The very next day.
Licking his lips, Spike marveled at the sapphire he had retrieved from Owlowiscious the day before.
"Oh, just one more day, and you'll be all mine!" Spike whispered, rapping his claws against the blue gem. "In fact, you might be ripe enough now. Maybe just one bite." Spike leaned in to take a chunk out of the gem, but was interrupted by Twilight Sparkle's yelling.
"Spike!" Twilight shouted, nearly causing him to drop his precious gem. "We're all out of ink!"
"So?" Spike shouted back, sounding irritated. "Why can't you go get more?"
"Spike, I'm busy, and this is really important!"
"Busy with what?!"
"Research! I need that ink, Spike!"
Spike groaned, annoyed, then stowed away his sapphire.
"Fine, I'll get you some more ink!" Spike shouted, already stomping down the stairs and toward the door.
"Thank you!" Twilight shouted, never bothering to open the door to the backroom to make easier their conversation. Spike flung open the library's front door, sighing before shutting it behind him.
With a smile somewhere between snide and psychotic on her lips, Diamond Tiara pranced toward the school house with Silver Spoon beside her.
"I can see it now, Spoon!" began Diamond Tiara. "Two of those stupid Crusaders will be bawling like foals, all broken up that their idols are total jokes. Then we just have to contend with that airhead, Sweetie Belle."
Silver Spoon rolled her eyes, but said nothing to object, saying instead, "Gee, you are the mare with the plan, Diamond Tiara. I wish I was half as smart as you."
With a conceded snicker, Diamond Tiara chimed, "Of course you do!" Silver Spoon muttered something incomprehensible in response, but Diamond Tiara paid her no mind, instead hurrying into the schoolhouse.
Spike wandered through the streets of Ponyville, then came to a halt, slapping himself on the forehead and muttering, "Forgot to bring any bits!" He turned around, angrily mumbling to himself as he started back toward the library. Suddenly, however, he was whisked off his feet, moving too fast to loose the slightest noise. When he came to a stop, he took a moment to gather his bearings and allow his daze to pass. When he had gotten a grasp on the situation, he found two angry mares standing before him.
Spike glanced from one to the other, then asked, "What's going on?"
"You made a laughing stock out of us!" scolded Rainbow Dash, pointing at Spike as she took to the air.
"I did what?" Spike asked, sounding wholly confused.
"Consarn it, Spike!" Applejack said with a stomp of the hoof. "We told ya not t' tell Twilight, but that don't mean you can up and tell everypony else!"
Spike blinked, shaking his head, then said defensively, "The only pony I told was Pinkie Pie, and she Pinkie Promised to not tell anyone else."
"Then how come everypony in Ponyville knows about our secret?" Rainbow Dash asked, clearing her throat to retain composure.
"How am I supposed to know? Maybe Pinkie broke her promise?" Spike reasoned.
"Nuh-uh. If there's anypony who would never break a Pinkie Promise, that would be Pinkie Pie herself. She ain't the one who done spilled the beans." Applejack said, scowling at Spike. "Which means either yer t' blame, or somepony else spotted Rainbow Dash and ah."
Spike shrugged, more convinced by Applejack's reasoning than not. Tentatively, he said, "Well, it wasn't me. Aside from Pinkie, I didn't tell a soul." He placed his hands on his hips, raising an eyebrow and asking, "Besides, how bad can something so little be?"
"Hey, Rainbow Dash!" shouted a pegasus stallion from behind the mare. She spun around to face the stallion as he made mock kissing noises. Rainbow Dash growled at him as he chuckled, continuing to trot along. Rainbow Dash would have darted at him, if not for Applejack seizing her tail.
"That's how bad it can be!" Rainbow Dash shouted, pointing to where the pegasus stallion had been. "I've been hearing worse than that from tons of pegasi today!"
Spike scoffed, pointing to where the stallion had been as well, critical as he said, "You're seriously mad about a little teasing?"
Rainbow Dash landed, glaring daggers at Spike and coldly responding, "No, I'm not. I am mad about every hoofing pegasi in Ponyville cracking a prejudiced joke when they see me, though."
Raising an eyebrow once more, Spike said, "I thought you had thicker skin than that, Rainbow Dash."
"Oh, that is it!" Rainbow Dash shouted, lunging at Spike.
