//------------------------------// // Chapter 9 - Gathering Storm // Story: Scars To Her Beautiful // by flutterJackdash //------------------------------// The grizzled old man, unshaven and unkempt, with grey skin and black hair, in an ill-fitting suit, sat at the table in the study and took a pull of his glass of whiskey. “So, what are ya askin’ for?” he asked in his Manehattan accent. “Well, I certainly hope your manners and competence in your profession are better kept than your appearance,” Spoiled Rich said in disgust of her guest. “Seriously, have you ever even heard of a shower or shave before?” “Lady, you wanted the best. That’s me.” Praxton regarded his employer, who sat across the room, wearing a pristine pink business suit with a blood-red cravat and a tight skirt that wrapped around her knees. She wore only one ring, but he pegged it for her wedding band. Not because it held sentimental value, but because it was her proof that she belonged in this posh atmosphere. She wore a pair of rose pink earrings, shaped lie little diamonds. Those probably were real and worth more than his entire wardrobe. The real kicker was her make-up. She didn’t know how to apply the stuff properly, it seemed. She wore a thick coating of light purple eyeliner over her eyes that did little to accentuate her eyes’ color. “You better be worth the money, Mr. Blackjack. I pay top bits for my services, so I am accustomed to only the best. If you succeed, you shall be well funded. Fail …. and I’ll make sure you will not find any work again.” Spoiled assured as she fluffed her hair in an obviously arrogant pose. “Lady, you think awful high of yourself. You don’t scare me at all. I don’t care about your money or your threats. But I’ll do the job. Count on it. You already paid some up front, ‘s enough for me. But you gotta tell me what you want, first,” Praxton replied evenly, taking another gulp of whiskey. “Wow, this ain’t rotgut, lemme tell ya.” “But of course,” Spoiled replied with a haughty air. “Only the best of the best touch these lips and grace my presence. You would be wise to fear and respect me, Mr. Blackjack, as well as mind your manners when around your betters. “That said, I am more concerned about results, and the fact of the matter is I have a scandal that needs resolving post haste.” From her side, Spoiled picks up a manilla envelope, but she holds her place, expecting him to approach to collect it. “Scandal, eh?” he replied, ignoring her threats once again. “Alright, tell me more,” he said while taking another gulp of his whiskey before setting the glass down and approaching her. When he arrived, he swiped the envelope from her hand. After that, he opened it up and slipped the contents partway out to view them. What Praxton saw was the image of Diamond in the midst of shoving a finger down her throat. It was one of many. Screengrabs of a video, it looked like. “Who’s this girl?” he asked. Spoiled Rich groaned, then replied with a droll roll of her eyes, “My daughter, unfortunately. The little miserable wretch has brought a lot of embarrassment and scandal to this house, and I want it solved. What I want you to do is discreetly escort her back to the mansion quietly, and I also want these videos discredited, for you see, my daughter is due for an upcoming reelection as Student Council President. Obviously these videos are a dirty tactic to try to damage the good name of the Rich household. Damage that needs fixing.” She raised a wine glass near her lips but paused before sipping as she asked, “Do I make myself clear, Mr. Blackjack?” “Kid looks miserable. I’m not surprised. Any idea where’d she go on her own?” he asked, beginning his search for clues. “Hmm.” Spoiled thought of that for a moment while she swirled her wine. After that, she looked at her wine as she replied, “You may want to check on the Spoon estate. My misbegotten daughter has a close relationship with their sixth eldest child, Silver Spoon. I suggest you start there.” “Right. Silver Spoon. Got it. Alright, don’t get yer hair in a tiz waitin’ on me, lady. I’ll contact you when I’ve got something solid, or when I bring the kid back,” he promised.  Can’t say she deserves that, though, he added to himself privately. With that, he lit up a cigar, blew a cloud of smoke Spoiled’s way, and made his way out of the study. “Nice place you got here,” Praxton said on his way out. “I’ll show myself out.”   