“Oh, come on. I can’t go in there, I don’t even have my boots!”
Diamond Tiara had a disgusted cringe stuck to her face as she looked into the muddy pen in front of her. The muck had soaked up the rain from the night before and refused to let go, and the slick surface now shimmered in the sunlight.
Fluttershy was standing beside her, holding the gate open with a kind smile. “Taking care of animals is messy. If a little mud is enough to keep you from it, you’re probably not the right pony for the job.”
“I—” Diamond Tiara huffed. “Fine. Just tell me what to do.”
Fluttershy looked over at Applebloom, who had climbed up onto the fence to watch. “Do you keep their supplies in the shelter?”
“Some,” Applebloom said. “What are you plannin? She’s not strong enough to pick ‘em up.”
“Nothing that severe,” Fluttershy said. “Diamond Tiara, do you see that small one in the shade with the light fur?”
Fluttershy pointed into the pen. Off in the corner, resting under the shade of a nearby tree, was a tiny, frail-looking pig, clearly the runt of its litter. It had mottled fur, but the dark patches were all on the sides or bottom of the pig, leaving its neck and back light.
“Yeah.”
“That’s Bella,” Fluttershy said. “She’s kind of moody and doesn’t always take care of herself, so Applejack puts sunscreen on her on hot days.”
“It ain’t all that bad out today,” Applebloom butted in. “Bella’s fine.”
“I know,” Fluttershy said, “but sunscreen won’t hurt, and it’s a good first step. Pigs are easy, and I wanted to see if the mud would scare her off.”
“Oh, come on!” Diamond Tiara pouted. “Well, it didn’t, so can we please do something cleaner?”
Pinkamena, who was leaning on the fence a few paces away, chuckled quietly to herself.
“Nice try,” Fluttershy said, “but no. I’ll even grab the sunscreen for you, just go say hello to her, alright?”
“Ugh. Fine.”
Diamond Tiara stepped up to the edge of the mud and tentatively stuck out a hoof. She held it over the ground for a moment, trying to will herself forward.
Then she pulled it back and looked at Fluttershy. “Do I—”
Fluttershy raised an eyebrow, and Diamond Tiara cut herself off with a sigh.
“Okay, okay.” She turned back to the mud and stared out at it again. She was making a face like she was afraid it might jump out at her.
As she hesitated, Applebloom quietly hopped off the fence and came up behind her.
Then, after she continued to do nothing, Applebloom reached out and pushed Diamond Tiara into the pen.
Diamond Tiara let out a shrill yelp as she stumbled forward. Her hooves slid on the slick mud, and she just about toppled over.
She managed to find her balance again, though, and turned back furiously. “Applebloom! What the—” She glanced at Fluttershy briefly. “What the hay? Look at me, I’m filthy now!” To emphasize her point, she held up a leg and flicked a glob of mud towards Applebloom, although it landed nowhere near her.
Applebloom stuck a hoof over her mouth and barely held back laughter. “Well, somepony had to do it, and it wasn’t gonna be Fluttershy.”
Diamond Tiara growled and puffed her cheeks out. “I’ll get you back for this.” Applebloom stuck her tongue out and hopped back up onto her perch to watch the show.
“Okay, Diamond Tiara,” Fluttershy said calmly, “I’ll meet you over there.” She let go of the gate and gingerly took off towards the pigs’ shelter, and the gate shut Diamond Tiara in with a climactic click.
Diamond Tiara mumbled indecipherably under her breath and turned towards her target. Bella was still in the shade, resting peacefully on one of the few completely dry patches of ground, and gave no indication she’d noticed the commotion at all.
Diamond Tiara took a step forward. Then another, and another. With every move, she felt her hooves squelch into the mud again, and the thought of irrevocably stained fur came to mind. She grimaced.
The daydream distracted her enough that she stepped on an uneven bit of ground. In a split second her hoof slid out from under her and sent her plummeting.
Just barely, she managed to land on her knees and steady herself before she fell all the way in. Still, she let out a loud snarl as she pushed herself back up.
“This is ridiculous,” she said. She made sure to be loud enough for everyone to hear. “If I had to do this for real, I would have boots!”
Pinkamena giggled, but for the most part stayed silent.
“It’s just mud,” Applebloom said. “I get muddy all the time, and I’m still cute.”
“I am not cute,” Diamond Tiara said, “I am pretty, and pretty and muddy don’t mix!”
“Well, then finish the job and get outta there,” Applebloom replied.
“I am!” With a huff, Diamond Tiara turned and started stomping towards Bella again, this time making extra sure to look where she was stepping.
She crossed the rest of the pen without incident and let out an audible sigh when her hooves once again touched dry ground. She stood there for a moment, just taking it in, before she took the final few steps over to Bella.
“Hey, uh… Pig,” she said as she walked up.
Bella finally looked over to her and regarded her curiously.
“Um…” Diamond Tiara pursed her lips. “Well, I’m Diamond Tiara.”
Bella snorted.
“Uh-huh. Well, I’m gonna put some sunscreen on you in a minute, okay?”
After considering her for a moment, Bella got up and walked towards Diamond Tiara. She flinched back as Bella walked up close and started to sniff her curiously.