Applejack threw a hoof between Spike (who was clearly scared to death by Rainbow Dash's rage) and Rainbow Dash before the pegasus could inflict any harm, yelling, "Rainbow Dash! There's no need t' hurt 'im!"
"But he—!" Rainbow Dash stammered.
"No! Whether he ratted us out or not, ya can't go pummelin' 'im for it." Applejack interrupted.
Rainbow Dash drew away, grumbling something under her breath before saying, "Well, I don't like this. With the word out like this, nopony is gonna take us seriously."
Spike shrugged, suggesting, "You could always try, I don't know, explaining yourselves. If this is just some nasty rumor, then it's only gonna get worse if you try to avoid it."
Applejack frowned at Spike's suggestion, solemn as she said, "Spike, we was barely able t' satisfy you when ya started drillin' us with yer questions. How 'n tarnation are we supposed t' explain ourselves t' the whole town without making things worse?" Spike was about to answer, but paused when the stallion who had been harassing Rainbow returned, this time trailed by two other stallions.
"Hey, Rainbow Dash!" They shouted in unison, proceeding to make the same mock kissing noises from earlier.
Moving too fast for Applejack to stop her, Rainbow Dash darted for them, screaming, "Just shut up already!"
"See those two, Silver Spoon?" Diamond Tiara mused as they entered the classroom, pointing to where Apple Bloom and Scootaloo sat, both of them surrounded by curious school foals.
"Yeah. Looks like the class is a little confused by what they've heard about Applejack and Rainbow Dash," Silver Spoon said, glancing from the red-faced Apple Bloom to the rosy-cheeked Scootaloo. "Frankly, I'm still a little confused myself."
"Oh, who cares?" Diamond Tiara asked, looking to Silver Spoon. "As long as everypony thinks badly of Rainbow Dash and Applejack, we don't need to sweat the details."
She trotted over to the small crowd gathered around Applebloom, parting the foals with ease. Standing at Apple Bloom's desk, she giggled, then slapped a hoof on the desk, causing Apple Bloom to start.
"What do ya want, Diamond Tiara?" Applebloom barked, trying her hardest to muster a fierce glare.
"Is it true?" Diamond Tiara asked, cocking her head.
"Is what true?" Applebloom asked, crossing her forelegs with a scowl.
"That Applejack and Rainbow Dash are f—"
"Good morning, class!" Miss Cheerilee interrupted as she trotted through the open door. "If you could please take your seats, we'll get started!"
Diamond Tiara shot Cheerilee an annoyed scowl, but looked back to Applebloom with a smirk.
"Well, we'll all find out later, then," Diamond Tiara said as she began toward her seat. Apple Bloom raspberried at the pink filly, then rested her chin on her desk as she looked to the front of the room.
"Alright, missy. Ah think they've learned their lesson." Applejack grumbled through clenched teeth as she tugged at Rainbow Dash's tail.
Rainbow Dash spit in the direction of the stallions she had locked horns with, shouting at them, "You're gonna regret giving me this black eye!"
"Yeah? What are you gonna do about it?" taunted one of the pegasi. "Sick Applejack on us?"
"Shut up!" Rainbow Dash screamed, flying against Applejack's hold. Her fury, however, was impotent, as Applejack was now pulling too hard on her tail to allow her to escape.
"Sheesh. Ponies can be cruel." Spike observed, giving Applejack cause to roll her eyes.
"Darn tootin'," the farm filly agreed, releasing her grip on Rainbow Dash's tail as the mare landed, panting.
As the three stallions trotted away, laughing like idiots, Rainbow Dash shouted after them, "You better run! If I see your sorry flanks again, I'm gonna—"
"Rainbow Dash!" Applejack snapped, Rainbow turning to face her with a scowl.
"Are you just gonna take this?" Rainbow Dash asked, taking to the air and hovering closer to Applejack. "What they're saying about us is so unfair! They don't know what they're talking about, and they just—"
"Rainbow Dash, please." Applejack scolded, cutting off Rainbow Dash's complaints. "Lookie here. Colts will be colts; ya can't expect them t' understand none, and ya can't expect them t' be respectin' us none."
Spike looked offended by this, pointing a claw at Applejack as he said, "Now wait just a minute! That's a little unfair."
Applejack adjusted her stetson, then gave Spike a stern look, coldly responding, "Spike, ah respect ya, but ya can't really understand what Rainbow and ah feel like in this here sitch-ee-ation."
