A shower of muddy water splashed up as the pale purple filly fell backwards into one of the many puddles scattered around the rain soaked playground of Ponyville Elementary. Diamond Tiara watched as Dinky’s hooves scrambled to find purchase on the slick ground, tears threatening to spill from the corners of her eyes and lip bit firmly between her front teeth. Tiara chuckled at the sight, hearing Silver Spoon chime in from behind with her own laughter a second later, the sound tainted with a slight hesitation as always.
Embarrassment reddened the prone filly’s cheeks as she worked to right herself. Her voice caught in her throat as she tried to speak. She was clearly fighting the urge to cry as she looked up at her tormentors. “I’m sorry, Diamond Tiara. I just wanted to know if we could share your umbrella on the walk home. I’m sorry,” she said shakily.
Diamond Tiara’s eyes softened for an imperceptible moment before the characteristic sneer replaced itself on her features. Apologetic sadness was not one of the reactions to being bullied she was accustomed to, but it hardly mattered. She scanned the playground as her prey finally found her feet and begun fruitlessly shaking the mud from her drenched coat. Two dozen sets of eyes were now morbidly drawn to the confrontation playing out at the edge of the schoolyard. Diamond Tiara smiled, satisfied that she had an audience large enough to make a proper spectacle. She looked back down to the smaller unicorn filly before her.
Dinky Doo; she had sat two seats behind Diamond Tiara ever since she had joined Miss. Cheerilee's class. A tender and quiet little filly, she had always attracted more than her share of negative attention; more than just from Silver Spoon and herself. Public school was not for the faint of heart after all. Diamond Tiara knew, however, that some of her classmates had eased up on the purple unicorn as of late, ever since her dad had run out on her family. A timid little filly that was being raised by a single mother who now just scraped by in her low-paying job as a mailmare; their dynamic was not a common thing in the traditional and tight knit community of Ponyville and most of the other children had instinctually known to lay off their usual regime of teasing and exclusion. Some had even begun to begrudgingly associate with the filly, no doubt forced by their parents to spend time with the young unicorn. Diamond Tiara signed inwardly. Dinky definitely needed at least one real friend.
Diamond Tiara did not have that luxury, though she could not help but respect Dinky. The way she kept going after being the subject of schoolyard jokes and ridicule. The way she kept going after her father left without explanation. After all that, she still came to school every day with a smile on her face. Diamond Tiara mentally steeled herself for what was to come.
This was not going to be fun.
“This is going to be fun,” Diamond Tiara said as she turned to Silver Spoon, a cruel smile growing on her lips.
Hesitation briefly flashed across Silver Spoon’s face before her mouth formed a menacing grin to match her friend’s infectious sneer. “Heh Heh, totally Di,” she replied, voice now free of any uncertainty as she followed Diamond Tiara’s lead. Tiara felt herself fall into the familiar persona as she looked back toward the reddening Dinky.
“Just who are you anyway?” She snarled as she made a show of flattening the wrinkles that had appeared on her raincoat when she had shoved the other pony.
“I-I’m D-Dinky, from … from class. I’m real sorry if I ruined your coat Diamond Tiara, honest.” Dinky said, continuing the fight to regain her composure. A fight she was losing.
“Mhmm, and just what makes you think you're good enough to talk to us, much less share my umbrella?” Diamond Tiara raised her voice theatrically as she spoke, addressing the silent audience of classmates as much as Dinky herself. She waved the gem encrusted umbrella attached to her saddle back and forth as if to emphasize the ridiculousness of the notion.
“I … I just thought, since we all walk the same way …” Dinky’s trailed off as she cast her gaze downward with a sniffle.
Emboldened by her friend’s attitude, Silver Spoon stepped forward as well. “Aww, look everypony! I think little Dinky is gonna cry!” she said, her tone full of mocking venom. Silver Spoon looked over to Diamond Tiara, pride clear on her face.
Diamond Tiara nodded her approval and was rewarded when a bright smile lit up her friend’s features. Tiara felt her heart lighten for a moment at the sight before she turned back to the teary eyed unicorn before her. She took a deep breath, preparing for what was to come.
