unfortunately for him, few - if any - ponies are inspired by his core message. Most of the fillies, and even a number of the colts, hold their stomping until the end.
Diamond Tiara steps to the podium, nodding at her two competitors. Her high voice rings out, “Thank you, all, for your consideration. I know it may not seem like much, being the president of the school. You get a picture in the yearbook, sure. A fancy title. You get to represent the students to the school board. But the real power in the position is how it helps us prepare ourselves for the future. A future that we all want to be a part of together.”
"Perhaps I’ll be the pony for the job this year. Or maybe next, or the year after that. But I know, deep in my heart, that I am a leader. And what makes a leader? Is it the golden crown that they wear on their head? The holder of the griffon's Idol of Boreas? The wielder of a bloodstone scepter?"
Diamond Tiara shudders as she scans the crowd, feeling a queasiness deep in her core. Her eyes close as she pauses at the podium, the mildly concerned query of her teacher irrelevant to the internal shift she can only barely feel. As if she is a lump of carbon, located deep underground, further than any pony has ever traveled, and subject to eons of pressure and heat.
Diamond Tiara waves a hoof at Miss Cheerilee before she stomps the same hoof on the floor, shouting, "NO! A thousand times no! It is the willingness to stand up for your people, your kin, any of those who have put their trust and their faith in you. And that can be done regardless of whether the mark on your flank is a golden sun, a turnip, or blank.” She steps out from behind the podium, proudly posing.
The deafening volume of cheers and hooves stomping is not quite what she was expecting.
Diamond Tiara blankly looks up at the fillies surrounding her, not quite able to make out the reason for their excitement. Was her speech really that inspiring? She glances around, stupefied; something heavy is on her head, and nopony is touching her. One hoof tentatively comes up, testing what it is, pushing something hard and unyielding into her mane.
"Look, Diamond Tiara! Your cutie mark!"
Diamond Tiara glances back. She couldn't tell who made that comment initially, or which ponies are repeating it, or who is just saying it for the sake of being in on the joke. Her eyes trace along her barrel until they get to a blue prong.
Wait.
Her cutie mark?
Diamond Tiara twists, staring at the blue tiara emblazoned on her pink flank. It's there! It's really there! She squeals in delight, prancing around before she spots Silver Spoon. She madly charges through the gathered fillies, her grin spreading as she calls, "Bump! Bump! Sugarlump, rump!"
Silver Spoon matches her shake for shake, ending up with the silver spoon practically hugging the diamond tiara as long-lost friends finally reunited.
Diamond Tiara beams, "You know what this means, right? I'm a born leader! I’m meant to rule! Destined!"
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle cheer along with everypony else, raising their glowing hooves to each other. They pause at the missing limb; they look around, their gaze finally finding Scootaloo cowering on the ground, her hooves covering her eyes. Apple Bloom huffs, “Come on, Scootaloo, your plan to help Diamond Tiara worked! And she even got her cutie mark!”
“But I don’t want a cutie mark in politicking,” Scootaloo groans, the light around them fading.
“Yeah, me neither,” adds Sweetie Belle, the light disappearing completely.