"Well, maybe I didn't get made fun for it, but I can understand your interests." Spike argued. "After all, back in Canterlot, I—"
"This isn't the same, Spike," Rainbow Dash said, sounding less angry and more downtrodden by this point. "What you did in Canterlot was silly; just a cute, one-time thing. Do you know how ponies that hear about Applejack and me are gonna feel?"
"Cute?" Spike asked, sounding hurt.
"Rainbow Dash is right, Spike." Applejack said, looking as sorrowful as Rainbow Dash sounded. "Ponies are gonna blow all this out o' proportions. No matter how we try t' spin this, ponies are gonna flip their lids."
Spike sighed, glancing to where the trio of stallions and Rainbow Dash had fought. Plainly, he said, "Ponies aren't going to be that harsh. Well, most ponies, anyway; I don't know what those three pegasi were thinking."
"They were thinking they were tougher than me!" Rainbow Dash declared, crossing her forelegs.
"Yeah, I'm sure that's it," Spike mumbled.
Midway through the lesson Cheerilee was giving, a wad of paper flew at the head of an unsuspecting Scootaloo. Scootaloo glared at Diamond Tiara, who she knew had thrown the paper, then scooped up the wad and quickly unraveled it. It read:
Still think Rainbow Dash is the coolest pegasus in Equestria?
Scootaloo slammed the note on her desk, shouting at Diamond Tiara, "Now you listen here, Diamond Tiara! Rainbow Dash is still—"
"Scootaloo!" Cheerilee sharply interrupted, shooting a stern look Scootaloo's way. "There will be no outbursts in this class!"
Scootaloo opened her mouth to argue, but Cheerilee's scowl was enticement enough to rethink it, the pegasus filly simply groaning instead.
"Yes, ma'am," she muttered, propping her head up on her foreleg.
"Very good," Cheerilee said with a smile and a nod, turning back to the chalkboard. "Now, where was I? Oh yes!"
Scootaloo, already having tuned out what Cheerilee was teaching, looked back to Diamond Tiara, hissing at her, "Rainbow Dash is still totally awesome! It doesn't matter if—"
"Ahem!" Cheerilee grunted, not looking away from the chalkboard.
Scootaloo sighed, shooting a quick scowl at Diamond Tiara before turning her attention back to Cheerilee.
Diamond Tiara giggled, satisfied with how easily she could rile up Scootaloo. Smugly, she thought, This is working out even better than expected.
"Look, I know this is bad, but what do you want me to do about it?" Spike asked as Rainbow Dash and Applejack stood over him, their new hiding place successfully sheltering them from the public eye.
"Deny everything!" Rainbow Dash interjected with a flourish of the hoof. "If we try to defend ourselves, nopony is gonna believe a word we say, but you could step in and call the whole thing a misunderstanding!"
Spike raised a dubious eyebrow, responding, "Yeah, I don't think that'll work."
Rainbow Dash growled at this, but Applejack was quick to say, "Well, somepony has gotta set Ponyville straight. Ah don't think this'll blow over on its own."
"We've got to do something!" Rainbow Dash exclaimed, restlessly hovering to and fro. "I mean, the news is spreading so fast, we're getting treated like dirt, and... and..." Rainbow Dash coughed uneasily, crossing her forelegs as she hovered in place. "... and I don't like it. Why does Ponyville have to be so judgmental?"
The tinge of sorrow in Rainbow Dash's tone caused Spike to frown solicitously.
With a hand to his cheek and a quiet groan, he said, "Well, even if I didn't tell anypony about you two, I kinda feel like this is my fault." He straightened up, looking Rainbow Dash square in the eyes, donning a resolute expression as he said, "You two lay low for now. I'll talk with Twilight and see if I can smooth this over."
"Spike, ya can't!" Applejack exclaimed desperately. "Twilight will get mighty offended iffen she finds out about what we did."
Spike gave Applejack a pitying smile as he said, "Maybe she will, but with the news spreading like wildfire, she's bound to find out, whether I tell her or not."
Applejack and Rainbow Dash exchanged wary glances, but Applejack, after a grievous sigh, managed to mutter, "Alrighty. It can't get no worse. Ask 'er fer help, if ya think she'll be willin' t' help us."
"Don't worry. Twilight might not take the news well, but she'll still be your friend. I promise, we'll get this whole mess under control." Spike said, trying to sound as reassuring as possible.
