Diamond ran from the library to the nearest alley and stood just inside the shadow cast by the house she leaned against. Glad it was clean, Diamond sat and buried her face in her forelegs and trembled, letting quiet cries escape that she couldn’t keep in.
“Diamond Tiara?” Twilight asked from the street, just outside the shadow. Diamond sniffled, but didn’t answer. “Is there anything I can do to help you? You left suddenly, and I think I know why.”
Twilight walked into the alley and sat beside Diamond, willing to take rejection from the filly, if only to know Diamond was okay enough to be left alone. A short exhale escaped Twilight when Diamond wrapped her forelegs around her body and squeezed. Twilight quickly cast a silencing charm on the walls by them to the end of the alley ahead and just behind them.
Just in time, as Twilight had figured, because Diamond began crying openly into her coat.
“Why? Why, Miss Twilight?” Diamond asked as she forced her sobs down.
“Why what, Diamond?” Twilight asked.
“Why does it hurt?”
Twilight’s mind raced through answers to the question. “Can you explain what you mean? I need to have more to go on.” Twilight maintained a clinical voice, but still hugged Diamond Tiara lightly.
“He… Snickers… he… said… I’m a friend! Why does it hurt so much, Miss Twilight?” Diamond wailed and buried her muzzle into Twilight’s chest with her eyes shut.
Twilight realized, at that moment, that she didn’t need knowledge from books; she needed experience. Twilight sighed quietly and patted Diamond’s back, pet her gently through her mane, and waited, much like her own mother had done, for the filly to calm down a little.
“Diamond, do you have feelings for Snickers?” Diamond weakly shook her head, still pressing to Twilight’s chest. “Do you like him?” Twilight asked.
Diamond sniffled, then nodded.
“Well, do you think he likes you the same way?” Twilight furthered her question.
Diamond shrugged, then shook her head and started trembling again. Twilight felt a chill along her underbelly and knew it was going to be a mess when Diamond was done crying onto her.
“Diamond, you know he likes you as a friend, right?” Diamond nodded, still crying. “And you’ve only known him for a little while?”
Diamond leaned back and a trail of snot connected them, only seen by Twilight as Diamond’s watery eyes were looking up. “What’s it matter? I hate him, he’s just a big, dumb… <fuck>! I don’t ever wanna see him again, and if he tries to talk to me… I’ll…” Diamond whimpered and broke into tears again. “I wanna hug him, Miss Twilight. I don’t wanna lose him, but I don’t want him near me!”
Twilight understood how her mother felt at that moment, so many years ago, and just hugged Diamond to her again to let the filly cry. Another minute passed before Twilight spoke, “Do you still hate him?”
Diamond shook her head.
“Can I see you for a moment?” Twilight asked.
“No. I’m ugly, and I’m crying, and I’m all sad looking,” Diamond reasoned.
Twilight’s horn glowed and Diamond’s head moved from Twilight’s body; the filly was, indeed, as she claimed. Twilight wouldn’t ever say as much though.
Twilight smiled kindly. “Diamond, all I see is a strong, beautiful, passionate young mare that has a long life of love and hurt in her future.”
Diamond snuffled and wiped her muzzle across her foreleg, not caring about the mess she’d made. “Why am I going to be hurt in my future, Miss Twilight?”
Twilight sighed and used her forelegs to move Diamond to a sitting position between her forelegs, so Twilight could hold Diamond and look into her eyes while she spoke. “You’re going to have a lot of love, and a lot of lovers. You’re going to lose a lot of them, too. Some will leave you, some you’ll leave.
“There will be some that want you that you don’t want, and others you’ll want that don’t want you. Everypony goes through it, from the Princesses at the top,” Twilight pointed toward where Canterlot lay outside their sight, “to the cutest little filly, crying in an alley,” Twilight tapped Diamond on her snout.
