//------------------------------// // The day after... // Story: Snipping a Diamond // by Starwind Dood //------------------------------// She was running up the hill as fast as her legs would carry her. Diamond Tiara cursed her poor stamina as she galloped as fast as she could to the tree she had promised to meet him at. "I'm almost there," she grunted, picking up a little more speed. "If he lied to me, I'll buck in his cute little buckteeth!" Lingering sentiments of insecurity still drifted through Diamond Tiara's mind, a feeling of dread that filled her with intense fear. She was especially afraid when she found herself day-dreaming about him, but it scared her even more to find herself going forward to meet him regardless. There he was, eyes closed possibly asleep, waiting for her. "He's still here," she sighed contently to herself. "Snips!" Snips lazily opened his eyes, turning around to find Diamond Tiara staring back at him with a nervous smile on her face. "Hey, Tiara. Had fun in detention?" he teased her, eliciting a low growl from the filly. "I'll take that as a no?" Snips nervously chuckled. "Have I ever told you that your eyes are beautiful?" Diamond Tiara almost stumbled over her own hooves. "N-no," she stuttered, "you haven't." "Oh!" Snips flushed red, his entire body heating up. "Well, they are. I like them, yeah." Why didn't I pay attention during poetry class! Diamond Tiara sat herself next to him, her back leaning against the tree. Snips felt her hoof brush his and he swore his mane was on fire. "Diamond Tiara?" "Yeah?" she answered. "How was your day?" he asked. "Terrible!" she chuckled boisterously. "My day was utterly terrible!" "Shady Daze," Diamond Tiara hissed menacingly, a foot away from the object of her enmity. "I'm going to give you five seconds to apologise." "Diamond Tiara, leave me alone," Shady Daze grumbled back. "Five!" "Let me help you with that," Shady Daze chided, ignoring the look of annoyance on the prissy filly's face. "Four, three two, one. Now can you please-" Diamond Tiara spun around, reared up on her front hooves, and bucked Shady Daze's teeth in. A satisfying crunch sound came from the battered colt and a few of his teeth fell to the floor. The entire class and even Cheerilee had witnessed the whole event, many with their mouths hanging agape. Snips, all the way in the back of the class, looked especially worried. "I told you," she snidely commented, almost singing it with contempt. "Diamond Tiara!" Cheerilee screamed. "That is not how we treat each other! You apologies to Shady Daze right now!" Diamond Tiara stared back at Cheerilee blankly. He makes me the laughingstock of the dance, but I get detention? Miss Cheerilee, where were you last night? With a sigh, and even a small smile, Diamond Tiara turned to Shady Daze and apologized with a voice that dripped with sarcasm. "Sorry, Dazey." Cheerilee knew that she didn't mean it, but getting a fake apology was as far as she could go with her power as a school teacher. "After class, detention," she instructed. "Do you understand?" "I do," Diamond Tiara replied as she made her way to her seat. Out of the corner of her eye she could see Silver Spoon with a look of worry spread across her face. "Lunch," she mouthed before turning back to the front of the class. The hours passed and Diamond Tiara was finally able to talk with Silver Spoon alone in their own corner of the schoolyard. Much to Diamond Tiara's relief everyone was avoiding her. Even Silver Spoon was fidgeting around her. Once in their private spot, Silver Spoon opened up on her. "Okay, what was that. I mean, like, I've never ever seen you hit anypony before! Especially not like that!" "It's a long story," Diamond Tiara sighed. "Basically, he tricked me. I got to the dance, and he humiliated me by throwing the punch bowl at me and saying lots of hurtful things." Recalling the events of the previous night filled Diamond Tiara with a plethora of negative emotions. She was angry at Shady Daze, and sad to be made the butt of everyone's joke. She didn't care if she deserved it or not. The pain was still too fresh, but so were her memories of what happened after the dance. "Like, what a total loser!" Silver Spoon yelled. "He deserved that and more for pulling such a stunt!" Silver Spoon noticed her friend's sudden shift in behaviour. She was quiet, and Silver Spoon gasped. "Diamond Tiara, I'm sorry I wasn't there. Can you ever forgive me?" Diamond Tiara smiled back at her. "It's not your fault, Silver," Diamond Tiara sighed. "You don't need to apologies." "I just wish I was there," she sighed. "It must have been really painful." "It was," Diamond Tiara dreamily replied, "but then..." "Then?" Silver Spoon inquired further. "Is there something you're not telling me?" "Well, after getting laughed out of the dance I just started galloping. I eventually found myself at this hill with a tree and then..." she took a deep breath, "Snips appeared." "Snips?" Silver Spoon echoed. "What did that fat little loser do!" "He said some mean things-" "I'll melt that little creep into alloy!" Silver Spoon hissed vehemently. "Wait!" Diamond Tiara pleaded. "Let me finish. He apologized for it, and comforted me." "Snips comforted you?" Silver Spoon asked back, obviously confused. "Snips, short and round geeky Snips, comforted you?" "Yes," Diamond