Even with all her practice, it was difficult to predict how a pony was going to react to this kind of confrontation. Most times ponies would try to laugh it off, attempting to save face as they chuckled at their own expense. This has been the most common response as it usually diffuses the situation and allows the poor foals to escape by sacrificing some of their pride. Sometimes the ponies would get angry, shouting back at her, trying to return the abuse. They rarely tried this anymore as Tiara was well known to be gifted with a quick and scathing tongue. There have been times when the communal tension of the school ponies had reached an apex and they have mobbed together against her in defense of their fellow classmates. In these cases, Diamond Tiara would lead Silver Spoon in a strategic retreat, usually muttering something demeaning about the lower classes not knowing their place. Her victories in these cases were not as obvious as the others, but no less complete. In some rare instances, the verbal stand-offs have resulted in violence. Diamond Tiara had always been quick to play the victim as soon as Miss Cheerilee arrived, denouncing her attacker as a savage ruffian. In the end, even this helped serve her cause. Seeing Dinky collect herself enough to find her words, Tiara exhaled, wit sharpened and at the ready.
“Why?” Dinky simply asked in an unsteady voice as she sniffed back her tears.
Diamond Tiara’s brow furrowed at the question. Where was the quick anger? The awkward laughter? The hasty retreat? Dinky wasn’t properly acting out her role and Tiara was, for the first time since the beginning, unsure how to proceed. A spark of real anger flared behind her facade. This was her show, and she needed to get it back on track.
“What are you talking about, you loser? Why what?” The annoyance she felt added an edge to her words even beyond her usual condescending tone.
Dinky’s head rose till she held Diamond Tiara’s gaze with her own; a quiet moment when cold blue met teary yellow. Then she asked, “ … Why are you being so … mean to me?”
The sneer on Tiara’s face melted away. Dinky’s voice was free of rage. Free of shame. Free even of accusation. The only thing colouring her question was a sadness and an honesty which completely disarmed Diamond Tiara. This wasn’t right. She stood looking at the soaking wet filly as she struggled against tears that Tiara herself had caused while waiting for her answer.
Why?
For the first time since the beginning, Diamond Tiara felt her eyes burn with tears as memories began to rise unbidden to her mind. Tiara couldn’t break her gaze away from her victim's. Dinky was now silent, but Tiara could still see her eyes pleading, asking her question. Why? Why does she do this? Why does she pick on everypony? Why does she go out of her way to publically humiliate and demean her classmates? To make them sad, or hurt, or mad, or scared? All the while pointing and laughing at them, with her equally cruel friend standing at her back?
The sorrow worn on Dinky’s face began to echo in Diamond Tiara’s heart. It didn’t surprise her that she felt bad for her actions, or that she had sympathy for this drenched and shivering filly in front of her. These feelings were far from new. What did surprise her was that she actually found herself tempted to answer. To explain. To tell this downtrodden classmate of hers that her suffering wasn't needless. That there was no maliciousness behind Tiara’s actions. That there was a purpose. That the pride of Diamond Tiara’s victims wasn’t hunted for sport, but sacrificed for a greater good.
After all, isn’t this why it all started? A joyless smile grew once more on Diamond Tiara’s face as she considered the circular irony of the world around her.
She could answer. She could tell poor Dinky how it all started. It would feel good to get it off her chest. And after all, if anypony could understand, it would probably be the shivering purple unicorn who stood in front of her. As Diamond Tiara’s mind turned to memories of the beginning, she finally found a thought which allowed her to break her gaze away from Dinky’s watery yellow eyes. She looked over her shoulder to her friend, Silver Spoon.
Diamond Tiara had come to Ponyville Elementary later than most. Her father had homeschooled her for the first few grades. He told her that she needed a broader scope of education than a public school could provide if she were going to take the reins of Rich’s Barnyard Bargains one day. While Tiara took quickly to her studies and greatly enjoyed her tutors’ praise as she excelled in most of his lessons, she still felt that she was missing out on something important. Even with the admittedly higher quality learning she was receiving, she couldn’t help but look out at midday upon the crowded playground of the school down the road and feel envy for the capering youngsters therein.
It had taken a year of asking, using methods ranging from polite inquiry to tear-streaked pleading, before her father had acquiesced to her request. Diamond Tiara still remembered her excitement as she donned her brand new saddle bag full of books and walked to school on her first day. Her smile had threatened to split her head in two as Miss Cheerilee stood with her at the head of the room and introduced Diamond Tiara to her new classmates.
