Farm Diamond
Chapter 1
COULD THE CLOCK POSSIBLY move any slower?
It seemed like forever before class would finally end. Cheerilee’s lesson had long since been tuned out due to sheer boredom on her part. Every last word she said came in through one ear and out the other. She was talking to the class about history or something, though Diamond Tiara could not have been bothered to find out which. The filly’s mind was far too occupied, wandering to wherever it was she would think about most of the time, and right now, she didn’t care.
Her head resting in her hoof, Diamond struggled to stay awake though much of the lecture. Her eyelids were heavy and she was yawning much deeper with each passing minute. At one point, she found herself falling asleep and immediately woke herself up before having to be called on by Cheerilee. Nothing would be more embarrassing in her mind than being called out in front of the entire class for sleeping. At least that was what she figured.
To her right was Applebloom, sitting at her desk and eagerly jotting the notes down in her notebook. She was such a nerd as the pink earth pony thought. To her left, however, was an empty seat. Normally it would be occupied by Silver Spoon. The two ponies would pass notes around and talk about anything one thought important that the other should know about. But now she was home sick from a sudden outbreak of pony-pox that happened to be spreading across the Kingdom. It had caught many ponies off-guard in the first stages.
She rarely ever got a chance to visit her friend. Her Mom was obviously the worrying type, though she hadn’t needed to see her to know that she was being confined to her bed. At some times, Tiara got the opportunity to see Silver Spoon on the weekends.
But now Diamond Tiara was all alone and outnumbered by Applebloom and her Cutie Mark Crusader friends three-to-one, literally; though she was smart in these types of situations. From where she stood, she knew not to pick a fight, especially one that she had no chance of winning. It’d be better to have a friend to back her up than going it alone, so for now the only thing she could do was wait until Silver Spoon returned, which also meant she’d have to endure being along for who knew how long.
She was brought out of her thoughts when a teaching stick smacked the chalkboard. The shock from it had woken her up some, thankfully. She looked up. On it were algebra equations. Some were complicated for her drowsy mind, primarily due to the fact that she outright ignored pretty much everything that’d been taught so far.
“Okay, class,” Cheerilee announced, “Who here can tell me the answer to this equation?”
There was an air of silence floating amongst the class. Diamond Tiara knew from experience that if some pony didn’t answer, then Cheerilee would end up calling out one of the sutdents instead. This realisation made the filly slouch in her seat to avoid being seen.
To her relief, somepony in the back ended up raising their hoof, which was accompanied by them saying, “I know it! I know it!” over and over until they were finally called on.
“Yes, Twist?”
Of course, Diamond Tiara thought.
Twist gave the answer: “Is it ninety-five?”
“Correct!” Cheerilee nodded. “When doing this particular equation, you always have to remember that the variables can be substituted by the numbers, and then…”
Her words were drowned out yet again. Diamond Tiara looked up at the clock. There was just five more minutes left before class ended, but why did it seem more like ten to her? Why was time moving so slowly all of a sudden? It was useless to try and stay awake now.
Three minutes left. Twice now she had almost fallen asleep. She needed to wait until the final bell and then she’d be home free. Unfortunately, that hadn’t happened for her. At the final minute, her head hit the desk and she was out cold.
In what seemed like a few mere seconds, she was startled awake when the giant bell atop the school house rang, blaring across the open sky. It was loud, and she never liked that. After slowing down her heart pace, she made a move to gather her supplies before heading for the door. She made a note to visit Silver Spoon again today after not seeing her for a week and a half.
“Remember, class,” Cheerilee called out, “Wee’ll be having a test on the materials we’ve learned this week. Make sure to study!”
A test…? Darn it, Tiara thought to herself. She groaned. After sleeping in class for the past couple of weeks, she missed everything Cheerilee’d taught her. I should’ve stayed awake. But it’s not my fault. I can’t help it if I’m bored all the time.