Twilight caressed Diamond’s cheek with a hoof. “You’re still young, and no matter how you feel now; it will get better. If you care for that colt, then you be yourself and let him see you for who you are. If he sees the mare in you that he wants to be with, great! If he doesn’t, it’s still great. Do you wanna know why?” Twilight asked and rested her forehoof on Diamond’s hind leg.
Diamond nodded, her crying had stopped and she was listening intently. “Why?” Diamond whispered.
“Because it means there’s an even better pony out there for you, that deserves you when he said ‘no’.”
Twilight ticked Diamond’s belly and got her to laugh. Diamond sniffled and wiped her eyes. “But, what if… he likes me, but I don’t know what to do? I mean,” Diamond continued before Twilight could answer, “he’s the first colt I’ve ever liked, at all. I don’t know what to do with colts, I don’t like anything about them.
“They’re just… not fillies, or mares. Why is he the first?” Diamond asked with more vulnerability than she’d ever shown.
Twilight sighed. “Well, sometimes a pony just has to do what our bodies tell us, and we have to ignore our brains. Our hearts want what they want, and that’s something I know, because I’m sisters-in-law with Princess Cadence.” Twilight smiled down at Diamond and ran a hoof through the filly’s forelocks and adjusted her tiara to just right.
Diamond whined. “But, I don’t wanna follow my heart when it leads me to boys! They’re gross, right?”
Twilight repressed a snerk at how familiar the scene playing out was. “Yes, they are. They’re gross, and smelly, and have weird manes,” Diamond nodded in agreement, “and they have gross parts that just hang and dangle around,“ Diamond gasped as though she’d never though an adult had the same thoughts, “and they just look so cute, even when they’re mad.”
Diamond frowned, but nodded.
Twilight nodded firmly. “And no matter what they do, and how many times we wanna hit them, they always get away at the last second, right?”
“Yeah! I was gonna shove Snickers the first time we met, but he hit me and Silver Spoon! Can you believe it?!” Diamond blurted. “I never got hit by a colt before, and I was so mad that I messed up my room and yelled at my daddy.
"I didn’t eat supper because of Snickers, and I was so mad that I was gonna beat him up again,” Diamond stood and wiped her nose, stomping her hooves on the ground.
Diamond fumed for a moment. “I was gonna sneak attack him, but he ducked and I hurt my muzzle, and got grounded again. Then, my best friend ditched me to hang out with him. With him, can you believe it, Miss Twilight?!
“I was so mad, I planned to play nice and beat him up when he wasn't looking, but then… he was really cool, and we hanged out a lot, and I didn’t have to be mean to anypony for him to laugh with me.
"And he was fun to play with, and I learned he was special; the most special pony ever, I think. And then he disappeared, Miss Twilight,” Diamond said, standing at the edge of the sunlight and shadow that hid her. “I was… so scared for him, and all my new friends that he helped me make were scared, too. I stayed up late with a light in my window, in case he’d see it and find his way back to us.
“I prayed to Celestia, and I never did that before,” Diamond looked back at Twilight, somberly. “I cried every night, even though I did everything I could in the days to help look for him. I even got my daddy to hire hot air balloons and pegasi to look over the countryside… then, just like that, he was back,” Diamond stepped into the light and felt the warmth of the sun though her coat, against her skin.
“I cried when I found out, Miss Twilight, and I was happy. I’d never been happier in my whole life to know he was alive after being lost in the Everfree Forest. I waited outside the hospital, but I couldn’t go in,” Diamond stepped back into the shadows to look at Twilight with her posture slumped.
“I just… couldn’t see him, because I was scared.”
“Why did you feel scared?” Twilight asked.
“Because, what if he was mad that I didn’t find him, or that I didn’t look hard enough. Maybe the light in my window wasn’t bright enough, or maybe he was hurt really bad.
"What if he’d lost something, like his legs to a timberwolf, or what if he just forgot about me and how I’d changed; how he’d changed me to be the pony I didn't know I wanted to be.”