It hadn’t taken Diamond Tiara long to make friends. She had always been intelligent and well spoken. This, combined with her excitement at finally being able to become part of a community, soon saw Tiara become something of a social butterfly. She called every clique, club, and group her friends, and they her in return. She was a true societal jack of all trades, and she had never been happier.
It was not long after her debutant appearance in this new life that Tiara noticed something that set her apart from her peers. Something she had always taken for granted and never fully understood the implications it brought forth. She realized she was rich. Diamond Tiara, unlike her friends, never had to save her allowance to afford treats from Sugar Cube Corner after class. She could attend all the movies, shows, and concerts that she had time for. She could always have the latest fashions, brought straight from Canterlot.
Diamond Tiara hadn't been very experienced in the unwritten rules of the playground at that point, but she had known one basic tenet. Different was bad. Every day she spent at her new school she saw ponies that were labelled as ‘different’ get teased, picked on, and excluded. Diamond Tiara was not about to jeopardize her new place in this complex social structure. She did the only thing she could. She lied. She acted like she was just the same as everypony else. She purchased clothes at the same stores her friends did, only bought sweets once a week, and only went to a show if the majority of her classmates could also make it. It was slightly annoying to have to censor her actions like that, but she didn’t really mind. She had never lived that extravagantly anyway, and besides, she was having fun with her new friends.
Life was perfect.
It was during one such perfect day, as all the school ponies filtered into the sunlit classroom ready to begin the day’s learning, that Diamond Tiara first met Silver Spoon. Miss. Cheerilee led the shy little grey filly to the front of the room and introduced her to everyone. Diamond Tiara found herself thrilled at the prospect of yet another new friend. During recess, she and a group of her peers had wasted no time in approaching the newcomer and introducing themselves. After that initial meeting, Silver Spoon began to accompany their group on all their outings.
A short time after Silver Spoon had been accepted into their group, several things became evident to Tiara. Silver Spoon was a very kind, extremely timid, and exorbitantly wealthy pony. Fortunately, it seemed she was the only one to realize the latter. Tiara was the only one to recognize the brand name of the clothing that Silver Spoon wore, as well as her refined manner of speech, as it mirrored her own upbringing. Diamond Tiara silently hoped that she was wise enough to hide the fact as Tiara herself had. She could not stand the thought of this sweet little pony being teased or excluded from the group. As it turned out, Diamond Tiara hadn’t needed to worry about Silver Spoon being excluded. The events that transpired were far worse than that.
It was during one rather unremarkable afternoon when the other school ponies finally caught on. A new show had come into town, the Great and Powerful Trixie, if Tiara recalled correctly. The excitement was rampant throughout the schoolyard, everypony wanted to go and see the world’s most magical unicorn perform. Unfortunately, the show came to town the day after Tiara’s group of friend’s had paid a visit to the bakery and spent all their allowance on treats. Diamond Tiara remembered how Silver Spoon’s features had lit up as she offered to buy tickets for the lot of them. She had been so thrilled to have a chance to contribute to the group, and they were equally thrilled at the chance to attend the performance. Everypony seemed so happy that Tiara began to wonder if she had been silly to worry about how her wealth would affect her friendships.
But after that night, Tiara started to notice the changes. Now that she had seen how happy it had made everypony, Silver Spoon began occasionally offering to pick up a few tabs at the bakery, relishing in the attention and praise it garnered her. Soon after such treatment began, her friends began testing the waters, apologetically asking for her to pay their way into shows. Silver Spoon always seemed more than happy to oblige. Tiara noticed at this point that their small group of friends began growing at an increasingly quick rate. More and more classmates were asking for Silver Spoon to join them at Sugar Cube Corner, or Bon Bon’s confectionary, or any number of other places. And of course, she was always elated to treat her friends to whatever they wanted. It was at this point when Tiara began worrying about her new friend.
Diamond Tiara had been staying late at school studying the first time Silver Spoon had been ditched. Looking up through a window, she had seen Silver Spoon standing in the middle of the playground, shoulders hunched, head hung low, name brand mascara running freely down her cheeks. Tiara rushed out to her friend, heart melting as she wordlessly enfolded her in a firm hug, feeling her own warm tears falling down her cheeks. After a time, Silver Spoon told her about that night. About how their friends invited her out to the most expensive restaurant in town. About how they all ordered the highest quality mushroom steaks. About how they had all run out of the restaurant while she was in the restroom. About how she had tried to run after them, only to see them laughing hysterically as they took off down a nearby street. Tiara knew now that her fears of Silver Spoon being teased and excluded were baseless, for something worse was happening. Silver Spoon was being used.
