//------------------------------// // The only chapter // Story: A Gift for Diamond // by Nailah //------------------------------// Diamond Tiara always considered herself the best; she had the best family, the best privileges, and the most class. She was far superior to any of the other fillies and colts in her class. Diamond Tiara wouldn’t stand for anything but number one. And then just like that on election day, everything she had worked so hard for was taken away from her; her dignity, her best friend, even her mother. Yet, Diamond Tiara couldn’t be happier. Sitting here while her dad Filthy Rich was off on a business trip to Canterlot. She wanted to go, begged him to take her, but he said this trip was very important to the both of them, and he couldn’t afford to be distracted. “I’m alone...again.” Diamond Tiara said with a heavy sigh. She stared up at their family portrait that hung in the living room. She stared at it, seeing her mother Spoiled Rich, her father Filthy Rich, and herself. They were all smiles. All lies. “I can’t believe I let her trick me for so long. Oh, it makes me so…” she began when suddenly she was interrupted. “Angry?” asked Silver Spoon, waving to her from the door. “Silver Spoon!” shouted Diamond Tiara as she let out a whinny of pure delight at seeing one of her best friends. She and Apple Bloom were friends now too, but Silver Spoon had always been there for her, even when she had been nothing but a jerk to her. “Hey, Diamond Tiara, I came by to see if you wanted to come to the Cutie Mark Crusaders’ clubhouse. They asked me to come, and we all have a surprise for you!” exclaimed Silver Spoon, blushing slightly as she pulled her friend into a soft warm embrace. Diamond Tiara returned the hug, as she felt the slight sting of tears forming and slowly trailing down her cheeks. She stiffened and nodded. “Of course, I’ll come. But I should leave a note first. I wouldn’t want my dad to worry.” said Diamond Tiara as she trotted over to his desk, finding a quill and paper, and leaving him a note. She didn’t think he’d be back that quickly, but it was always best to let him know where she was. She then followed Silver Spoon out of her house, and towards Sweet Apple Acres. The two walked side by side, and as they did, it gave her time to think about her relationship with her friends, rather than her family. Silver Spoon, she’s always been my friend, even when I was cruel to her, she just wanted me to see the error of my ways. Oh, I wish I could do something for her. Anything...to show her how much I’ve changed. “Hey DT!” shouted Scootaloo, as she lifted herself in the air as much as her small wings would allow, before crashing back down onto her rump. “Owwwie. Hey Silver Spoon. You girls ready for the surprise?” asked Scootaloo to the both of them. “Well, I already know what it is, you silly filly, so it’s not really a surprise for me. It’s more a surprise for Diamond.” Silver Spoon chuckled into her forehoof. “I’m ready, I think?” replied Diamond Tiara, she took a nervous gulp of  breath. Just what had these three cooked up this time? “Alright, follow me!” replied Scootaloo, as she bounced along the grounds of Sweet Apple Acres towards the clubhouse where Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle were both waiting in the wings. Both with big grins on their faces, Diamond Tiara just felt this strange tingle of excitement that jotted through her entire body. “Howdy there, Diamond. I reckon ya’ll are wondering what this is all about. Well, actually, this here was Silver Spoon’s idea. She wanted to give you something truly special, and we’re just helping! I reckon we’ve gotten rather good at it.” explained Apple Bloom, as she walked over to Silver Spoon and handed her a wrapped up package. Silver Spoon took the package in her forelegs, and then handed it to Diamond Tiara. “Diamond, I know how hard it has been for you, but I wanted you to always know that I’ll be right there by your side whenever you need me.,” said Silver Spoon, handing over the package. Diamond Tiara stared at the package. It was wrapped up in some kind of brown paper that made it hard to tell what it was, and then it had a pink bow wrapped around that. She tore the bow off with her teeth, and then removed the wrapping from around it with her forelegs, and when she saw what was hidden underneath, she felt herself getting teary-eyed once more. The tears began to trail down her face seamlessly into the ground as she stared at the picture of herself, Silver Spoon, and the Cutie Mark Crusaders around them. Silver went up to her, and put a hoof to her shoulder. “I know that you’ve had it rough in the past, Diamond, but I promise you as long as we are together. We can do anything. And I really feel like that’s what family is, right? It’s a group of people that share a bond with one another, and it doesn’t matter blood or not; we are connected.” explained Silver Spoon. Diamond Tiara clung to the picture with one forehoof, and put her head onto Silver’s shoulder, as she sobbed into her fur and attempted to say thank you. “Thank you...Silver.” replied Diamond Tiara with a smile. The two of them embraced once more. “I should be getting back, though. I want to be there when Father returns. He told me that his business in Canterlot would be important to us both.” “You go Diamond, but always know you have a place here in my heart,” spoke Silver Spoon, leaning over and kissing her on the cheek. Diamond Tiara blushed, as she gave her friend another light hug, and thanked the CMCs for helping, and hurried back home. She went and hung the picture that Silver Spoon gifted her up in her bedroom, right above her bed so that she would always see it when she was getting ready to rest her eyes, always knowing that no matter how bad things got, her friends would be there to help her back up, they were her family now. She went back downstairs and looked at their family picture. She glared at her mother. “You think you can control me? Well you can’t. I’m free to make my own choices now, and I choose them over you. You don’t deserve to call yourself my mother,” she pouted, holding up her nose proudly, as she trotted back upstairs with a huff. She then turned off the lights to her room, and whispered goodnight to the picture. Diamond Tiara was the top of her class, the best pony all around, and right now, she felt like the luckiest pony in all of Equestria, to have a friend like her.