The Diamond Cutter

by Nova Force


The Dare

The Diamond Cutter

By Nova Force

Chapter 1: The Dare

Two fillies sat together at a table in the backyard of the Ponyville schoolhouse. Although it was lunch time and most ponies ate with their friends, these two avoided socializing with their “lesser” peers. One of the fillies had just accepted a dare from the other that she did not like.

“You want me to ask him to the dance?” Diamond Tiara asked.

Silver Spoon grimaced, “Oh yes, he’s the stallion for you.”

The pink and gray fillies looked across the playground to see two boyish unicorns joking around with each other. One of them was tall and gangly, complete with a dark yellow coat and a lime-green mop-top. His name was Snails. Snips, the one she was now destined to ask to the Sadie Hoofkins Dance, was a shorter, stubbier unicorn. His powder blue coat complemented his tan-colored spiky mane and tail, but not his buck teeth.

Diamond Tiara shuddered. I think I’m going to hurl. “Oh, c’mon, you can’t be serious. Please pick somepony else.”

Her best friend shook her head. “Sorry, you accepted the dare and now you’re stuck.”

She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. “Fine. I’ll ask him this weekend.”

Silver Spoon raised her hoof. “I don’t think so! You have to do it when school gets out, and I have to watch to make sure you follow through.”

“Aw, come on!” I guess there’s no weaseling out of this one.

The ringing of the bell announced that lunch was over. Several fillies and colts scurried back to class. Diamond Tiara waited to go inside so she could observe Snips and Snails. The two unicorns marched toward the schoolhouse, but while they were walking Snails suddenly stopped to smell a flower in the ground. Snips came up from behind, but he had his head turned. He collided with his best friend and caused them both to fall onto each other.

Silver Spoon elbowed Diamond Tiara’s side, “What a heart throb!” She held her head high and laughed as she trotted back to class.

Diamond Tiara wore a scowl on her face as she followed her friend. This has got to be the worst day of my life. She couldn’t tell which feeling was worse: the dread of asking Snips to the Sadie Hoofkins Dance, or the regret of suggesting that she and Silver Spoon play ‘Truth or Dare’. Right now, it didn’t matter because she was downright miserable.

She made her way to her next class, Art, which happened to be her favorite. Most ponies didn’t realize that Diamond Tiara was quite an illustrator. She often doodled in class, not because she was a bad student, which most ponies assumed, but because she was envisioning her next private project. She had once hoped to feature her artwork in the school paper, the Foal Free Press, when she was the editor-in-chief. That dream went flying out the window when she was stripped of her position.

After agreeing to her dare, she became aware of the classmates in her Art class. Two ponies in particular stood out: Silver Spoon and, most regrettably, Snips. The ponies sat at their easels with canvas waiting for their teacher. Some had already begun working on their projects.

When Diamond Tiara got to her easel, she looked at her incomplete painting of a hill. The sky was still missing some clouds, but the trees had their leaves. She surveyed the paint bottles she had available until her concentration was interrupted.

“Hey, that’s looking pretty good, Diamond,” said a scratchy voice.

“What?” She whipped around to see Snips staring at her painting. His head tilted as he studied her work.

“Yeah, the sky is really coming along. I also love how the leaves on your trees blend into each other so you can’t really tell where one starts and ends. Very cool.”

“Y-you really like it?” A little blush appeared on her face.

“Totally! I can’t wait to see it when it’s done,” he said. No matter how hard she tried, Diamond Tiara could not detect any sarcasm.

She saw, however, Silver Spoon trying to get her attention by leaning from her easel across the room. Once the two fillies made eye contact, Silver Spoon smirked and then made obnoxious kissing faces at her.

Diamond Tiara’s face hardened. She glared at Snips. “Yes, well, nopony asked you.”

Snips stepped back at her sharp remark. He walked to his easel puzzled by her sudden harshness.

Diamond Tiara stared blankly as she watched Snips take his seat. Wow, that’s the first time somepony’s noticed my leaves like that. She smiled in spite of herself.

The school bell rang again; Art class had officially begun. Cheerilee walked in through the door wearing a smock and ready to teach. “Hello, my wonderful students! Are you ready to make some art?” She stood at the front of the classroom. “We’re not going to be covering any new material today because I want to give you time to work on your projects.”

Several of the students’ expressions lit up at the prospect of having a free period.

Cheerliee deflated their hopes, “That does not mean this is a study hall. I’ll be coming around to check on each of your projects to see how far along you are. So please use this time wisely.”