Twilight nodded. “That’s a lot of what-if’s, but what happened when he did see you?”
Diamond sobbed with a smile. “He looked at me… and said he missed me. Me, the filly that was so mean to him when we met, and I lied to him; to try to hurt him, and then… he missed me.
"After everything I’d been told, after my mom helped me plan revenge for getting hurt, after losing so much of myself to try to be better than him…”
Diamond let tears fall from her face as she looked at Twilight, and the mare smiled with a nod.
Diamond took a shaky breath in and turned to the street. “I love him, Miss Twilight. I don’t want to, and I don’t know what to do, but he means so much to me now, that I can’t think of who I’d be without him.”
Twilight stepped beside Diamond and, together, they walked into the light. Twilight cast a spell, refreshing Diamond Tiara and restoring her to a clean and groomed filly, before doing the same to herself. Diamond looked up at Twilight, her eyes still brimming with tears.
“Diamond, I think you know what you have to do. But, just let it happen and don’t rush it. If it’s meant to happen; it will, okay?”
Diamond nodded and wiped her eyes on her clean foreleg. She took in a deep calming breath, and exhaled. “Thanks, Miss Twilight. I didn’t know you knew so much,” Diamond said quietly.
Twilight smiled widely. “It’s just something my mother told me when I went through something similar. If you have any other questions, you can come to me anytime, okay?”
Diamond hummed in thought. “What about… you know, sex? Between mares and stallions, because I think there’s a lot I don’t know, if you know anything about that stuff?” Diamond asked, scuffing the ground.
Twilight laughed and grinned. “Filly, if there’s anypony to ask about that, it’s me,” Twilight said proudly.
Diamond sighed. “Sure, where’s the sex-ed section in the library?”
Twilight snorted. “Psh, those books don’t offer anything real experience can give. When the time comes, I’ll show you my special room. Not even Rainbow Dash could believe it when she saw it the first time, and we were in there for an hour,” Twilight looked into the distance with a sigh, “what an hour. Anyway, let’s get back before we miss something, okay?”
Diamond nodded with a smirk and followed Twilight back to the library feeling like a weight she didn’t know she’d been carrying had been taken from her withers.
The day was nearing its end. Snickers and Laxxie were sitting in his room with Diamond Tiara, Sweetie Belle, and Kiwe. Laxxie was standing in her timberpony form, staring at Snickers. “C’mon, say ‘hello’.”
“Apa. Ampa.”
Diamond snorted. “She’s not gonna talk, all she can say is ‘Apa’. What’s that even mean? Is she asking for salad, a nap, maybe?”
Snickers tried to connect with Laxxie, but only feelings of endearment were returned. “Ugh, let’s look at this from her perspective. What would she want to say to me?”
Kiwe hummed. “It seems, my friends, that you are the means to her end. She only says the word to you, so maybe that, in itself, is the clue.”
Sweetie nodded and clapped her forehooves. “Yeah, do what Kiwe said! It’s gotta work, just find the clue. Hmm, apa. Appa. Apa. Ah-pa. Ap-pah… wait,” Sweetie said suddenly and looked at Laxxie. “Alpha? Is that what you’re saying?”
Laxxie hopped and seemed to smile. “Apa, apa!” She moved to nuzzle Snickers with her mossy fur and Snickers laughed.
“Okay, I’m the alpha! I get it,” he hugged Laxxie and grinned at Sweetie Belle. “Nice work, auntie.”
Sweetie blushed and glanced at Kiwe. “I’m not like an older auntie.”
Diamond tapped Laxxie’s hindquarters. “Hey, can you say anything else? How about Diamond Tiara?”
“That’s way too hard for her to say,” Snickers said.
“Apa,” Laxxie looked into Diamond’s eyes and cocked her head, “I’mod.”
The room fell silent as they all stared at Diamond Tiara, who stared at Laxxie. “<Holy shit>,” Diamond said breathily. Her wide eyes stayed locked to Laxxie’s, then Laxxie turned to look at Kiwe.
