//------------------------------//
// Chapter 2 
// Story: Diamond Encrusted Apples 
// by TrackdNTraild 
//------------------------------//

Diamond Tiara insisted that they go over the long story while they ate. So, they sat in silence as they looked over the foot long menu they were given. Drinks were listed at the bottom, with food filling the rest of the space. Various wines and special cocktails filled the back of the menu. Applebloom had never been known to drink, so she rarely knew what any of the ingredients were. It was just her luck that the menu specified; it was a little small for her to read though.
Eventually, a light cerulean unicorn mare approached their table. From the blue saddle strapped to her back, she grabbed a notepad in her purple magic as she talked.
"Hi there, my name is Mint Jewelup, you can call me Mint," she said as she fashioned her saddle down, and brushed her heliotrope and lavender mane out of her face. "I'll be your waitress for this evening. Are you two ready to order?"
"I am," Diamond Tiara said with a smile.
She gave Applebloom a soft look, though it was brief. She must've known that she hadn't decided yet. As embarrassed as she felt, Applebloom nodded to Diamond Tiara as a silent show of thanks. She continued looking over the menu while Diamond Tiara put in her order.
"I'll start with a Purple Rain for a drink," The perfume pink mare hummed.
"Do you want sugar around the rim?" The waitress asked as she wrote on her notepad.
"Hm… I'll try it." Diamond Tiara nodded. "I think I'm ready to order food as well, so I'll have…"
Diamond Tiara took a second look at the menu, running her hoof over the available options. She mumbled to herself and shook her head before she lifted her head to face the waitress again.
"A carrot and raisin salad," the mare said as she set her menu down on the table. "Oh, and a side of sautéed cucumbers."
"Do you want sliced pineapples with your salad?" Mint asked.
"You can add pineapples to this?" Diamond Tiara blinked in surprise before she took a few seconds to consider. "Well, I do like pineapples… Sure, I wouldn't mind."
The more they talked about food, the hungrier Applebloom got. She had definitely not had anything to eat today, and she was paying for it. Her stomach was practically trying to digest itself as they spoke. Applebloom hid her face behind her menu until the waitress had finished writing down Diamond Tiara's order, taken her menu in her magic, and turned to face Applebloom.
"How about you, hun?" Mint asked, bringing the texas yellow mare out of her thoughts and back into the real world once more.
Quickly, Applebloom sat up and skimmed through the menu again. She still wasn't sure what she wanted; her indecision was her worst enemy. She took a deep breath, and decided to wing it, and pick whatever looked the best, or ask for some help. As such, she flipped over her menu to the back, and peered at the wines and cocktails that covered the page.
"I'ma get out of my comfort zone a little," Applebloom laughed lightly. "Think I'll try one of the wines… Can ya recommend somethin' to me?"
"Let me think," Mint hummed, tapping her pencil to her chin and peering over at the menu herself. "Well, if you want my personal favourites? I'm a dark red wine kind of pony, so any of those would be my recommendation."
As Mint spoke, she used her pencil to make a circle in the air around some of the wines, specifically the ones lower on the list. Applebloom was given the idea that the lower on the list they were, the darker the wine.
From Mencía to Syrah, she had a few different decisions, but not many specifications as far as their taste. Applebloom chose put her apple cider knowledge to the test, as she believed that the two processes weren't so different from each other.
She knew deep down she was a pony that liked aged cider, which changed in colour based on how long it had been aged for. She assumed something similar happened to the wines. But, she definitely wasn't an expert; she couldn't fully trust her knowledge. Still, she prayed silently that she wouldn't have to pick a different drink and embarrass herself.
"I'll try the darkest wine ya got," Applebloom chuckled as she pointed on the menu to the syrah wine.
"You won't regret it," Mint hummed in a sing-song fashion as she scribbled on her notepad. "Are you ready to order food too?"
"You probably want one of the apple based foods," Diamond Tiara lightly teased Applebloom.
Applebloom knew she was at least joking this time. This form of teasing was different from the blatantly bullying she was accustomed too. Still though, it made her coat crawl. She wasn't ready to hear this kind of teasing from Diamond Tiara yet, not when they weren't even friends.
"Out of spite, I'll pick somethin' different," Applebloom teased back, hoping that her tone didn't make it horribly obvious how uncomfortable she was.
Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes, but she had a smile on her face that at least proved she wasn't upset. Applebloom could breathe easy knowing she didn't come off as rude. Though, if Diamond Tiara could hear her thoughts…
Applebloom shook her head. She didn't have time to be thinking about that. She could think about things when she was by herself. She turned back to Mint to finish her order.
"I'll have a grilled lettuce sandwich," she said finally. "And I'll take DT's idea of havin' sautéed cucumbers to go with."
"Alright, thank you guys!" Mint hummed happily as she finished writing the order and took Applebloom's menu. "I'll be back with your drinks, and the food will be a bit."
The mares nodded as the waitress walked off, and silence filled the room again. Diamond Tiara's comfortable and smiley facade broke down the second they were alone again. Applebloom didn't have to open her mouth for Diamond Tiara to know what she wanted to say.
"It's not something that's easy for me to talk about, Applebloom," the rich mare began. "I'm sure you remember back then… you know, during the election. You three saw how my mom treated me, and even now I'm still surprised that you put up with me and wanted to help me."
Applebloom did remember it. It was so long ago, but it still stuck in her head. She had completely flipped her tiara upside down that day. Standing up to her mother, doing something productive for their school, supporting her class… Applebloom couldn't believe it then. It still seemed like a drawn-out fairy tale even now. But Diamond Tiara sat before her, completely changed.
"But after that day, we stopped talking," the perfume pink mare continued with drooping ears.
"Well, you know why that is Diamond Tiara…" Applebloom mumbled. "We were young and we were over-reactive, but… you hurt me the worst. I couldn't consider ya a friend just because you called me one. You did a lotta damage, girl. You can't fix that in one day."
"...I know." Diamond Tiara stared at the empty space on the table. "That's why I was so happy that I ran into you. I wanted to be able to apologize for everything that I'd done, and make up for it."
"An apology ain't gonna cut it, DT," Applebloom sighed.
"It didn't know that then, I know that now," Diamond Tiara said with a hiss in her voice, before she swallowed her feelings and spoke lowly. "But it's been sixteen years, Applebloom. We were twelve. In a small town like this, with us both still living here, it's impossible for us to avoid each other and try to hold onto our grudges and bad memories. They're like chains; some day, we'll want to break them."
Diamond Tiara was right. Applebloom had barely even considered how long it had been since all this started. Since the day Diamond Tiara got her cutie mark, to the day Applebloom got hers… And they really couldn't avoid each other, not in this town. Neither of them wanted to leave their homes. Applebloom would take over Sweet Apple Acres fully some day, and Diamond Tiara still loved PonyVille. Moving to Canterlot would've been… her mom's choice, not hers.
"I want to be able to prove to you that I've changed," Diamond Tiara said, her eyes glossy with tears and her voice cracking. "I can't take back all that wasted time that I robbed from you. Back when I was a stuck up bitch who was in over her head, and lacked the strength to make her own decisions… I wasn't as strong as a diamond, because I was too scared of getting hurt to step out of line. And to be honest… I was jealous of you."
As Diamond Tiara spoke, tears began to roll down her face. She didn't even seem to realize they were there. She kept talking, but she made no effort to scrub the tears from her face. She only shut her eyes and took a deep breath so she could compose herself, and keep her voice from breaking. Applebloom could only stare at her in shock after the last sentence she uttered.
"You were… jealous?" Applebloom said. "But why would you be jealous of me when you had everythin' any pony could ever want? Not to mention the money to get it…"
"You can't buy friends," Diamond Tiara chuckled brokenly. "Silver Spoon only hung out with me because I was rich, but I'm not sure if she's ever liked me for who I am as a pony. Or, well, who I used to be… But you had friends. You could pick and choose your talent, and you had friends that were doing what you wanted because they wanted to do it too. They weren't doing it because you told them to or they felt like they had to… I never had that luxury."
As they talked, the waitress returned with their drinks. Before Diamond Tiara, a collins glass filled with a purple cocktail was settled. Around the rim, purple sugar glistened in the faint light from the window and the sconces lit up the white of the ice. The shine of the ice cubes was especially prominent near the top of the glass, separating the grenadine that floated through the deep violet like real purple rain. The lime wheel stuck firmly to the side seemed out of place amongst the beautiful shades of purple.
In front of Applebloom, a wine glass was settled. Within the glass was a deep dark red wine that almost filled the entire glass, leaving an inch from the very top. Applebloom could hardly believe that this was the darkest shade of wine that they had. It was a gorgeous colour, really. After settling down both of the glasses, the waitress left them alone again.