It was then that Tiara told Silver Spoon her secret. Her family’s money, and how she had kept it hidden from their classmates for so long. How Silver Spoon was not alone. Spoon’s eyes widened at the realization that somepony shared her curse, but Tiara immediately swore her to secrecy. She felt guilty for not suffering alongside her friend, but she was worried what the group would think if they realized she had been lying all this time. Kind-hearted Silver Spoon had of course agreed, although by her sombre expression, Tiara couldn’t help but feel that Spoon felt more isolated now than before she had confided in her.
Time passed, and these new outrages became common place. Every time Silver Spoon went out with the group, they ended up sticking her with a bill. Some were even so blatant as to directly ask her to buy some new outfit or gadget they wanted. Diamond Tiara always admonished them when she heard these things, but she couldn't be around all the time. The worst of it always happened when she was at home or staying late at school. More than once Diamond Tiara had rushed to answer a banging on her door late at night only to find a crushed and emotional Silver Spoon weeping on her step.
Tiara began making it a point to hang out with Silver Spoon without the rest of the group at least a couple of times a week. She had lost trust in her fellow classmates and wanted Silver Spoon to have at least one pony she could feel safe and herself around. Tiara’s heart broke for her friend and she wanted to help, but she was never sure if her secret companionship could make up for her duplicity in public.
It was during one of their weekly sleepovers that, after Spoon had fallen asleep while attempting to hide her silent weeps from her friend, Diamond Tiara stumbled upon her journal tucked halfway under the mattress. She felt tears sting her eyes and her breath hitch as she read her friend's secret words of sorrow and despair. She had known that these events were hard on Silver Spoon, but she hadn’t known how bad things had gotten. Perhaps, looking back, she had refused to know.
Page after page told of Silver Spoon’s daily struggles. They told of how her friends used and mocked her. They told of her plummeting self worth. They told of her inability to consult her distant mother or her absent father. They told of her one true friend, and how even she couldn’t do anything help her. They told of how she had begun to have thoughts of escape.
Escape from cruelties of the world.
Diamond Tiara remembered how she had shut the book in horror, mouth agape as she regarded her sleeping friend. She had decided then that she could no longer stand to see such a delicate and kind pony trampled under hoof by inconsiderate ‘friends’. She would save Silver Spoon. Save her from thoughts of isolation and escape. Laying awake beside Silver Spoon as she sobbed softly in her sleep, Tiara’s mind raced until she hit upon a realization. Tiara had always wanted to help her friend, and now she finally knew how to do it. It was not enough to be there for Silver Spoon in private. It wouldn't even be enough to stand with her in public by exposing her own secret wealth. Tiara knew that if she and Spoon stood up to their friends together, Silver Spoon’s demure and dependant demeanour would only invite history to repeat itself. No, Tiara knew that to fix this she not only had to be there as Silver Spoons friend, but also to keep all the other pretenders away.
Diamond Tiara knew that if she wanted to definitively prevent anypony from ever again extorting Spoon, she would have to drive a wedge between her and the rest of the town. To form a gap so vast that no pony would even want to attempt crossing it. Diamond Tiara knew of only one thing which she and Silver Spoon shared that could cause such a rift.
Wealth.
Tiara told Spoon of her decision to reveal her secret. Silver Spoon’s excitement at the notion was complete, and the next day at school she did just that. Initially, the group had been enthused to have another among them with such deep pockets. Tiara had felt her stomach turn as she could practically see them counting bits behind their eyes. At the end of the day, one of them suggested that they head over to Bon Bon’s for some treats.
It was then that Diamond Tiara enacted her plan. She had pushed the colt down into the dirt with a laugh. She told them that aristocrats such as her and Silver Spoon wouldn’t be caught dead fraternizing with riff raff such as them. Throwing her nose up into the air, she motioned to a stupefied Silver Spoon to follow and walked haughtily away, using her tail to swish some dirt into the face of the downed colt on her way. Everypony present was stunned to silence at the display from the formerly pleasant filly.