“Hey, haven’t you heard of personal space?” When Bella kept sniffing her, Diamond Tiara tried to push the pig away. “Come on, stop it!”
Bella snorted again, this time right up against Diamond Tiara, and refused to give in to the shove.
“F-Fluttershy!” Diamond Tiara took a step back. “Are you almost done in there?”
“Almost!” Fluttershy called out.
Bella took another step forward, and Diamond Tiara took another step back. “Hey, stay where you are, pig. I’m in charge here, you have to do what I say!”
Bella took another step.
Diamond Tiara took several steps away. “Fluttershy! The pig is trying to eat me!”
Neither Pinkamena nor Applebloom could hold back a laugh at this point.
Fluttershy stuck her head out around the corner of the shelter. “Huh?” She took in the scene curiously. “Just tell her to lie down!” Then she disappeared back inside.
Diamond Tiara made a frustrated noise. “O-Okay, piggy, lie down.”
Bella ignored her.
“Come on, you’re supposed to lie down when I say lie down!”
Bella continued to ignore her.
Diamond Tiara growled. “Stop!” She glared angrily. “Bella, I said lie down, so you need to lie down!”
Bella looked at her curiously for a moment, then plopped down into the dirt.
“I…” Diamond Tiara blinked. “Um, good girl. Thank you very much.”
Fluttershy came out a moment later with a bottle of sunscreen. “Geez,” she muttered, “that place is not well organized.” She flew over and gave the bottle to Diamond Tiara. “Okay, now just tell her to sit still while you put some on her ears and neck.”
Diamond Tiara took the bottle and looked up at Fluttershy. “I, uh…”
Fluttershy smiled at her. “You can do it. Just believe in yourself.”
Diamond Tiara gulped and nodded. “O-Okay, Bella…” She shook her head and took as confident a step forward as she could. “Bella, sit still while I put sunscreen on you.”
The pig made no move to get up as Diamond Tiara slowly crept over to her. Bella even tilted her head to make it easier for the little pony to reach both ears as she carefully rubbed the lotion on.
When she was done, Diamond Tiara gave Bella an affirmative little tap and stepped back. “Um… Good girl?”
“Great job,” Fluttershy said. “We’ll need to work on teaching you to be nice without letting them walk all over you, but this was a good first step! If you apply yourself, I think you really could take over for me.”
Diamond Tiara looked at her wide-eyed. “Wait, really? That was good?”
“For a beginner,” Fluttershy said. She laughed. “You should have seen me when I was your age. I would’ve just run away from Bella.”
“Oh.” Diamond Tiara took a moment to process that, then beamed with pride. “Oh! Wow, okay! Yeah, maybe I can do this!”
Fluttershy grinned. “That’s the spirit. Okay, let’s get out of here.” She moved to take to the air, then stopped herself. “Oh! First, Bella, say thank you to Diamond Tiara.”
Bella stood up and started trudging towards Diamond Tiara again.
“W-Wait, hang on!”
Diamond Tiara scrambled away from the pig’s steady approach, and soon enough found herself back in the mud. She was far less prepared this time, though, and her hooves fell out from under her almost immediately. She toppled straight over onto her side and splashed loudly into the wet muck.
Fluttershy frowned, and Applebloom inhaled sharply through her teeth.
Pinkamena, though, snorted as she tried to hold back a laugh. The attempt failed miserably, and the snort turned into a full-on chortle before long.
Diamond Tiara fumed and launched a glob of mud in her direction. “Oh, shut up, Pinkie! It’s not funny!”
As soon as she heard the name, any mirth and laughter drained out of Pinkamena. She winced and folded in on herself as her voice fell to a tiny squeak. “I-I’m not…”
“Wh—” Diamond Tiara groaned. “Pinkamena, whatever! What difference does it make?”
“It’s…” Pinkamena tried to think of a way to respond, but nothing came to her, so instead she just pushed off the fence, hung her head and started to walk away.
“Pinkamena, wait!” Worry crept quickly into Fluttershy’s voice. She took to the air, scooped up Diamond Tiara, and carried her out of the pen, placing her gently next to Applebloom. “I’m sorry, girls,” she said, “but… I should really go after her.”
“Oh, come on,” Diamond Tiara said, “what’s the big deal? She’s the same pony!”
“She doesn’t feel that way,” Fluttershy said, “and it’s important to respect other ponies’ feelings when it comes to who they are.”
“But—” Diamond Tiara couldn’t think of an argument, so she just huffed. “Whatever.”
Applebloom hopped down beside her and jabbed her in the side. “Come on, just apologize. You’re only making it worse.”
“But I didn’t do anything wrong!”
“You hurt her feelings.”
“On accident!”
“You still hurt ‘em.” Applebloom shrugged. “You’d apologize if you accidentally dropped something heavy on somepony, right?”
“But that’s—” Diamond Tiara groaned. “Fine. I’m sorry.”
“Thank you,” Fluttershy said. “Diamond Tiara, think about what you’re getting into if I start teaching you. If you really want to try, we’ll do it.” She nodded to them both, then hopped into the sky. “Alright, I need to go after Pinkamena. See you two later.” Then she flew off.
Once she was out of sight, Diamond Tiara huffed. “She still just seems like Pinkie to me.”