Trotting out into the open, she was immediately greeted with the sun in her face and the light spring breeze brushing against her coat. Another school day passed, but it was bitter sweet. There was no Silver Spoon to enjoy the rest of her day with. What was there, then? She could head to Sugarcube Corner for a quick sugar-coated treat, but then she’d have to endure Pinkie Pie and her unknowable antics. Maybe she could go for a walk around town.
She took a quick second to think about it. Pony-pox or no pony-pox… A quick visit to Silver Spoon wouldn’t hurt anypony. As she began to take off, she could hear the Cutie Mark Crusaders not too far off, discussing more ideas on how they could earn their cutie marks. Their dedication to this task was admirable, but they had been going on this this for two years. Sooner or later, they had to admit defeat.
She listened attentively to what they said. One thing that got her was Scootaloo’s suggestion for Cutie Mark Crusaders Karaoke Singers. The idea alone made her chuckle.
“Are you three serious? Karaoke Singers…?” Diamond Tiara scoffed. “Can’t you do something a little more productive, and less
?”
Scootaloo snapped, “The only thing annoying here is you.”
“Oh please…” Diamond Tiara waved a hoof, “Listening to you sing will be like cat scratching a chalkboard.”
“Opalescence only did that once,” Sweetie Belle rebutted, referencing back to last month’s pet day. The cat had something against everypony in class. That or it was genuinely a pain in the rear.
Tiara, once again, scoffed. “I rest my case.” She started to trot off until another voice joined in on the argument.
“Don’t you talk to m’ah friends like that, you spoiled brat.” Applebloom stood vigilantly, glaring at the lavender-maned filly in front of her. In moments, the two were in each other’s faces.
“I can do whatever I want, blank-flank,” Diamond Tiara snapped back, poking the yellow filly in her chest. While Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle did manage to throw some insults in in defense of their friend, much of the argument was done between Applebloom and Diamond Tiara, and there was no sign of it letting up.
They began hurling nasty comments at each other which only got worse from thereon. Some could have been defined as “low-blows,” before the arguments devolved into pushing and shoving, and finally, as the other Crusaders backed away, descending into anarchy. Hooves began to fly back and forth. They traded violent blows with each other that Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo could only cringe at.
Cheerilee hurried out of the school house after hearing the commotion to be greeted to the sight of two fillies fighting in the dirt. “Girls!” she called their attention.
The fighting stopped immediately. The two girls looked up dejectedly at their disappointed teacher and stood at attention. They had taken their toll on each other in the brief minutes that passed. Part of Applebloom’s bow was torn and her mane and tail dirtied and ruffled up. Top soil had gotten into Diamond’s coat and mane, though somehow, she managed to keep her tiara positioned neatly atop her head despite rolling around on the ground.
“I want you two inside, now,” Cheerilee ordered.
Reluctantly, they backtracked into the school house. Tiara stayed silent the entire time, not even glancing at Applebloom. The two were seated at their desks while the magenta earth pony lectured them on behavior, though Diamond tried to look as interested as possible as not to get any worse punishment that they might receive.
“I’m serious, girls,” Cheerilee said, “This has gone on long enough. How long do you expect to keep fighting each other before you can get along?”
“As soon as she learns to leave us alone,” Applebloom replied. Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes in response at the answer.
Cheerilee face-hoofed. “Honestly, girls, I’m at my wit’s end. I don’t know what to do with you. I’ve tried everything I could to get you to stop and fighting, but it looks like that wasn’t enough. So I want you sit here and think about things for a while.”
At this, they groaned. To Tiara, this was worse than torture.
Being forced to stay after school for detention was not how she wanted to spend part of her day. It was finally over and done with, though, so that was the bright side to things. She was also away from Applebloom and her friends—at least until tomorrow, but she wouldn’t have to deal with it until then. Right now, however, she was primarily focused on visiting Silver Spoon.