Tiara replied, slightly exasperated to have to say it again, "and it was really nice." "Okay then," Silver Spoon answered back still as confused as ever. A thought cross her mind, and she inched closer to Diamond Tiara, a mischievous smile plastered across her face. "You like Snips, don't you, Diamond Tiara?" It took a great amount of effort to keep from bursting out into laughter. "I-I don't know!" Diamond Tiara snapped back. "I mean, well, I... just get it over with," Diamond Tiara muttered in defeat. "You like Sni-ips, you like Sni-ips!" Silver Spoon chanted as she bounded around Diamond Tiara,who sported a look of utter defeat. "Diamond and Snips sitting in a tree-" "Silver, keep singing and I'll let a certain little runt know about your own little secret." "Just calm down." She continued to laugh, but not out of ridicule. Silver Spoon found it genuinely odd and funny that of all the ponies in the world, Snips would be the one to make Diamond Tiara flustered. "So, care to share the whole thing with me?" "You told her all that!" Snips had never felt so embarrassed. "Yes. She's my best friend in the world, and we tell each other everything. She promised not to go around blabbing to the entire school." "So... you like me?" "I... guess..." Diamond Tiara replied, subconsciously inching closer to the colt. The two stayed together like this in silence, both caught in another world where only they existed, their own little piece of Eden. "I guess I like you," she said again. It was scary for her to say those words. It made her feel too vulnerable, a feeling she never wanted to feel again. "Yeah, I guess I like you too," Snips answered her. Diamond Tiara became light-headed as the blood in her body rushed to her face. She was paralyzed in fear that the moment would slip away, that it might all be a dream too good to wake up from, but then she felt his hoof touch hers again, and kept it there. The warm comforting touch of another being, an all new sensation that she could let herself be filled by. Snips couldn't believe what he was doing. Holding a filly's hoof was one thing, holding Diamond Tiara's was another. No prior event in his life had prepared him for this. He was too afraid to open his mouth and play the fool some more, but he opened his mouth anyway. "So, uh, are we... you know?" "I-I don't know!" Diamond Tiara stammered. "T-this is, like, all new for me okay!" "Yeah, it is for me too." Snips sheepishly rubbed the back of his head with his other hoof. "S-so how was your day?" Diamond Tiara asked, looking in the opposite direction to hide her blush. "Well..." "Wait, what happened!?" Snails yelled out incredulously. "You and Diamond Tiara danced?" "You said to try and befriend her!" Snips retorted. "And you don't need to yell!" "You're yelling too!" "Then let's stop yelling!" Snips yelled as loud as he could before the both quieted down, taking breaths to try and calm both of their nerves. "Alright, I showed up, and at first she was as mean as always, and then we kinda sorta got to talking. Well, I guess, to put it simply..." Snips struggled to find his next words, Snails stare doing little to help. "Diamond Tiara is... fragile." "Didn't see that coming," Snails replied, "but this means that Diamond Tiara won't pick on us anymore, so it worked! Way to go man!" "Easy for you to say! She just bucked Shady Daze's teeth in, like she said! I'm afraid I'm too close to her bad side now. Too close for comfort!" "Yeah, that looked painful eh." The two of them looked back to the schoolyard, trying to find Diamond Tiara who seemed up have up and vanished. "So, now what?" "Everything returns to normal?" Snips shrugged. "We go back to being at the bottom of the barrel, buddy." "Well that sucks," Snails sighed. "Hey, at least you got something out of it," Snips laughed as he grabbed his friend around the shoulder. "Enjoy your dance with Twist?" Snips blushed crimson-red before returning a triumphant smile. "I-I did!" "Then all's well that ends well!" Snips answered him. "Oh, speaking of ends, I need to return Rarity's coat before she ends me!" Snips dreaded the though of showing up at the dramatic mare's house with the tattered, stained and soaked jacket she had offered him for the dance. He had to return it, and it wasn't going to be an easy task. "If you don't see me tomorrow, tell my parents I love 'em." "Alright, I'll tell Diamond Tiara." "S-Snails!" Snips yelled back to shut hip up. "I said parents!" "That's what I said, eh." The school-bell rang to call everyone inside, and Snips and Snails reluctantly complied. Snips couldn't pay attention in class though. The entire time was spent staring at the back of Diamond Tiara's head. Was she any different? he wondered. Does she like me back? Snips dropped his pencil, the thought still fresh in his mind. "I just don't get it!" Snips yelled out loud, realizing too late the circumstances he was in. "Don't get what, Snips?" Cheerilee asked. All eyes were on him, and it was the second most uncomfortable moment in his life. "The lesson?" he lied. "Oh, well then why didn't you say so!" Cheerilee gushed, happily returning to the chalkboard and going over various points Snips knew he couldn't pay attention to. His eyes just kept darting between the clock and the back of Diamond Tiara's head. The bell that signaled the end of school