That same evening...
This is all her fault, thought Diamond Tiara as she shot a venomous glance in Scootaloo's direction. Me, in detention. Me! I swear, when I get my hooves on her, this mess surrounding Rainbow Dash will look like foal's play.
It was evident, by the occasional looks of disdain that Scootaloo shot at Diamond Tiara, that the pegasus's thoughts weren't especially different. Cheerilee, who was merely reading a novel (which looked rather bland) while sitting at her desk, didn't seem to notice either of them.
With a yawn, she placed a bookmark in the book to save where she had read to, then stood, nodding to the door as she said, "Alright, you're free to go." Scootaloo and Diamond Tiara practically jumped from their seats upon being allowed to leave, but Cheerilee was quick enough to get in an additional, "Don't you forget that research assignment I gave you at the start of the month. It's due tomorrow."
Although Diamond Tiara continued out the door at full speed, Scootaloo skidded to a halt, her eyes wide with shock.
"What?! Tomorrow?!" she shouted in panic, looking about ready to cry as she hurried over to Cheerilee, frantic as she said, "It can't be due tomorrow! I haven't even started it!"
Diamond Tiara came to a halt just outside, looking dumbfounded by Scootaloo's panicked cries. She said to herself, "Wait. I haven't started either," she pursed her lip in thought, then giggled with pride, beginning to trot away from the school with an air of nonchalance, "but I'm sure Silver Spoon finished a long time ago." She began toward Silver Spoon's abode, confident that her friend would provide for her.
"Good evening, Silver Spoon's mom," chimed Diamond Tiara as she waltzed through the front door of Silver Spoon's home. "Is Silver Spoon here?"
"She sure is! She's just upstairs," answered Silver Spoon's mother with a nod to the staircase. "I think she's got somepony over already, though, so she might not be able to come out and play."
Diamond Tiara's cheery, amiable smile vanished, replaced by a furious scowl.
"She has... somepony upstairs. With her. Somepony besides me?"
The mother shrugged, saying in a vague tone, "I didn't think she had many close friends aside from you, and I just got home, so I don't know who it is."
With a stamp of the hoof and an outraged snort, Diamond Tiara dashed at the stairs, climbing them in leaps and bounds. Arriving at the door to Silver Spoon's bedroom, she intended to enter with a flourish of fury, but she was stopped by a pair of fillyish giggles. She placed an ear on the door, grinding her teeth as she listened in on the two of them.
"Aww! You always get to have that part!" complained Silver Spoon.
"As if!" retorted a nasally, lisp-stricken filly. "Besides, these aren't even yours. I paid good money for these!"
"Twist?!" shrieked Diamond Tiara, mindlessly hammering at the door with her front hooves. "You invited Twist over?!"
As Diamond Tiara drew away from the door, panting with rage, there was a pause. After a moment, the door opened just a crack to allow Silver Spoon to look at the fuming Diamond Tiara with a somewhat bored expression.
"Hello, Diamond Tiara."
Diamond Tiara growled at the level-headed, completely calm greeting Silver Spoon offered. Outraged, she asked, "So, getting chummy with Twist behind my back, huh? Am I not good enough for you? Is she better than Diamond Tiara?!"
Silver Spoon sighed, clearly unperturbed by Diamond Tiara's psychotic questioning.
"Relax, Diamond Tiara. You haven't been replaced. It's just that you've got a week of detention, and Twist and I share some... common interests."
Diamond Tiara glared at her friend, one eye twitching slightly as she hissed, "'Common interests?' What kind of 'common interests?'"
Silver Spoon frowned at the question, answering in earnest, "You wouldn't understand."
"I would to understand!" Diamond Tiara shouted, flashing a sneer as she took a step toward Silver Spoon.
"Yeah, of course you would," Silver Spoon mumbled with a roll of the eyes as she stepped away from the door. "If you want any hope of getting a decent grade on that research assignment, I'd suggest you hit up the library for some Equestrian history books."
With that, she shut the door, the knob clicking quietly as she locked it from inside. Diamond Tiara stood there, frozen, glaring daggers at the polished knob. With a frustrated scream, she stormed down the hall and out of the house.
Muttering profanities under her breath as she stomped down the streets of Ponyville, Diamond Tiara's thoughts were muddled and raging.
Spoon doesn't just shut me out like that. I'm all she's got! she thought.
With her glare turned to the ground, she didn't notice the filly that had appeared from around the corner and had walked into her path.