Eventually arriving at her house—a two-floored building akin to those in the suburbs—she knocked on the door and waited patiently until a light gray earth pony mare answered. “Hi, Miss Spoon. Is Silver Spoon awake?”
“I don’t know if you want to see her. She’s still very sick,” replied Silver Spoon’s mom. “I wouldn’t want you catching the same thing.”
“Please? I haven’t seen her in days!” Tiara begged. She looked up at her with blue puppy dog eyes, which always looked adorable for a filly.
Miss Spoon was reluctant, but as she looked down at Diamond Tiara, she couldn’t refuse. “Alright, you can come in. But please be careful. The last thing I want you to catch is the pony-pox.”
Without haste, Diamond Tiara cantered inside. Trotting through the hallways and up the stairs, she arrived at Silver Spoon’s room. The filly was lying in her bed. She had pinkish-red blotches across her body and was staring at the ceiling with an extremely bored expression etched onto her face.
“How it’s going, Silly?” Tiara greeted her.
Silver Spoon looked over and smiled, nearly about to break out into a laugh. “I told you to stop calling me that.”
Diamond returned a smiled. “It’s been too long. How are you doing?”
“The itching finally stopped, so I think I’m starting to make a recovery. What about you and school? What happened while I was gone?”
Tiara thought it over. I fell asleep in class, got into a fight before getting detention? “Nothing too special,” she said. “It’s boring there without you but I’m managing. I really hope you can get well soon.”
“Me too, but I don’t think it’ll be long,” said Silver.
Tiara nodded. “Hopefully…” She’d love nothing more than for her friend to come back. A brief silence passed, afterwards. “Well, okay then. I just wanted to stop by and say hi. I suppose I’ll see you later.” She headed for the door. “Bye, Silver Spoon.”
It quickly seemed like the day was beginning to go by. Between having to spend it in detention, with Silver Spoon, and the rest just casually trotting around Ponyville to pass the time, it was slightly expected. She arrived home to a manour in the northern part of Ponyville. She trotted inside, placing her saddle bag by the front door.
Without Silver Spoon, everything had gotten dull quickly, though she would find a way to enjoy the rest of her day, somehow.
The hallways of the house were normally kept neat and tidy. Pictures of Diamond Tiara and her dad hung on the walls as well as the vases with various assortments of flowers decorating the place. She soon passed by the kitchen and noticed a turquoise-green unicorn mare. She seemed to be reading something written on a piece of paper. She noticed Diamond Tiara and promptly hid it, acting like nothing was wrong.
“Hey, DT,” she greeted, “You’re home later than usual.”
The filly nodded. “Well, I had to stay after school, and then I went over to visit Silver Spoon.”
The unicorn tilted her head. “Why’d you have to stay after?” The look on Tiara’s face told her the answer, and also told her to change the subject. “How about I fix up a grilled cheese sandwich? Will that make anything better? And hopefully steer us from whatever conversation I was about to go to?”
Nodding, Tiara took a seat at the table as she waited. Steam rose from the stove in front of the unicorn, and soon the small of butter, melted cheese, and crispy bread floated over towards the filly. It was making her stomach growl and she could feel her mouth behind to water at the small. Grilled cheese sandwiches were her favourite snack.
Soon a plate with the delicious food was placed in front of Diamond, and she immediately began digging in. The kitchen grew quiet. She looked up to see the unicorn baring a forlorn look.
“Is everything okay, Star Dust?” asked Tiara.
“Well, there is something wrong,” replied the unicorn. It looked like she was contemplating on saying anything. “You see—”
“Hold that thought for one minute,” Tiara interrupted, finishing off the last of her grilled cheese. “Is my Dad here?”
“Yeah, he’s in his office. But I really think you should—”
Star Dust never had a chance to finish her sentence as Diamond Tiara cantered out of the kitchen and down the hall. She could hear echoes of two stallions’ voices, one of them being her father’s. She rarely had any time to spend with her father since he was working most of the time. It was never something she looked forward to, but it made it all the more special whenever he had free time.