Twilight Sparkle swallowed hard, bracing herself for the emotional aggravation that would undoubtedly come, then she called out, “Come in!” The door to her office briskly opens and Superintendent Neighsay, wearing a black business suit attire with a red tie, storms up to Twilight’s desk. “You may dispense with the false platitudes, Mrs. Sparkle,” Neighsay said in disgust upon arrival at her desk. Once there, he didn’t even sit down. Instead, he stood in front of her and stared down at her sitting form with a condemning and heavily judgmental look. “You have a serious problem!” He slammed her desk with both of his hands. “The indecency! The scandal! The nerve! You assured me that you could handle the new digital systems you placed here at this campus. The School Board poured a lot of good money into this project of yours, and now you’re telling me that it has been hacked?! I hope you’re willing to take responsibility for this, Mrs. Sparkle!” “I can assure you, both my staff and I are doing everything we can to ensure this breach in security does not happen again,” Twilight assured while she struggled to remain calm in front of him. “Really?” He stood up straight again. “I highly doubt that! Your incompetence and gross negligence have been a severe embarrassment for the reputation of yourself, your staff, and this campus! If it were up to me, I’d have this campus shut down permanently for this oversight!” Neighsay forced himself to calm down again with several deep breaths while he adjusted his necktie. “Fortunately for you, Mrs. Sparkle, you seem to have some friends in high places, but rest assured that your status here at this campus remains only because of their good graces. If you wish to remain in place, get your house in order as swiftly as possible before this issue blows up as a scandal for the whole town.” Neighsay passed Twilight a critical look. “I hope you know how severely this blunder has embarrassed the School Board. Your past magical ‘heroics’ notwithstanding, everything you have done while in charge has only proven your lack of worth. “Besides, even if you do manage to fix your digital security, what about the reputation of the student exposed? And do you know whose child that happens to be, Mrs. Sparkle? Why, it is none other than the daughter of the President of the School Board. I assume you are not stupid enough to fail to connect the dots and understand how this is a PR nightmare?” “I stand by my work,” Twilight assured firmly. “When I or any of my staff makes a mistake, I admit it, but we will also do our utmost to fix it. I give you my word.” “Your word?!’ Neighsay cried in outrage. “I’m afraid your credibility as leader of this campus lies in very poor judgment, Mrs. Sparkle. You will indeed fix this post-haste, but rest assured …” He pointed at her boldly. “... you have not seen the last of me. “Goodday, Mrs. Sparkle. May your inevitable future blunders be less severe and noticeable than this one.” With that, he wheeled about and stormed his way out of her office. He even slammed her door shut loudly enough to compel her to wince. Twilight collected her hands together and rested her elbow on top of her desk. How could this have happened? Twilight asked herself in misery. My precious student! How could I have let this … Twilight closed her eyes as she took a moment to force herself to calm down and think clearly. No. I can’t afford to second guess myself. Instead, I need to deliver on my word. Resolved, Twilight activated the holographic screen on her computer desk and studied the breeched files of her CHS Public Network very carefully. Diamond took a deep breath as she walked to her next class. She took her time. She also took care to avoid getting anyone’s attention. This was a task that was proving nearly impossible. Everyone who saw her stopped and asked her if the video was real. In response, she just caved in and went quiet when that happened. She so badly wanted Sweetie or Silver by her side, but she hadn’t shared a class with Silver yet. She had been anxiously awaiting this period, lunch period, because it meant she would actually see Silver. The cafeteria was packed, and just about every eye was focused on her. She shrank and started to back out of the room. “Hey there,” Silver greeted upon arrival while carrying a lunch tray full of food. “Um … want to go someplace more private to eat? Out the front entrance, maybe?” Silver offered. Diamond nodded, not finding her voice. She simply pressed herself against Silver’s back, feeling safer there. “Come on. Let’s ignore these