Applebloom was only broken out of her thoughts when Diamond Tiara gripped her cocktail glass in both of her hooves, lifting it up to her snout and sipping her drink. She set down the cup before it could slip out of her hands, and her eyes flickered from the taste of the drink. It was something Applebloom had recognized from their cider tasters; sourness and bitterness were an underlying flavour.
"Even with all of that in mind," the rich mare cleared her throat as she continued speaking. "I still want to show you that I'm not the same pony. I don't want to be a diamond because I outshine other ponies. I want to be a diamond because I want to be tougher than I am at the core. I'm an adult. I should be able to make my own decisions and be the pony I want to be."
Diamond Tiara's voice was just barely audible over the hum of the lights in the bar, but Applebloom latched onto and took in every word. Diamond Tiara had sang about that before; being the pony she wanted to be. She wanted to be a strong, unbreakable pony so that being called 'Diamond' meant something. But she never knew what she needed to do to be a good pony like she wanted to be, because her mom never gave her the opportunity to try something.
Applebloom thought she knew the whole story, but clearly she didn't. She had barely scratched the surface.
Diamond Tiara finally acknowledged the tears on her face, and grabbed a napkin from the holder on their table. She wiped her face until she couldn't fold up the napkin and collect anymore tears. Even though more tears rolled down her face the moment they were wiped away, she set down her napkin and didn't pick it up again.
"I'm not asking for forgiveness, Applebloom," Diamond Tiara continued. "I just don't want you to see me as the same old filly anymore."
Applebloom was silent. She wasn't sure what she could do or say right now. This was a side of Diamond Tiara that she hadn't seen before. Even after she and the others had seen how Spoiled Rich treated her, it wasn't nearly as bad as this. Applebloom's heart felt heavy, and it was for a different reason this time. It threatened to make tears perk in her own eyes
Diamond Tiara stared blankly at the table separating them. Applebloom shuffled her hooves on the seat, trying to figure out something she could say. She couldn't just leave Diamond Tiara in this silence. Despite everything that had happened, Applebloom always wanted to at least try to be kind to every pony. Even when she tried to let Diamond Tiara down, she did it gently.
Applebloom wrapped one hoof around the stem of her wine glass, swirling the liquid and coating an extra few millimeters of the glass in the red liquid. She lifted the glass to her lips, sipping the wine slowly. She barely gave herself enough time to enjoy the sweetness of the aged and darkened wine before she set it back on the table, cupped her hooves together, and opened her mouth to speak.
"I can tell that you've changed, it don't take a scientist to see that," Applebloom said somewhat hesitantly. "You've grown a lot, DT, but I'm…"
…not sure if I'm ready for that, is what she wanted to say. But she bit her tongue, and couldn't bring herself to be open about those sorts of thoughts. Not yet, at any rate. She didn't want to spoil her appetite, nor did she want to make Diamond Tiara cry. Seeing her cry without her influence already hurt her to the core, and she didn't know why. 
Maybe she was being ridiculous about how hard she held onto this grudge, or maybe she was trying to convince herself that things weren't as bad as she thought they were. She fought between both sides of the coin, in a constant state of flipping heads or tails. But, she could never pick a side. It felt like every time she flipped the coin, it stood on its side when it landed.
She took a deep breath and sighed. At the very least, she wanted to see where this could go. She wanted to have complete faith in Diamond Tiara, to believe that she really was different. She knew she was a different mare now. But, she couldn't accept that in one day, no matter how many years had passed. The wounds this mare had left in her soul still hadn't healed, and seeing her again had only reopened them.
Either way, Applebloom did want things to be better. She couldn't continue to live in the past and force herself not to strive for a future where things are better. She didn't want to be chained in the past.
"I'll… give it a shot," Applebloom said finally. "Tryin' to reconcile with ya, I mean. I know it'll still take time… but I'm willin' to try. Maybe this is somethin' I need if I'm gonna really recover, I dunno. There's only one way to find out I guess…"
"You don't have to force it, Applebloom," Diamond Tiara said as she wiped the last of her tears away. "It's obvious that you aren't very excited about it. I don't blame you; I wouldn't be either."
"I'm not gonna force it," Applebloom reassured the mare as she rested her hooves on the table. "I'll take it slow. At the very least… if it sounds alright to ya, we can try to hang out n' joke around a little from time to time?"
"I'd like that," Diamond Tiara answered with a smile. "It can be as limited or as frequent as you want, I'm not going to hound you. I don't want to seem… clingy. Or desperate."