“Kee-eh. Eek-ee. Apa,” Laxxie said, looking at each in turn before she started shaking her head and quickly reverted to her timberwolf form. Her tail smacked Diamond Tiara as it wagged, not breaking the stunned foals from the timber-creature in their midst.
Snickers was tackled by Laxxie and laughed as he got sappy kisses from her, before he realized he’d have to take another bath if she didn’t stop. A mental thought was sent and Laxxie stepped back with a whimper and dropped ears. She waited until Snickers was on his hooves again, then she nuzzled his muzzle and stepped back.
“Wow, I didn’t know she could suck up sap,” Sweetie exclaimed. “Why didn’t we have her with us yesterday, when we got sap in our manes?”
“Hey, I didn't even know she could do that,” Snickers attested. “Hey, I’ve had to take a bunch of extra baths because of you,” Snickers pushed Laxxie back a step and gave her a frown. “Why didn’t you un-sap me then?”
Snickers sighed when an image of Laxxie, as Pup, played in the water with Snickers, along with feelings of joy, happiness, and love.
“Fine, but from now on, keep us sap free, okay?” Snickers said, pulling Laxxie into a one legged hug while she pushed her muzzle away in a little play fight.
“What’d she show you, Snickers?” Sweetie asked.
Snickers answered while struggling with Laxxie for dominance of their position. “Oh, just that she likes playing in the bath with me. She’s, like, two weeks old, so it makes sense.”
“Yes, it is well known that young like to play with those they love. Whether in the bath, or while sharing a shove,” Kiwe chuckled.
Diamond moved to Snickers’s bed and leaned against it, looking at her polished hoof. “Whatever, as long as Laxxie isn’t scaring the flower sisters, I don’t really care.”
“The horror, the horror,” Sweetie shouted, then fell to her side and twitched her legs, getting a round of laughs that she stood and bowed at. “Thank you, thank you. I also do a great imitation of my sister, Rarity.”
Rarity stepped into the room at that moment. “Let’s not hear that one, I hear it’s quite the showstopper. It’s nearly time to tuck in, what do you plan for sleeping arrangements?” Rarity asked, a determined and knowing glint in her eye.
Kiwe moved besides Snickers while Diamond, reluctantly, moved beside Sweetie Belle. “I guess we can sleep like this,” Diamond said flatly. “Not like anything’s gonna happen, there’s no matching couples between us, and I’m not into any of these colts, or Sweetie. Sorry, you’re not my type,” Diamond said, honestly and bashfully.
Rarity thought it over and then rolled her eyes. “I know of your herd dynamics, and that Kiwe doesn’t seem to want to be with any of you. I’ll allow you to sleep together, on the condition that the door remains open, Snickers sleeps between Kiwe and Sweetie Belle, and that Diamond is in charge of making sure nothing untoward happens.”
The foals nodded and Diamond, glad of her coloring, felt herself blush ever so slightly.
They got into bed, with Laxxie moving by the door and curling up before crumbling into a pile of sticks. Rarity tucked them in, turned off the light, and half closed the door before wishing them sweet dreams and leaving.
After a long day of adventure, fun, and learning; they were all pretty tired. Kiwe was the first to fall asleep and turned his back to Diamond, who bristled at the sensation, but dealt with it. She managed to lay beside Snickers for the first time, her nerves making her tremble, even though his back was to her.
Diamond wanted to wrap her legs around him, holding him close to her, but it didn’t feel right. Eventually, she lost track of time and sleep claimed her, the last thing she saw was the moonlight shining off his silvery mane.
…
Diamond was warm, warmer than she wanted to be. There was a pressure on her that kept her cozy, though. Nuzzling into whatever was around her, her ear pressed against something firm, yet soft. She cooed quietly and relaxed to a steady rhythmic sound that lulled her back to sleep.