losers,” Silver encouraged which was ironic because she immediately contradicted herself by crying out at some of the students staring at her friend, “What the fuck are YOU all looking at, assholes!?” While the students began to murmur amongst themselves, Snails approached Silver and asked, “May I join you?” “Oh! Um,” Silver looked taken aback by the offer, and she even felt a little conflicted. In an attempt to resolve it, she looked back at her friend over her shoulder and asked, “Is that alright with you? I promise you he won’t hold anything that happened against you. He’ll even make you feel better. You’ll see. Just give him a chance to show you why I like him.” Snails blushed a little at the praise. Diamond nodded her approval, and spoke in a small voice, “Can we just get going, please?” “Um, yeah.” Silver looked around and located a trash can. She threw her lunch away in it. After that, she grabbed Diamond’s left arm and dragged her out in a hurry. As she went, she called over her shoulder to Snails, “If you’re coming, try to keep up. Don’t be a slowpoke, Snails.” Snails followed along just fine, keeping pace with the girls ahead of him. “Thank you…” Diamond said in a whimper as they rushed off. The sun played across the grass, lighting it brilliant green as they walked through it to arrive at one of the few trees on campus. There didn’t appear to be any other students out there either, which meant Silver and Diamond could be guaranteed some solitude. They sat in the shade under the tree. “Awful day, huh?” Silver predicted as she regarded Diamond. “Judging from your reaction earlier, I’d call that a keen assessment.” Diamond’s face was damp from tears, “Thank you, Silver…” she said weakly. She swallowed and looked at Snails. “You… don’t hate me?” “I don’t have any reason to. Been a long time since you put me down, y’know?” Snails replied. “We’re okay, and you’re Silver’s best friend. I figure that at least makes you a friend of mine.” Diamond took a shuddering breath and fell to her knees, “Thank you, Snails. I can’t take much more of the hate around here… I know I deserve it… but… still…” Wordlessly, Silver Spoon crawled forward and embraced her friend, Diamond, into a warm hug. Diamond clung to Silver for dear life, sobbing. “I hurt everyone, didn’t I?!” “Probably,” Silver admitted, but squeezed Diamond tightly, “but you’re making it up to me right now. You’re finally talking to me. That’s all I wanted. Thank you.”` Snails looked around for a bit, scanning for anyone else around before he settled against a tree. “Y’know, you did hurt a lot. That’s true. Looks to me like you’ve been hurting a lot yourself, though. Nobody else is seeing that. To them, it’s just the chance to lay into ya… “I don’t think Snips hates you. At least, he never said it to me. “But, it’ll take everyone some time to cool down. I can try to talk you up, but I dunno if that’ll do any good, to be honest.” Silver pulled back to arm’s length from her hug eventually while smiling, then she looked over her shoulder at Snails. She noticed that he was wearing his green hoodie with the Stallions football team logo that Silver had bought for him. His pants were simple khaki. He wore high top sneakers colored white. He had his hands slipped into the pocket of his hoodie while he rested with his back against the tree casually. “Thank you for joining us!” Silver said to Snails brightly. “With just you being here, you’re already showing moral support. That means a lot to a girl. It really does.” “Where you are, that’s where I am. I like bein’ with you. Nevermind that bunch of bozos in there being all judgmental,” Snails said encouragingly with a shrug. Diamond looked between Silver and Snails. Silver’s eyes were filled with admiration as she looked at Snails, and he genuinely looked happy to be near her. Wow. I think Silver is really lucky. I doubt I’ll ever get something like that. I’ve done too many mean things, said too many mean things. I hate this… I feel like I don’t want to be around this… Why can’t I have something like this too? Diamond thought to herself in misery. “HEY, DIAMOND TIARA!” a boy cried out very loudly behind her. Diamond cringed, then slowly turned to see who called her name. There, Diamond saw several members of the varsity team pretend to stick their fingers in their throats and hurl out in an obviously mocking way. “HEY! GET OUT OF HERE, YOU FUCKING ASSHOLES!” Silver cried back at them. In response, they did retreat, but they did so while laughing