"You aren't desperate for attention anymore?" Applebloom joked.
"Why- you!" Diamond Tiara scoffed, but from the way she bit her lips, it seemed like she was trying not to laugh. "How dare you!"
Applebloom couldn't keep herself from breaking out in laughter, even if it was light. At the very least, she was trying not to disturb the other patrons in the bar. Even as Diamond Tiara pouted and glared out the window so as to not meet Applebloom's gaze, the corners of her lips threatened to turn upwards in a smile. It was obvious she was even trying to hold her breath to keep herself from laughing out loud.
But, her ears suddenly perked, and she fully relaxed as she let her eyes wander through the bar with a raised brow.
"Mm… actually, speaking of slowness," Diamond Tiara glanced around the room with twitching ears. "Shouldn't we have gotten our food by now? We've been waiting for some time, after all."
"Ah, I'd completely forgotten about that," Applebloom said after catching her breath. She shook her head and face-hoofed herself. "You're right though, it's definitely been a minute. Guess we spent too much time cryin' to pay attention to the clock."
"Knock it off," Diamond Tiara snickered. "I was the one crying, you didn't even shed a tear."
"This don't look like tears to you?" Applebloom said as she wiped an eye, and extended her foreleg so that Diamond Tiara could see the sheen a single tear left on the tip of her hoof.
"Oh alright, point taken," Diamond Tiara laughed as she rolled her eyes. "I suppose this is how you act around those crusaders of your, eh? Miss Tease?"
"You're half right," Applebloom snorted. She wiped her hoof off on her shawl before resting her hooves on the table. "Scootaloo does more of the teasin' than me and Sweetie Belle. We like to pass around playful insults and jabs at each other, but Scootaloo does it more than either of us."
"I'm not surprised with that information," Diamond Tiara hummed in amusement. "She always seemed like that kind of pony."
"It's 'they' now," Applebloom corrected with a tap of her hoof.
"Oh- apologies," Diamond Tiara chuckled nervously. "I-I didn't realize that they were…"
"We ain't seen you in years, DT," Applebloom said. "Ain't no surprise you didn't know. I'm just tellin' ya gently so you can remember it next time you see em'."
"I'll try my best to remember," Diamond Tiara said with a nod. "I don't know any ponies like that, so it may take me some time to adjust… I do hope you'll be patient with me."
"When I come across them, I'll let em' know," Applebloom reassured her. "But in the mean time…"
As Applebloom said that, the waitress returned with their food. In front of Diamond Tiara, Diamond Mint set down a bowl with sliced and diced carrots, raisins, and pineapple slices. In front of Applebloom, the waitress set down a plate with a grilled lettuce sandwich on rye bread, split in half. Between the two plates, in the center of the table, a double portion of sautéed cucumbers was settled.
Two roll ups were placed beside their bowl and plate on the right side. A napkin tightly held together a knife and fork for each of them. Applebloom couldn't imagine why they gave her a roll up since she ordered a sandwich. She considered the possibility that she may order something else as an explanation, and chose not to question it further.
"If you two need anything else, just let me know!" Diamond Mint sang out happily as she skipped off to allow the two enough space to enjoy their meal.
"Let's stray from the depressin' topics for now, eh?" Applebloom laughed. "We've finally got our food, so let's dig in!"
"Agreed," Diamond Tiara hummed as she unrolled her roll up. "I've barely had the chance to enjoy my drink because we've been talking… I do hope the melting ice didn't water it down. Perhaps I should've requested it without ice?"
"Think of it like this, DT," Applebloom hummed. "The more watered down yer drink is, the more ya can drink."
"Hah!" Diamond Tiara scoffed with a smirk. "You say that as if I plan to get drunk any time soon."
"It'd be funny to see you drunk," Applebloom teased and stuck her tongue out.
"You scoundrel," Diamond Tiara snorted. "Shut up and eat your sandwich!"
Applebloom gave herself the freedom to laugh out loud before she chose to listen to Diamond Tiara's words and pick up her sandwich in her hooves. Though they had gotten off to a rocky start, Applebloom had found herself enjoying this little outing. Plus, the food was good, and she was sure she'd make a mess of herself in due time.
At the dinner table, their biggest differences came out; Diamond Tiara had a light meal that she ate slowly, and Applebloom had a heavy meal that she ate… quickly.
Making room for her wine was an afterthought at the moment.