Silver Spoon had been as shocked as the others after the confrontation, and had initially been reluctant to follow Tiara’s new example. She had worked hard and suffered much to gain the acceptance of their classmates. Diamond Tiara had confidently assured her that they no longer had to mingle with the lower classes now that her secret was out. Tiara smiled grimly, remembering her words as she told Spoon that ponies such as they were meant for higher pursuits and could only be dragged down by commoners such as they.
It had taken some time for the naturally kind and shy pony to adopt this new outlook. Tiara made an example of everyone who crossed her path. No one was spared, whether they were part of Silver Spoon's earlier abuse or not. Any time there was opportunity and a crowd of ponies large enough to make her point, Tiara struck. Over time, Spoon’s kind and giving nature melted into the background, replaced by the armour of entitlement and clannishness that Diamond Tiara nurtured in her.
As time passed, Diamond Tiara saw the old Silver Spoon recede further and further behind these protective walls, but it didn’t matter. Tiara had succeeded. She had saved her friend. And she continued to save her every day. Gone were the tears and secret terminal desire. With every act of bullying and exclusion, she reinforced the bulwark of class and division she had created from them. Her actions kept every other pony a safe distance from Spoon and herself. Far enough away that no one tried to befriend them anymore. No one tried to get to know them. They weren't needed, for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon found their happiness in each other. It hurt Tiara’s heart to see the most beautiful aspect of her friend encased in this armour, but she knew in her heart that Silver Spoon was still the same tender-hearted filly she was on her first day of class. She revealed it now and again, such as in the hesitation she had shown when they began laughing at Dinky.
Diamond Tiara’s mind suddenly snapped back to present day. Everypony around her was chattering nervously. She must have been silent for a long time while she was reliving her past. Dinky still stood shivering in front of her, waiting for her answer. What was the question again?
Why?
Diamond Tiara shook her head. She was not a mean spirited pony by nature. Every time she belittled or demeaned another undeserving filly or colt, she felt terribly for them. But she had no other choice but to keep the act up. If she gave leniency to anypony, the armour would crack; the walls she had so carefully built would crumble. Ponies would start to relate or identify with them. Eventually Silver Spoon’s ingrained need to please and to be accepted would crash through, she would reach out, and she would be open to all the same heartache and despair as before. Tiara knew in her heart that if Spoon was taken advantage of again after dropping her guard so completely, it would break her. Why? Because Tiara had no other choice.
Did She?
If there was any pony that deserved to be treated fairly and without malice, it was Dinky. With everything the little filly had gone through lately, she reminded Tiara in many ways of the old Silver Spoon. She was quiet, timid, and being given a rotten time by classmates claiming to be friends. And despite this she continued to soldier on, just as Silver Spoon had, burying all her hurt and despair within herself. Now that Diamond Tiara thought back of recent weeks since Dinky’s home life had crumbled, she realized that many of the same warning signs had become apparent. Did Dinky have her own journal filled with dark thoughts under her bed?
Tiara took a moment to look back into Dinky’s watery yellow eyes before speaking. She had wondered why Dinky hadn’t reacted with anger or shame or misplaced laughter. Looking into her eyes, Tiara could now see the reason. Ponies reacted in these ways to protect themselves. It was a variation of the fight or flight instinct which exists in every living thing. Dinky’s question had none of these things, in their place was merely an deep and honest sadness.
Long buried emotions rose within Tiara, conflicting her mind. Diamond Tiara had been there to save Silver Spoon. Who was there to save this scared little filly in front of her? She scanned the crowd once again, noting faces coloured only with self-interested fear and anger. There were no protectors out there.
Tiara felt her heart clench with indecision. Dinky wasn’t wealthy or important, and everypony in the yard was now watching the exchange. Diamond Tiara couldn’t go easy on her without compromising her aristocratic bearing in front of their whole school. But if she carried the confrontation through to its conclusion, she would only be worsening the condition of the depressed little unicorn. Panic gripped Tiara as she considered the possibility of her torment being the final push into some dark and hidden decision Dinky was making. The panic only intensified as she looked back over to Silver Spoon, whose brow had furrowed onto a conflicted look of confusion and concern during Tiara’s extended silence.
Could she save them both?
Or by trying, would she lose the one pony she cared for most?
Diamond Tiara opened her mouth to speak...