After the spirits of some students sank, they continued to work on their projects. Diamond Tiara looked at her painting and evaluated her options. I think I’ll add clouds today. She dipped her brush into the white blob of paint on her palette. As she collected the proper amount of white, she couldn’t help but overhear Cheerilee talking with Snips.

“Let’s see how you’re coming along.” She turned his work toward her and looked bewildered. “Oh, my, what do we have here?”

Her stared at her hopefully. “It’s supposed to be a rocket ship that looks like a dragon. Pretty cool, huh? The engines are supposed to be its wings and the front door is the mouth. That way, when you walk in it looks like you’re being eaten! Tell me you’ve never wanted to see one of these babies before.”

Cheerilee smiled. “You have a terrific imagination, my little pony. I would suggest using the round bristle brush for filling in the ship’s paneling, which I think you’re trying to make look like the dragon’s scales?”

Snips hopped. “Yeah! That’s exactly it!”

Diamond Tiara turned around to the counter hoping to find the jar that had all the brushes. Round bristle brush? That actually might work for my clouds. Before getting up to collect the brush she needed, a small paper airplane lodged itself in the back of her mane. She wheeled around to see where it came from, but all her classmates were intently focused on their own artwork and Cheerilee had her back turned. When she unraveled the paper, however, it became obvious who had thrown it.

Inside was a colored-pencil sketch of two crudely drawn ponies: one pink, the other blue. Together they stood in the center of a large heart. The navy blue pony wore what had to have been a tuxedo and top-hat, while the pink one was holding flowers and wearing a white dress. Scrawled at the bottom of the paper in capital letters was the sentence “I FOUND YOUR SPECIAL SOMEPONY!”

Diamond Tiara crumpled up the paper and began shooting daggers at Silver Spoon. The gray filly’s body was shaking up and down, as if she were trying to stop laughing.

Before she had the chance to retaliate, Cheerilee came from behind her easel. “May I see your project, Diamond Tiara?”

The pink filly gritted her teeth, “Yes, ma’am.”

“Let’s have a look… oh yes.” Cheerilee paused and admired what she was seeing. “You’re doing so many wonderful things in this, Diamond. The splatter coloring on your trees’ leaves is working beautifully. Snips was right.”

Diamond Tiara’s head snapped back. “Snips was what? He told you about this?”

Her teacher nodded. “Yes, he’s doing something similar in his own project and he cited your technique as his inspiration. Now I can see why.”

“Oh.” She stood confused. My technique was his inspiration?

The rest of the class period carried on, though for Diamond Tiara it was time spent fretting over how to ask Snips to the dance. Somewhere in the chaos of her mind was an echo of Cheerilee’s voice telling her how much Snips enjoyed her work, immediately followed by the image of Snips when he openly admired her tree leaves. Despite the brevity of his words, they carried with them a league of flattery.

Before long, the bell rang again. Like clockwork, all the ponies began putting away their materials and gathering their bags. Silver Spoon was the first pony out the door, but she waited out in the hall for Diamond Tiara.

“What are you doing?” the pink filly said coming out of the classroom.

“I’m holding your hooves to the fire.” Silver Spoon said with a sly grin. She then jutted her head forward. “Here he comes.”

Snips trotted through the doorway. He glanced over at the two fillies as he passed by. His face wrenched at the sight of Silver Spoon, but Diamond Tiara could have sworn that she saw him smile a little when he made eye contact with her.

Once he was out of earshot, Silver Spoon nudged her side. “Well, what are you waiting for? You have to ask him!”

Diamond Tiara took a step forward, but then froze. “What if I don’t?”

Silver Spoon then dropped the bomb that spelled doom for every school-aged pony. “Then I’m not going to invite you to my birthday party.”

As far as Diamond Tiara was concerned, those words could have been replaced with “Then the world is going to end.” Being excluded from a birthday party meant being uncool, and uncool ponies don’t achieve much in their lives. Birthday parties were places to be seen and get noticed by the other popular ponies. These kinds of ponies can offer connections to other ponies with high social status. If she played her cards right, Diamond Tiara could market herself and network all the way to the city with the best reputation in Equestria, Canterlot.

Although a date with Snips to the Sadie Hoofkins Dance also threatened to ruin her image, she could probably manage the situation. There’s no way to do damage control when you’re not invited to a party. With a hard gulp, she accepted her fate.

She galloped down the hallway after Snips. “Hey! You!”

He turned around. “Hey Diamond, what is it?”

She adopted a business-like tone. “Listen, Snips. The Sadie Hoofkins Dance is coming up in a little over a week.”