She arrived at the office to find her dad, Filthy Rich, along with another stallion she recognised.
“Diamond, uh, it’s nice to see you!” Filthy Rich sounded a tad nervous when he greeted his daughter, but Tiara paid it no mind. “Cash Banks, I’m sure you remember my daughter.”
“Of course! I remember her when she was a little, little filly,” said the stallion. “She’s beginning to look a lot like her Mom.”
“What are you doing here, Mister Banks?” asked Tiara.
The stallion answered, doubtfully, “Well, I was in town and there was an urgent matter I needed to inform your father about.”
Diamond tilted her head. “Like what?”
“He can tell you!”
Filthy Rich glared at Banks before turning to Tiara. “You see, Honey, something’s happened with the markets. And well… it turns out we’re broke.”
Diamond Tiara blinked. “What?”
“It’s true,” Cash Banks admitted, “It turns out the investments your dad made weren’t exactly that stable as we thought. And by that, I mean the ponies running them were extremely ‘incompetent’.”
“Most of the stuff was counterfeit; illegal!” It was obvious that Filthy Rich seemed furious with what was happening, seeing as he lost over 90% of his money on useless goods.
“You can find some way to fix it, can you?” asked Diamond.
There was no immediate response. It was obvious that Filthy Rich did not like the situation he was thrown in. He must have been thinking about this for a while. “I have to head over to Manehattan to get things sorted out. It would have to take a couple weeks at the most.”
“Trust me, Diamond, you're dad's an expert. I'm sure we'll figure something out,” said Cash.
“I only hope we can fix this before it's too late,” said Filthy Rich, “In the meantime, I’m leaving you with a group of good ponies who’ll watch after you while I’m gone.”
Tiara eyed her father. “And who might that be?” she asked.
Filthy Rich knocked on the red barn doors and waited for somepony to answer. Diamond Tiara stood next to him, her saddle bag and suitcase packed set nearby. Although standing here in front of the home of the pony she despised the most wasn’t exactly what the filly wanted, this was more of a force measure than voluntary thanks to her father.
“Do I really have to be here?” She whined and moped, hoping to at least nag him into reconsidering his option. It was all, however, in a futile attempt. “Why can’t I stay over at Silver Spoon’s place?”
“From what I understand, Silver Spoon still has the pony-pox,” replied Filthy Rich, “And besides, the Apple Family is one of the few ponies in town whom I trust with the fullest extent. You’ll also have a chance to learn some humility from them, something you’ve been lacking quite a bit lately.”
Diamond Tiara scoffed, “More like humiliation. I cannot stay, Dad. Not after the fight I had with Applebloom at school.”
“All the more reason for you to stay,” said Rich, “Miss Cheerilee told me about the way you two act, and hopefully, this method can be a way for you to learn to at least tolerate each other’s presence.”
Tiara groaned in protest, but she knew once her Dad made up his mind, there was no making him turn back. Sometimes she thought he would canter right up into the gates of Tartarus if he wanted to. The door finally opened, answered by none other than Big Macintosh. The red, big workpony’s view shifted between the two standing in front of him.
“Hello there, Big Mac,” said Filthy Rich, “I’m leaving for Manehattan in just a few minutes to fix a little jam I’ve seem to have gotten myself in, and I was wondering if you could watch over my little Diamond Tiara while I was away. I know this must seem short notice, but I’m sure you can handle it, right? It would only be for a couple weeks, tops. What do you say?”
Big Mac glanced from Filthy Rich down to the pink earth pony standing in front of him. He nodded. “Eeyup.”
“You will? Oh, thank you. I promise I’ll pay you the amount you deserve when I return. Just… make sure she stays out of trouble.”
Big Macintosh nodded again as Filthy Rich departed from Sweet Apple Acres. He glanced down at Diamond Tiara. The filly didn’t look too happy about being here, but something told him it was because her father had forced her. He had known for some time about the multiple “disagreements” she and Applebloom experienced over the years, but it’d be out of character for him to simply turn her away.