"Oof!" Scootaloo stumbled away from Diamond Tiara as a textbook and a few loose papers fell to the ground. She glanced to them, then turned a scowl to Diamond Tiara. "Watch where you're going!"
Diamond Tiara stood, a venomous sneer on her lips, but said nothing.
Stupid Scootaloo. She's the one who's supposed to be hurting. Not me.
"Hello? Can you hear me?" Scootaloo asked mockingly, tapping Diamond Tiara's forehead, which, surprisingly, provoked no sort of reaction from the filly. Scootaloo, now looking more puzzled than furious, asked, "Aren't you supposed to yell at me, or freak out because I just touched your head?"
Diamond Tiara eyed Scootaloo in silence, the corner of her lip twitching as her sneer widened.
It isn't enough. Scootaloo still has her friends. She's still got Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle...
Scootaloo cocked her head, clearly baffled by Diamond Tiara's silence, then turned to the book and papers that had been knocked to the ground, quickly collecting them and trotting away.
"Well, that was weird," she thought aloud as she left Diamond Tiara behind.
... but not for long. Diamond Tiara thought, her sneer warping into a maniacal smile. I can destroy her. All it takes is dropping the right words in the right place.
She snickered, thoroughly pleased with the evil plot she was hatching. Her psychotic snickering became full blown malicious cackling as she set to work, shouting to the heavens, "She thinks it's bad now! Just wait, Scootaloo! Just wait!"
"Well, isn't this marvelous!" chimed Rarity with a flourish of the hoof. "It's so good to see that you two have talked this out already."
Applejack chuckled, ruffling Apple Bloom's mane and saying, "Yep. Apple Bloom's a right good sister. That's fer sure."
Apple Bloom blushed, mumbling, "Aw, shucks. Yer too kind."
The three mares surrounding her laughed at this.
"Well, with that straightened out, I suppose we should see if Fluttershy has had any luck finding Rainbow Dash," Twilight said, already making her way to the door.
Applejack gulped, nervously readjusting her stetson.
"R-right. Rainbow Dash..."
Applejack's unusual apprehension seemed to provoke a wary glance from both Apple Bloom and Rarity, but neither of them questioned her as she hurried out of the barn.
"It may be a tad difficult to track down Rainbow Dash, though," Rarity reasoned, shutting the barn doors behind the group with her magic. "Even if Fluttershy manages to find her, getting a word in with her will be no easy task."
"Uh..." Twilight began, eyeing something in the distance with confusion. "Right. However, I think we have a more urgent matter to deal with at the moment."
Rarity raised an eyebrow at this, looking in the same direction that Twilight, Applejack, and Apple Bloom were. She gasped when she found a sizable crowd gathered in front of the Apple household.
"What in tarnation?" asked Applejack and Apple Bloom in unison.
Granny Smith sat at the window, staring down the ravenous mob as they angrily shouted indistinguishable curses and waved assortments of pitchforks and torches.
"Aw, heck," she said to herself, turning to the nearby stairwell. "Big Macintosh! There's an angry mob outside! Go tell 'em what fer!"
Without a word of complaint, Big Mac trotted down the stairs and out the door, a mixed look of confusion and disapproval on his face. As Big Mac stood before the mob, a lone stallion (of about half Mac's height and a third of his bulk) stepped forward, looking outraged.
"Are you Applejack's older brother?" hissed the stallion.
"E'yup," Big Mac answered, the slightest scowl donning on his face.
"Bring her to us, that there might be justice!" he shook a hoof at Big Mac, which neither intimidated him nor looked frightening to anypony else whatsoever.
Big Mac eyed the stallion, then, with a gentle shake of the head, said, "Nope."
The mob's representative growled at Big Mac's response, furious as he shouted, "You cannot shelter that heathen forever! She will pay for what she has done!"
"Heathen?! Applejack hasn't done nothin'!" Apple Bloom shouted at the mob as she and the three mares approached.
Her outburst, however, seized the attention of every last member, causing the four who had been revealed to shrink with fear.
"There she is!" the representative declared, pointing at Applejack. "After her!"
Upon his command, the mob charged at Applejack. Apple Bloom retreated with a shriek, while Applejack stood to face the mob, a fierce look on her face. Fortunately, Twilight reacted just in time to save the mob from Applejack's fury, teleporting Rarity, Apple Bloom, Applejack, and herself away from the raging ponies.