He wore a blank face. “And?”

The strength in Diamond Tiara’s knees began to waver. She winced when she sized him up from horn to hoof. At least he’s got his Cutie Mark. Her tone turned forceful. “And I’ve decided that you’re going to be my date for that dance. You’re going to pick me up, treat me like royalty, and give me a magical evening on the dance floor.”

As she was talking, she leaned over until she towered above him. “Do I make myself clear?”

There was an eerie silence. Snips did not speak. Instead, he rapidly blinked as he tried to process what just happened. For being something of a simpleton, he was impossible to read.

Diamond Tiara backed away slowly when he did not immediately answer her. A nasty voice crept into her head. What if he says “no”? Could this slime actually reject a princess like me?

A more confident voice conquered her doubt: What are you saying? You’re the daughter of Filthy Rich. No pony rejects you.

Sure enough, Snips accepted. “Okay! That sounds like a lot of fun!”

This cannot be happening to me. “Good. Under no circumstances are you allowed to tell anypony about this. Do you understand?”

“Um, but won’t everypony see us together at the dance?”

Diamond Tiara had no answer. The weight of his logic overpowered any attempt at forming a counter-argument. “Yes, well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there. Until then, you don’t say a word to anypony. Not even ‘Slugs’ or whatever his name is.”

One of his large eyebrows arched. “Snails? My best friend?”

She nodded. “Yes, that one. Not even him, or do I need to repeat myself?”

Snips shook his head. “No ma’am. I’ll gladly take you to the Sadie Hoofkins Dance, and I won’t tell a soul.”

Her eyes narrowed. “You better not, or it’s all off. Got it?”

“Yes ma’am.” A gleeful smile split across his face.

Not wanting to tolerate his presence a second longer, she finished the conversation. “Good. Now get out of my sight.”

With that, Snips trotted along with an extra skip in his step wearing a dopey grin on his face. Once he exited the schoolhouse, Diamond Tiara had a moment to herself. Is this really what my life has come to? I’m now going to the Sadie Hoofkins Dance with an insect? This is going to be a headache to manage. At least he seems smart enough to follow orders.

Silver Spoon came up from behind. “I must say, Diamond, I am impressed! I didn’t think you’d follow through!”

Diamond Tiara wiped away the sweat on her forehead. “Yeah, well consider me invited to your birthday party now.”

Her best friend dipped her head. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Almost as if to herself, Diamond Tiara said, “I can’t believe I’m actually going through with this.”

“Me neither! I almost feel bad for you. He’s so sketchy. I heard him prattling on to Miss Cheerilee about how much he liked your painting. He was so weird about it.”

All of Diamond Tiara’s thoughts came to a grinding halt. “Really, what did he say? I wonder if he really meant it.”

“I’ll say! The way he talked about your leaves, or whatever, made him sound like a total creeper.”

Her cheeks reddened. “He liked my leaves that much?”

“I know, what a weirdo. But, hey, at least he’s not a blank flank, right?”

“Yeah… right…”

A quiet voice inside Diamond Tiara tried to give her permission to feel complimented by Snips. No pony forced him to notice her painting; he did it on his own. There was nothing he wanted in return either. No matter how she looked at it, he must have praised her painting just to be nice. Even the tiniest drop of recognition can unleash a flood of validation.

Later that night, after Ponyville had gone to bed, Diamond Tiara lay in her bed in a deep sleep. At first she was motionless, but after a few minutes she began to twitch. She dreamed that she was standing on the same hill in her painting. Everything was perfect, except the sky was missing its clouds. She searched the area for her paintbrush, but it was nowhere to be found. The sky seemed to stare down at her and beg for some clouds.

After she could not find her brush, she sat on the hill in defeat. Diamond Tiara gazed at the sky. “I’m sorry I can’t complete you.” Tears welled up in her eyes.

A rattling noise came from the trees. She spun around to see the source, and out from the leaves jumped a little unicorn. When he landed, he trotted up the hill to meet her. It was Snips! In his mouth was her paintbrush. “Here you go!” He dropped the brush at her hooves and turned his attention to the sky. “I can’t wait to see it when it’s done!”

Diamond Tiara took her brush. “Really? You like it?”

He looked back at her and smiled with his buck teeth. “I really do.”

The image of Snips was wiped away and replaced with Diamond Tiara’s bedroom. She sat upright in her canopy bed and checked herself. She was perfectly intact, but an unsettling question bounced around in her head.

Sweet merciful Celestia, do I like Snips?