and smacking each other’s backs. Diamond’s eyes watered, but before she could really cry, Snails placed a hand on her shoulder as he encouraged quietly, “Don’t pay them any attention, Diamond.” In response, Diamond swallowed and spun around from him. “How am I supposed to do that, Snails?!” she snapped at him. “Take a breath. Iiiiiiin slowly through your nose, then ooooout slowly through your mouth… Clear your mind. Be in the moment and forget what happened even just seconds ago,” Snails instructed. Silver looked very furious in the direction the teasing members of the varsity team strode off, but when she looked back at her boyfriend, she realized he was the calm center that she needed. Accordingly, she closed her eyes and cooperated with his instructions. Diamond cooperated as well. She closed her eyes and followed his instruction. After a moment, she started to feel a little better. She wore a small smile, but kept her eyes closed as she said, “Thank you, Snails… I can see why Silver loves you so much.” Silver opened her eyes and grinned at her friend. The statement was a little too true to accept it as an insult. In fact, in a way, she was flattered. Diamond also couldn’t help notice that Snails had filled out over the years. He had grown properly into his body. Gone was the awkward gangly build of his youth. Had he started working out? Why did any of this matter to her? Diamond blinked before saying, “Silver is very lucky to have you. But, if you ever hurt her, I will have daddy hire the most violent bike gangster he can find to go after you.” Silver grinned at her boyfriend and cautioned teasingly, “Watch out! I’m pretty sure she means it.” Snails shrugged, “If I hurt her, I’d kill me,” he assured. Silver smiled smugly as she said, “I’m glad we all understand each other, then.” After that, Silver frowned at Diamond and said, “Maybe you should consider taking the next few days off until things simmer down around here.” “Do you really think it will simmer down? The election isn’t far off, and I have a debate to attend… I don’t think anyone is going to forgive me or forget anything in a few days, honestly,” Diamond said with a sniff, some of her old haughtiness returning. “Hmm,” Silver looked thoughtful as she scanned across the grassy yard while sitting in the furthest forward right corner of the campus next to the L shaped street beside them behind the tree. “By being a celebrity on this campus, I can see why the impression others have gained on you would cause their opinions to linger longer than normal.” She looked back at Diamond. “But that’s politics and celebrity status for you. The same thing would have happened out in real life after graduating here. Plenty of others have been in your shoes. Just look at some of the past leaders of this country.” Diamond sighed, “Don’t forget how badly I’ve hurt everyone… I don’t even know all of it. I barely paid attention to anyone but you…” Silver tilted her head at Diamond as she asked, “Why do you care about how you treated others all of the sudden, and why the sudden interest in Sweetie Belle? Or have I misjudged you for many years?” She straightened your head. “The reason why I say that is because I know how your mother has pushed you to be indifferent to everyone below your status. I thought it worked. All we used to talk about is how much better we are than everyone, but also how our circumstances are just… a curse... not understood by the peasant class. They can’t see what we go through. They judge us for being higher than they are.” Diamond grunted, “Do you ever hear yourself speaking? Do you have any idea how stupid you sound right now?!” her emotions got charged up, and she snapped fully by the end of her questions. Silver just looked at Diamond with an assessing look until Snails spoke up. When he did, her look shifted to him. “Maybe you should take those days off to calm yourself down, before you say things you regret again, eh?” Snails offered to Diamond. “Oh shut up, Snails,” Diamond said as she got up then stormed off, away from the campus entirely. Silver Spoon’s gaze silently followed Diamond as she stormed off. Then, when Diamond was out of earshot, she shook her head as she gripped the grass beside her while saying, “Either that person is an imposter pretending to be Diamond, or I’ve deeply misjudged Diamond for all these years.” Her look shifted off to the side with a sad expression. “But I can certainly see why she might be in pain after all these years. I just