He took off from the hiding spot, Rainbow Dash and Applejack both dead silent as he disappeared from sight.
"You think Twilight can help?" Rainbow Dash asked, landing abruptly at Applejack's side.
"If anypony can, Twilight can. If she ain't too ruffled by what she hears, that is." Applejack answered despairingly, hanging her head.
Apple Bloom and Scootaloo sat side by side, staring blankly at their hooves as the rest of their peers enjoyed recess. With an air of triumph about her, Diamond Tiara pranced up to the forgone fillies with a giggle that could only be called evil.
"Shame you don't have your number three here today," Diamond Tiara said, invading Apple Bloom's bubble of personal space as she tried to seize the filly's attention. "She should be here. I'm sure she'd love to see her two best friends get crushed like ants."
Scootaloo's nostrils flared as she looked up, wings spread and eyes wild as she glared at Diamond Tiara, hissing, "Go away, Diamond Tiara. Before I get mad."
Diamond Tiara drew away from Apple Bloom with a mock gasp, asking in a richly sarcastic tone, "Oh, did I strike a nerve? I'm so sorry." Her stunned expression was quickly replaced by a snide smirk as she added, "So sorry that Rainbow Dash and Applejack are making—"
"Now you shut yer mouth!" erupted Apple Bloom, stopping dead Diamond Tiara and drawing the attention of everypony on the playground.
Scootaloo couldn't help but chuckle at her friend's ferocious outburst, but the pressure of so many puzzled eyes settling on her was clearly disconcerting for Apple Bloom. She fidgeted under their gazes, face reddening as she turned her attention to her hooves once more, dejectedly pawing the ground. Diamond Tiara, more intimidated by Apple Bloom than she'd care to admit, cleared her throat, then donned an indifferent expression.
Speaking in a louder voice, with full knowledge that she would be heard by everypony previously out to play, Diamond Tiara asked, "Well, if you're going to get all worked up over what your sister is doing, then why would she even do it in the first place?" She took a step toward Apple Bloom, scowling slightly as she sharply added, "Let's hear it. Why would Applejack do something so weird with Rainbow Dash?"
With a determined growl, Scootaloo jumped between Apple Bloom and Diamond Tiara, shoving her nose into the earth pony's and chiding, "I don't think you get to judge other ponies, Diamond Tiara. Rainbow Dash and Applejack can do whatever the hay they want."
Diamond Tiara, shoving hard against Scootaloo to keep from being pushed back, hissed in response, "Sure they can, but if they're going to be freaks, then they're going to get laughed at. Like freaks should be."
Scootaloo ground her teeth, pressing her forehead against Diamond Tiara's as she snapped, "The only freak here is you!"
Diamond Tiara scoffed, meeting Scootaloo's force with her own and venomously replying, "I'm the freak here?! At least I'm not some creep that—"
"Both of you, stop it!" Silver Spoon yelled, much to the surprise of Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Diamond Tiara, and everypony that had gathered around them. Silver Spoon paused, undeterred by the look of disbelief that Diamond Tiara shot her, then said in earnest, "Diamond Tiara, you know Cheerilee is only going to get us in trouble if this turns into a fight. We've done enough to these two for today, don't you think?"
Scootaloo and Apple Bloom exchanged confused glances, then looked to Silver Spoon with puzzlement as Diamond Tiara spun around, glaring daggers into her friend. After a moment, however, Diamond Tiara simply smiled, then glanced back to Apple Bloom and Scootaloo with a chuckle.
"You're right. I think these blank flank losers have had enough for today." She mocked, tossing her mane and beginning toward the schoolhouse without another word.
Silver Spoon stared at Diamond Tiara as she pranced along, but didn't move from her spot.
"Why defend us like that?" Apple Bloom asked, her flush cheeks now less severe.
Silver Spoon sighed, adjusting her glasses as she mumbled a barely audible, "Because I can sympathize with Rainbow Dash and Applejack."
"Silver Spoon!" Diamond Tiara called back. "Come along!" Silver Spoon nodded to Applebloom and Scootaloo, then hurried over to Diamond Tiara.
Dumbfounded, Scootaloo whispered to Apple Bloom, "Did she just say what I think she said?"
"Ah'm havin' a hard time believin' it mahself," Apple Bloom whispered back, transfixed as she watched Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon trot into the schoolhouse.