rang, and every filly and colt in the class ran out of the building with typical youthful exuberance, except Snips and Diamond Tiara. He couldn't see her expression, but he knew she was probably staring at the chalkboard with the snideness he mostly knew her for. Snips packed up his things and slowly made his way to the door. "Remember," he heard Diamond Tiara say before he left. "You promised." "I-I know," Snips answered back. "The tree, later today." He galloped off. If Diamond Tiara said anything else he didn't know. He galloped back home, the rag of a coat hanging over the back of a chair pathetically. "This won't end well," he sighed, stuffing the coat into his backpack without a care and running off back into Ponyville. He arrived at Carousel Boutique panting for breath. He nervously knocked on the door, preparing himself for the worst that Rarity had to offer. "Coming!" he heard her sing out. The door swung open on an aura of blue magic. Rarity looked down to greet him, even looking happy about it. "Well hello, Snips. What brings you back to my boutique?" "Oh, uh, I..." Snips opened his backpack and dragged out the remains of the dress-coat. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to ruin it! It just happened!" he pleaded. "Have mercy!" "What?" Rarity flatly stated as she brought the remains of the coat closer to her face. "Oh no, it's ruined! Did I not make it strong enough? I'm terribly sorry!" "What?" It was Snips turn to be confused before shaking his head and coming clean. "I ended up leaving the dance early and, uh, fell in some dirt, and grass, plus it rained." "Well, that's a shame," Rarity sighed. "How about I fix it right up for you, well, if you promise to be more careful with it from now on." "W-what? But, I ruined it! The coat you lent me. Shouldn't you be mad?" "Snips," Rarity giggled, "I gave you this coat as a gift. It's yours to do with as you please. Though, I would prefer if you wouldn't be so careless with it. I put a good amount of effort into this, you know." "What!?" Snips gasped, unable to follow Rarity's logic. "Why would you do that?" "Well, if you'll excuse me for assuming, you looked like you needed one." Rarity was afraid she might have cross a line, but the perplexed expression on Snips' face at least meant she hadn't crossed him. "It may be bad business policy, but if I can cheer up somepony anyway I can, I'll do it. So, why don't you return tomorrow afternoon and I'll have this already for you, okay?" "T-thank you, Miss Rarity!" Snips almost yelled. "I have to go somewhere, right now! If you'll excuse me!" "Oh no, not a—" Before she could finish her sentence, Snips had already slammed the door behind himself, his destination clear in mind. I'm going to cheer her up! One way or another! Snips thought to himself, running as fast as his short legs would let him. After running the whole length of Ponyville, Snips collapsed right next to the tree he had been promised to meet Diamond Tiara at. He didn't know how much longer he had to wait. He only knew he would wait here until Diamond Tiara showed. He promised. "You told Snails?" Diamond Tiara sighed. "You told Silver Spoon, and Snails is my best friend," Snips answered her, still afraid he might have crossed some line and was one step closer to a dentists office. "Are you afraid he's gonna tell everypony?" he asked, slightly depressed. Does she not want to be seen with me? "Yeah, a little," she responded, confirming Snips' worst fears. "I'm afraid everypony will make fun of me again." She couldn't stand the thought of the pain. It was unbearable for her. "Oh," Snips sighed. "So, I guess we're going back to hating each other?" "No!" she yelled defiantly. She could have ended it. She could have buried her new feelings away and save herself the possibilities of pain, but she chose not to. She grabbed Snips' hoof with both of hers, pulling him closer, their sides touching. Snips felt the tightness in her hold, and the trembling emotions in it. "Diamond Tiara?" "I don't want to go back to that," she cried, struggling to keep her emotions inside. "Because everyone hates me, and I hate them, and I hate that!" A tear slid down her face, landing in Snips' hoof. "So, you better promise that you'll be here with me!" Snips felt the weight of the tear on his hoof. It was weight that made him feel heavy and nervous. It was unfamiliar to him, but looking at Diamond Tiara's sincere face he knew what he wanted to say. "I promise." The same words he said to her the other night. They had danced for a long time under the sprinkling rain. Snips' off-beat notes playing in their background, but it eventually came to a stop, and the tired little unicorn would have collapsed to the ground if it wasn't for Diamond Tiara holding it up. "Thanks," she told him. "Your welcome," Snips tiredly replied. It was late, and they both knew they had to get home before their parents started worrying. It was an uncomfortable for both of them as new emotions began to take over. "Well," Snips started, but was cut off. "Can you..." Diamond Tiara looked to the side, as if trying to find the words she wanted in the wind. "Can you... meet me tomorrow after school? Right here?" she asked, her voice wavering in the wind. "Please?" Snips closed his eyes, fatigue settling into himself, and smiled warmly. "I promise."