Her eyes opened and her heart raced in her chest as she realized what she was hearing. She took stock of her position and who was holding her, and she repressed a squee.
She realized she had tensed nearly every muscle in her body, then took several calming breaths to relax and melt back into Snickers’s warm hug.
Her ear rested against his chest again and she listened to his heartbeat for several minutes. When he twitched, it would speed up, when he was calm, it was steady.
She mewled quietly and moved a little closer to him, savoring every second she could get, not that she’d admit it. Eventually, the silence of the night and his breathing, combined with the steady thumping inside his chest, pulled her back to sleep with the biggest smile she’d ever dozed with.
…
Diamond held Snickers’s foreleg to her, not wanting to let him go as she was moved slightly. She didn’t want the night to end, and somepony was trying to make her let him go by moving her forelegs. She held tighter and shoved whoever it was back. She heard an ‘eep’, hoping whoever it was would leave her to her blissful night.
Finally, Snickers’s leg was pulled from her and she reached for anything else of him, but only managed to feel the warm, empty, spot where he was just lying. She sat up and blearily looked around the dark room. Kiwe to one side, nearly off the bed. Sweetie opposite where Snickers was. Where’d he go? Diamond thought, then fell back and moved her tail so she wasn’t lying on it.
Diamond heard the toilet flush and smirked. Boys gotta pee, too, she mused as she fell back asleep.
Diamond felt the bed rock and bounce as Snickers came back, then all was still and quiet again.
…
Diamond snorted awake when she felt somepony touch her teats. Still mostly asleep, she looked side to side, then down, and smiled, lay her head back, and started to doze again. Her hind legs went rigid and she looked down with unfocused eyes.
He was there, lying on her. Her foreleg was across his neck; she was holding him to her. He was lying on her, she could feel his breath against her coat, each breath tickling the hairs on her chest. She kicked her hind legs a little and squeed, grinning to the ceiling while she punched a forehoof to the ceiling in victory. She calmed down and looked at the sleeping colt, brushed his silvery mane from his face, and saw him drooling on her.
She grit her teeth and glared at him; then he smiled and smacked his lips, moving his muzzle against her, eliminating any harsh feelings she’d had as she watched him smile and twitch his foreleg against her belly. A bit lower than she’d have admitted she wanted, but it wasn’t bad, by any means.
Diamond felt like she was being watched and glanced to the door, seeing Rarity with a blush and proud grin, looking at Diamond with a wink before the mare backed from the doorway and closed it almost all the way.
What the Tartarus was she doing? Why’d she close the door? What does she think is gonna happen? Perverted mares.
Diamond let her mind wander for a moment and a hot blush flushed her cheeks, but she knew nothing like that would happen.
She held Snickers close to her and turned to her side a little, letting him scoot closer and hug her like she felt she deserved to be. I wonder if this is what it’s like to have a foal. Is this why mares say all stallions are just big babies? I should ask somepony that knows that kinda stuff, Diamond yawned and relaxed, but that’s for later.
Right now, I’m going to enjoy my alpha stallion, in secret.
Snickers gave Diamond a nudge, watching as she snorted and smacked her lips. He shoved her gently again, watching her ear twitch.
“Oh my Celestia, this is taking too long,” Silver Spoon complained and crawled onto the bed. Silver slipped her forehooves under Diamond and, without anything else, lifted. Diamond Tiara woke up on her second rotation in the air with a screech, then landed on somepony on the floor.
“Ouch! Silver Spoon, you bucking, uncaring, rude, four eyed…” Diamond looked at Kiwe, under her. “Oh, what’re you doing down there?”
Kiwe moaned and let his head fall to the floor. “You seem to have fallen on my back, and it made a very loud crack.”
Diamond glared at Silver Spoon. “Are you happy, now? You almost made me kill Kiwe,” she pointed at the colt, then to Snickers. “How could you let this happen? I thought,” Diamond fell silent as memories of the previous night flooded her mind. Her cheeks tinted pinker, so she turned to the side table to get her tiara. “I’m going to pee and get ready, if you wish to join me, Silver Spoon, you may.”