didn’t know it was this deep.” Her look shifted to one of regret. “If I couldn’t see it coming or prevent it, maybe I’m a bad friend after all.” “Naw, you aren’t a bad friend,” Snails assured as he sat down beside her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “She’s just real good at hiding that stuff. That isn’t your fault. “So, are you going to let her go now? Is that what you want to do?” Silver frowned, then said, “I want her back. I invited here so we can talk, but if she’s storming off now … does this mean she’s not ready? Is she in too much pain to talk? Also, what did I say that she now regards as stupid?” “Uh… You were kinda praising lookin’ down on people. Or… Maybe not praising. But it sounded like you missed that about her, eh? And I think it’s one of the things she’s hating about herself now, so that must be a little weird, huh? But I think if she were in too much time for talking, she wouldn’t have opened up in the first place, yeah? What do you think she’ll think if you just let her go now? How will that feel? How would you feel?” Snails supplied, pausing for breath after he finished. He also scratched his head. Silver held her frown as she regarded Snails, then looked off to where Diamond went. Seeing how her friend only just met where the grass meets the sidewalk, Silver crawled out of Snail’s arms, got up, then ran after her retreating friend while calling out, “DIAMOND, WAIT!” Snails slipped his hand into the pocket of his hoodie and watched. Diamond’s pace stopped, but she didn’t turn around. Silver raced up to Diamond fast enough to cause her to pant upon arrival. Once there, she had to take a few moments to catch her breath, then she said, “Diamond, please … don’t take off yet. I want to talk to you.” She paused a few more moments to catch her breath further. “Talk about what?” Diamond said through a sniffle, for the first time tears were quite evident. The light shimmered off of them as they painted trails down her cheeks, “How we’re supposed to look down on people? How we’re better than everyone else? So I can grow up and be like my mother?!” Diamond stomped a foot at “mother” for emphasis. “I thought you wanted all those things!” Silver exclaimed. “Except I knew you had issues with your mother, but you did want to make her proud of you, right? You’re her daughter.” Releasing a deep breath, she went on to say, “But the truth is, for me, I said all those things just to be with you, because I was afraid you’d abandon me if I didn’t agree with everything you said. You’re my best friend, Diamond, and I need you more than you know. None of the rest of my family talks to me like you do, like I’m a real human being. I need that, so please don’t leave me again!” Diamond began to tremble as soon as Silver admitted her fear of Diamond abandoning her, and bawled outright when Silver talked about agreeing with everything she said. She had well and truly become her mother, and she never realized it. It hurt so much more than she was prepared for. “Silver… I’m sorry… I was so wrong to you…,” Diamond said during a moment of calm in her sobbing, “You don’t deserve to have a defective freak like me burdening you… Making you feel like you have to be another other than yourself… I’m sorry.” Diamond swallowed a lump in her throat as she started to walk again. “Diamond,” Silver cried out as she reached out to grasp Diamond’s right shoulder with her right hand to stop her. “I just don’t want to be alone! Please don’t leave me! I’ll do anything you want if you just don’t leave. You might be flawed, but I’d suffer a far greater burden without you. I don’t have many other friends.” Diamond turned to look at Silver, and then over her shoulder at Snails leaning against a tree in the near distance, then she returned her gaze to Silver, “You have a boyfriend. He seems pretty amazing to me. You didn’t get him because you followed me or did anything that I said. You’re stronger than that. What you need to do is let go of me, distance yourself from me, and watch as people suddenly start to see you differently and start to gain more friends because me, the disease, isn’t around to ruin that for you and keep you alone.” “Snails is amazing. He comforts me like nobody else can, but the same thing is true with you because you can understand me like nobody else can. You know my burdens, and you help me to cope with that. Snails isn’t a girl, nor would I wish him to be, and he wasn’t born in a life of ‘privilege’ like the two of us or