Tiara looked surprised as the big, red pony invited her in. She trotted into the Apple Family home. It was… cozy, she had to admit. Much of the furniture inside had pictures of apples on it. Talk about obsession, she thought.
She turned around as Big Macintosh brought her suitcase in. “Thanks, I guess.” She tossed him a gold bit. It landed in the stallion’s hoof, but he placed it down on the table next to him, uninterested.
Diamond rolled her eyes and continued on to explore the house. In the living room, asleep in a rocking chair, was Granny Smith. She could feel a large amount of rage build inside her the moment she laid eyes on the elder mare, as this was the same pony who caused her humiliation during Family Appreciation Day.
Although she had some words to say, she had to hold herself back. She was always told to respect the owners of any residence, even if it was the very last place she wanted to be, and saying anything she’d regret would get her on the bad side of the Apple Family. That was something she couldn’t afford happening to her.
“Finally! M’ah hooves were get’n sore!” Applejack cantered into her home and placed her Stetson on a rack nearby. “Hey, Granny Smith, what’s for dinner? I’m starv’n!” She trotted into the living room, and aside from Granny Smith, she noticed their new guest resting in the middle of the floor reading a magazine. “Hey, Diamond Tiara… What brings you here?”
Tiara answered, “I’d rather not talk about it.”
Big Macintosh entered the room and whispered to Applejack, telling her of the filly’s dilemma. “Oh my… Are you serious?” She received a nod in return.
She glanced over at Tiara, “Well you’re welcome to stay here as long as your Dad’s outta town. Granny Smith should be fix’n up some dinner real soon.”
Tiara looked over at the sleeping olive green mare in the rocking chair. She was sound asleep, snoring as her chair rocked back and forth. “That might be a while,” she muttered.
Her attention was bought when the front door creaked open again. She knew there were only four ponies who lived at Sweet Apple Acres as far as she knew; the only other Apple Family member was— Oh no…
“Hi, everypony…” Applebloom cantered into the living room. “Sorry I’m late, ya’ll. Scootaloo, Sweetie Belle, and I tried to get our cutie marks—” she stopped dead silent when her eyes laid on Diamond Tiara. “What are you do’n here?”
“Now Applebloom,” Applejack tried to calm her sister down and keep a fight from starting up between the two fillies, but to no real avail. Tiara and Applebloom got in each other’s faces.
Name calling flared back and forth between them: “Blank-flank,” “spoiled rich brat,” “Stupid countryside hayseed”.
“Enough!” Applejack yelled, breaking up the argument. She and Big Macintosh separated the girls before any violence broke out. “Listen, Applebloom. Diamond is here because, apparently, her dad’s business has going south.”
“Sure, just tell anypony,” Diamond retorted.
A.J. ignored her. “So in the meantime, while he’s up in Manehatten sort’n things out, she’ll be stay’n here with us.”
“What?” Applebloom was obviously shocked, seeing as the same pony who had been terrorizing her for some time was now staying in her home. “Why can’t she stay somewhere else?”
“It’s only gonna be for a couple weeks at the most,” said Applejack, “The least we can do is treat her as a guest here until her dad gets back.”
“But I don’t want her here! Not after that fight we had earlier.”
“A fight? Really?” Applejack face-hoofed. She never expected them to hate each other this much. Obviously, trying to get these two to get along was going to be difficult. “Alright, I don’t care if ya’ll like each other ‘r not, she’s stay’n.
Applebloom looked up at her sister. “But…”
“No buts. “I’m not gonna have any fights or yell’n at as long as she’s here. That goes double for you, little lady…” she pointed an accusing hoof over at Diamond Tiara. “Ya’ll understand?”
Applebloom and Tiara glared at each other. Sighing and ears drooping to the sides of their heads, they responded: “Fine…”