Diamond walked from the room with her head held high, her tiara in her mouth, and a pointed interest in the window and wall as she passed them, since they weren’t Snickers.
“Diamond Tiara,” Rarity said, tapping her hoof on the carpet while blocking the bathroom door, “I need a moment of your time, if you wouldn’t mind,” she looked at Silver Spoon, “just a moment alone, darling. Won’t be but a minute, then you’ll be back onto your own schedules as though I was never here.”
Diamond looked back, pleadingly, at Silver Spoon for help, but the grey filly didn’t have anything in her repertoire at the moment. Crying wouldn’t make sense, lying wasn’t going to happen, being a distraction had no set up; Silver apologized with a look, then nodded to Rarity. “I’ll wait here, Miss Rarity.”
Rarity stepped aside and let Diamond into the bathroom, closing the door after herself. “Diamond Tiara,” Rarity said softly, “Twilight Sparkle had a talk with me yesterday, can you imagine what it was about?”
Diamond, standing by the sink, set her tiara on a short table. Without looking back, she nodded. “Yes, I believe so. Now what? Are you gonna tell me to keep away from him? I can’t come here anymore? I’m not allowed to be around him?” Diamond said, her voice trailing off and her head lowering.
“Oh, Diamond… I wouldn’t be so rash in making that kind of decision. I was merely wondering--”
Diamond turned around and fell to her belly, clacking her forehooves together. “Please, I don’t know why, I don’t know what… I don’t know anything about this, but please, don’t make me go away. Please, Miss Rarity,” Diamond’s eyes watered and she shut them, “I can’t be alone again. I can’t be who I was again.
“Without my friends, without Snickers, I’ll be a bully again. I feel it, Miss Rarity,” Diamond said, opening her eyes and making out a white blob through her tears. “The mean is right there, waiting to make my mother happy by being just like her. I can’t pretend anymore, I can’t be mean for mother; it’ll shatter me like glass.”
Rarity lifted Diamond with her magic, just enough to slide her close and into a hug. “Oh, sweet child. What a horrid home life it sounds as though you have. I’ll let you know, right now, that I have no intention of taking you from your friends, or my little prince. I was merely curious as to your intentions; and now I see what they are. You aren’t after anything, are you?” Rarity asked.
Diamond shook her head and hugged Rarity tighter, continuing. “I thought not. I understand your feelings. I won’t get in the way of your friendship, but I’ll have you know,” Rarity said, pulling Diamond from her barrel, “that if you have any intentions beyond, yet another filly enchanted by my little prince, I certainly hope you inform both Snickers and myself.
“I don’t know if I can take any more fillies falling in love with him, at this rate.”
Diamond snortled and covered her mouth. “I’m sorry, that was rude of me. Uhm… Miss Rarity?” Diamond asked.
“Yes, Diamond Tiara?”
Diamond’s hind legs crossed and she whimpered. “I really gotta pee, can you let me down before--”
“Oh, my! Certainly, how thoughtless of me,” Rarity moved Diamond to the toilet and let the filly do her business. “Well, on that note, I’ll let your friend join you.“ Rarity opened the door and Silver Spoon sat with wide eyes, staring at Rarity’s legs. The only sound was the quiet hiss from Diamond as she relieved herself. “Silver Spoon, are you alright?”
Silver Spoon blinked slowly and looked up to Rarity’s muzzle. She stepped back and looked at Diamond Tiara; their eyes met, then Silver Spoon’s expression soured. Silver Spoon turned and went to Sweetie Belle’s room, slamming the door behind her.
Rarity sighed, looking up. “What now?”
The sounds of Silver Spoon shouting got her attention and after a few seconds, the room was quiet. Rarity moved to the door and listened, a small smile touched her lips when she heard Sweetie Belle talking calmly. Silver replied, heatedly. After listening for several seconds, Rarity stepped away from the door, shaking her head.