understand the price that goes with it. I need you, Diamond, and I think you need me as well. If you really are hurting yourself lately, I think it’s the isolation that is causing you to feel this way.” “I’m going to find Sweetie. I don’t know why… but… I just… want to make sure she’s okay. I think… no, I know that I want to be her friend. I don’t know why I keep having this doubt… and I hate it… and it sounds like my mother’s damned voice, too.” Diamond sighed as she turned away from Silver, “I’m not abandoning you… I’m just… I don’t know… but I’m sorry if you think my walking away means we’re not friends any longer.” “Then why are you leaving me again?!” Silver wailed as tears rose up in her eyes. “Why are you fleeing to Sweetie all of the sudden? What does she got that I don’t?” “She’s not selfish,” Diamond said simply as she continued to walk. Diamond made it several paces down when Silver finally shouted, “FINE! GO ON, THEN! BE WITH YOUR NEW FRIEND! You’re right about me. I am selfish, and the thing I want is you, but if you don’t feel the same way then I … I … I don’t need you anymore! I’m strong and can take care of myself!” Silver’s voice badly cracked at the end of her declaration, clearly thick with heavy emotion. Diamond didn’t respond, or even give any indication she had heard. She just kept walking without pause.  Snails, meanwhile, had taken the time to walk up behind Silver and place a hand on her shoulder in sympathy. Silver Spoon turned around and bawled into Snail’s shoulder, soaking his green hoodie with her tears. Snails wrapped his arms around her and held her close, but gently. “What are ya cryin’ for, eh?” Silver Spoon couldn’t answer other than shaking her head into his shoulder. She was just in too much pain to speak. “It’ll be okay, Spoony… You’ll be friends… and you’ll have more friends...” he said softly as he kissed the top of her head affectionately. Silver Spoon gripped his upper arms tightly near his shoulders with both of her hands and she desperately kissed him back on his lips, followed by rubbing her left cheek on the side of his cheek. Moments later, she whispered into his ear, “Don’t you ever … EVER … abandon me too.” “Oh no, I’d never do that Spoony… I need ya, ya know? I’m the happiest I’ve ever been since you started going out with me… and… I don’t think Diamond abandoned ya either, okay?” Snails said quietly. “Good!” Silver declared emotionally. “Now hold me tight. Please.” Snails responded by tightening his hold on her, “Anything for you, Spoony.” The shutter noise of a camera sounded as Praxton clicked several photos of Diamond walking away from the school, Silver screaming in rage and tears after her, and finally of Diamond’s journey until she was out of sight of him. He pocketed his phone and pondered a moment before taking it back out and dialing Spoiled. He waited patiently for her to pick up her end of the line. Spoiled Rich answered around the third ring. “Well? Do you have something for me?” Spoiled immediately demanded upon answering. She didn’t even bother with any other “pleasantries”. “So let’s talk about my pay, shall we?” he asked calmly. “What about it?” Spoiled replied tightly. “How much you willin’ to raise it up?” he continued to ask calmly. “That depends on you,” Spoiled replied. “How much are you willing to be competent? I can pay you more, but I’d expect to get my money's worth. How are you planning to do that for me?” Praxton cued up his phone’s image gallery and sent the recent pics off to Spoiled’s phone before replying, “Oh, I’m very competent. Don’t worry about that. Just how soon do ya want her back?” Spoiled paused a moment as she shifted through the pictures on her end, then asked, “So what? I already knew my daughter and Silver are best friends. You haven’t given me any new information. “As for the answer to your question, I’ll need her sometime after the election speech, as long as she does nothing further to embarrass our noble family name, but after that … Well. Let’s just say I want some assurances that she does not mess this up in the aftermath. Do I make myself clear?” “Sure, whatever. “So my omnimic picked up a little of what they were yammering around… Do you know the Belle family?” he asked absently. “I know that they are a bunch of filthy and disgusting peasants,” Spoiled replied. “What of them?” “I think they’re her next destination,” he said as he hung up the phone and began to stroll down the street on the opposite side from Diamond at a distance.