“I’m too young, and too old, to be dealing with this,” Rarity said to herself.
…
SIlver Spoon bucked the door closed, scaring Sweetie into bumping her head on the shelf above her, nearly knocking a book to the floor. “That bitch! The horrid, lying, tramp of a friend was only hanging around because she’s trying to mess with my stallion!” Silver roared as loud as her voice and lungs would let her.
“Ow, uh, what’re you talking about, Silver Spoon?” Sweetie said, rubbing her head at the base of her horn.
“Diamond Tiara! I heard her, she’s pretending to be nice and begged Rarity to not tell that she was really mean, still! I heard everything through the door. That awful, lying, two faced, needle teat, mare loving… I’m gonna buck her! That’s what I’m gonna do; right in her lying, bully mouth,” Silver fumed and turned to the door.
Sweetie Belle ran to stop Silver Spoon. “W-wait, that doesn’t sound right at all. How can she have pretended to be nice for the last couple weeks? It doesn’t make sense, does it?” Sweetie asked, hoping to bring some sense to Silver Spoon.
Silver Spoon fixed her glasses and looked at Sweetie Belle. “Move out of the way, or I’ll trample you to get to her.”
Sweetie thought for a second and shook her head. Answering calmly, she spoke, “No, I don’t believe it. Diamond’s not the same filly she was before. You can’t make me believe anything else,” she said, standing sideways to block Silver’s path.
“You don’t know her, Sweetie Belle,” Silver said, breaking and starting to whine. “This is how she is; she’ll play the long game. She’ll make friends, play nice, then laugh at you when you’re at your weakest. I was there when she did it, a lot of the time; I know what I’m talking about. I heard her confess to Rarity a minute ago, what else do you need to know?”
Sweetie moved to sit by the door. “I don’t believe that she’s mean anymore. I can’t believe it, because if she’s pretending, then that means you are too.”
Silver stepped back in shock from what she’d just been told. “No, I’m not like that anymore.”
Sweetie motioned to the bathroom, through her door. “And you think she is? Because you heard her confess to my sister? Now, you’re ready to fight her?”
Silver nodded. “I’ll do what I have to.”
“And what example is that setting for Snickers and Kiwe? That it’s okay to fight about our problems like animals? Do you want them fighting over us? What do you think would happen when Kiwe uses magic on Snickers? What will happen when Snickers bucks Kiwe? When will it end between them, because you showed them that fighting is how we solve problems, instead of talking the problem through?”
Silver’s eyes darted side to side as she thought, hurriedly. “There’s something I’ve gotta do, right? How can I keep her from hurting Snickers if she’s just pretending? I can’t prove what she admitted, not with Rarity telling, too. I know she won’t, because adults just let us do what we want, mostly.
“Well, what do you think I should do, then?” Silver asked with a huff.
Sweetie opened her mouth to answer, when there was a knock on the door. Silver’s eyes narrowed and Sweetie trembled. “Silver Spoon, Sweetie Belle, can I come in?” Diamond asked through the door.
Silver Spoon shadow punched the air and held a hoof to her eye, then pointed to the door. Sweetie shook her head and stage whispered, “No.”
“No, I can’t come in?” Diamond asked.
Silver stood up and rocked her head, side to side. Sweetie shook her head and reached for the latch with her forehoof and opened the door. “You can come in, but Silver’s not very happy at the moment.”
“I know, I saw and… kind of heard,” Diamond said and stepped in, completely naked with her hair still messy from sleeping. “Did you hear what I said?”
Silver nickered. “Yeah, and I’m ready to beat some sense into you, you faker.”
Diamond winced. “It’s not like that, Silver Spoon. I don’t… I didn’t think this would happen.”
“What, you thought I’d, we’d, never find out the truth?” Silver spat the words harshly.
Diamond stepped all the way into the room and closed the door, sliding down it to lay on the floor. “I don’t know how to tell you, I just realized it yesterday, myself.”
Silver opened her mouth to shout, but Sweetie Belle moved quickly and held up a hoof with a sharp look that stopped her. Sweetie tapped her ear and pointed to the dejected filly. “What did you realize, Diamond Tiara?” Sweetie asked.
Diamond shrugged and traced a circle in the carpet. “I dunno, just about how much better my life is, since I made you all as my friends. How Snickers beating me up was the best thing that ever happened to me. That if I had to leave you all, I’d turn back into the bully I was. I’d be worse, though, because I wouldn’t have any friends to stop me from going too far.
“I’m scared of the pony I’d be without you all, and, Silver Spoon,” Diamond looked up to see her friend’s confused look, “when I told Rarity all that, I just didn’t want you to find out yet. I know how much Snickers means to you, and he’s the first colt I’ve ever like-liked, but I don’t want him like that…
“I want to be near him, because I’m better with him than I ever was before. He’s strong, and tough, and rough, and a real alpha mare. Er, stallion, colt, whatever.”
Silver Spoon began to play with her braid. “So, you aren’t pretending to be nice to get back at him for beating you up?”
Diamond laughed. “What, that? Puh-lease, him ending my pageant tour this year was great for me. I got to stay in town, make new friends, and finally be happy.”
Silver Spoon giggled and rocked side to side. “So, you didn’t confess that you were pretending to be nice for revenge, to Rarity a couple minutes ago?”
Diamond’s expression fell and she looked at Silver Spoon flatly. “Do you really think I said anything like that?”
Silver Spoon looked away. “Well, it was through the door, you know. I guess, some of the mumbling I heard could have been misunderstood, right?”
Diamond stood up and walked two steps toward Silver Spoon, then slapped her across her muzzle. “You’re lucky I’m not wearing my shoes! How dare you listen to a private conversation? How dare you tell somepony what I talked about. And how dare you think that I’d pretend to be nice to such a great group of friends, just to get back at Snickers!”
Silver Spoon held a hoof to her face and sniffled. She looked at her hoof to make sure she wasn’t bleeding, but there was going to be swelling, for sure. Silver Spoon looked away from Diamond as the pink filly shouted at her. “I’m sorry, Diamond Tiara. Are you going to tell Snickers and Kiwe, and the others what I said?”
Diamond snorted and turned tail to Silver Spoon, giving her attention to Sweetie Belle. “I hope this can stay between us?” she asked.
Sweetie nodded. “Yeah, I won’t even tell my friends about all this. But, you both have to stop this, right now, before it gets any worse. You can’t fight like this; I just finished talking to Silver Spoon about it, so I’m gonna go to the bathroom and I want you two to act like young mares and talk this out. No, more, hitting,” Sweetie glared between the two, “or I’m telling Rarity, and she can talk to you about setting the right example for colts and stallions.”
Diamond rolled her eyes, then nodded. “Sure, I’ll talk with Silver Spoon, and all that. Go get prettier,” she waved Sweetie towards the door, “I’ve gotta act my age, and whatever.”
…
Snickers lay beside Kiwe, looking at the latest issue of FoalFun, sharing a giggle. “What do you think the girls are doing?” Snickers asked, trying to find Wall Flower amidst the funny characters on the page.
“Probably talking about us, or planning the next adventure for our marks.” Kiwe said.
“Wanna come along for the next few?” Snickers asked, looking at the unicorn beside him.
“Sure, I think that would be fun. A new experience, to say the least.”
Snickers’s ear twitched at a sound from outside his room. “I kinda wanna peek on them, to see what girls do when we’re not around.”
Kiwe placed a forehoof on Snickers’s foreleg and looked at him with a smirk. “Don’t; I’m sure it’s very… girly. Nothing that involves us.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right,” Snickers agreed, then snickered. “Look at that mare, she’s got forelegs as big as her barrel, but her hindquarters are super skinny.”