GBOYHVerse: Tarnished Diamonds
Chapter 3
Sleepovers
By Godzillawolf
“Thank Cadence...” whispered Diamond Tiara as the school bell rung to end the day. It'd been a couple days since she'd made her resolution. And things had not gotten easier since then if a small twitch in her eye was any indication.
“Alright, my little ponies,” said Cheerilee. “You're free to go. Apparently the loud crash we heard earlier was just Twilight Sparkle having one of her episodes and launching Golden Oaks Library into the air, so it's nothing to worry about. And remember, tomorrow we'll begin your next project, so come prepared with basic materials.”
“Okay, so today we're gonna to try bein' Cutie Mark Crusaders Synchronized Swimmers, right?” Applebloom asked cheerfully.
“I thought we already tried that?” Scootaloo replied, rubbing her head with a raised eyebrow.
“No, we've tried snorkeling, swimming, diving, scuba diving, free-style swimming, water ballet, pearl diving, deep sea diving, and pool cleaning, not synchronized swimming,” Sweetie recited from memory.
'Maybe you should try 'giving up,' blank flanks,' Diamond thought. She would have said this out loud had she not literally bit her tongue to stifle herself. Then struggled not to scream loudly in pain from how hard she'd bit.
“Wait, where do we get swim suits?” Sweetie Belle asked. “We can't go swimming naked!”
“Uh, we're ponies, aren't we always naked?” replied her farmer friend.
“You wear a bow!”
Diamond's eye twitched repeatedly (causing several pain induced tears to fall that were still clinging in her eyes from her tongue bite) and she quickly turned to her partner in crime. “Come on Silver Spoon, we have things to do.”
“Alright...what things?”
“Like dinner, I'm hungry.”
“Oh yeah!”
Diamond Tiara watched the Crusaders head out the door, before leading Silver Spoon out herself shortly there after...then froze up noticing who was there to greet the trio of fillies: a blue unicorn with a white mane.
The pink bully gave a cry of fright and backpedaled, falling on her back in fear.
She then panted, the image of the insidious business mare vanishing as she realized the mare in front of her was not Checker.
“You okay, Diamond?” Silver Spoon asked, looking at her friend.
“Y-Yeah,” said the small filly, getting back to her hooves, trying to ignore her racing heartbeat.
“Hello, Cutie Mark Crusaders! Trixie Midsummer is here to pick you up from school!” the azure unicorn announced in a dramatic fashion...then had to put an icepack back on her head that fell off in her over the top announcement. From the still falling confetti around her, it seemed Diamond had just missed her big entrance preceding said announcement.
“Hey Trixie!” yelled all three Crusaders, rushing over to the mare they'd befriended.
“Why exactly are you picking us up?” asked Scootaloo, cocking her head, though still smiling.
“And why do yah have an icepack on your head?” Applebloom asked, looking at it.
Trixie sighed. “Trixie had the misfortune of being in the closet when the library was launched into the air.”
“Oh, right, Twilight had one of her episodes.”
“...Trixie is unnerved by the fact you said 'one of'...be that as it may, Trixie is here to pick you up as your sisters and mentor are evidently on some trip to the frozen north involving a lost empire or something and they asked Trixie because well...” Trixie looked slightly sheepish. “Trixie...well...”
“We're friends?” Sweetie Belle asked with a wide smile.
Trixie replied with a small smile. “Yes. We are friends.”
“So all three of us are sleeping over?” asked Scootaloo excitedly.
“Yes, to her knowledge. Apparently they believed only two of you having a sleep over would be cruel to the third.”
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SLEEPOVER WITH TRIXIE! YAY!”
The unicorn mare was now used to things enough to cover her ears when the Crusaders inhaled. “Yes. Now Scootaloo, please run home to your parents...”
“I live with my aunt,” Scootaloo interjected.
“Trixie sees...then please run home to your aunt's and get your things, Rarity and Applejack already dropped off their sister's things.”
“Can we still try bein' Cutie Mark Crusaders Synchronized Swimmers?”
Trixie crumbled at the puppy dog eyes staring back at her. “...Well...Trixie supposes a performance is nothing without an audience...”
“CUTIE MARK CRUSADERS SYNCRONIZED SWIMMERS! YAY!”
“Hey! Maybe we need to redo some of our other performance Cutie Marks attempts with an audience too!” Scootaloo pointed out, the others sharing her excitement.
“...Trixie has a feeling she may regret this...”
Diamond found herself shaking in fury as she watched the trio depart with their foalsitter, feeling quite unnerved as well. It wasn't that they had an adult friend. It wasn't that Trixie was the one who defeated Checker Monarch.
It was that the little Earth Pony judged how much 'better' a get together was by how many ponies you could keep out. Or how many begged you to come. It depended on her mood. Having the right to that choice, that control over the situation, made the shallow little filly's ego soar sky high.
The thought that the Blank Flanks were having some sort of get together, and having a blast apparently, made Diamond's blood boil. Several days of enduring jealousy and pint-up frustrations did not help. She couldn't help thinking they'd announced it publicly solely to get under her skin. The thought of following them and somehow raining on their parade entered her mind...which where then followed by her stomach doing back-flips.
Still...there was more than one way to state her raging jealousy.
Time for plan B.
“Silver Spoon.” she whispered. “We're having a sleepover tonight.”
“Sure, just have to ask my parents.”
“Good. Prepare to make ponies jealous.”
“Right.”
Diamond cleared her throat like an actress preparing to go on stage.
“So you're coming over to my house tonight, right Silver?” the pink foal asked in a tone of voice so their classmates currently departing the school would be sure to 'overhear.'
“Yeah, Diamond Tiara. We'll get to swim in your huge pool, right?” the gray Earth Pony replied in the same tone of voice.
“Of course. But only until dark. Then we come in and eat a huge dinner made by our personal chef. And then play video games on my expensive game consoles.”
Silver feigned excitement. Or at least that's what Diamond assumed. “Oh! I'll bring some of my games you like!”
“We can play them till bed time. Or maybe play with some of my many toys. And you don't even need to sleep in a sleeping bag, we can just have the hired help move the spare, luxurious feather bed into my bedroom like we always do when you sleep over.”
Diamond looked around slightly, noting the looks of jealousy on some of her fellow foals. To her vexation, Button Mash seemed to not care at all, and after she'd went through all the trouble of mentioning video games. He couldn't have had the same games, could he? Still, that minor frustration aside, she found her ego sufficiently stroked for her tastes. But strangely, she did not otherwise find herself feeling much better as she did taunting the Crusaders. It just felt sort of empty.
“Sounds like a ton of fun.” Silver gave a practiced high and mighty smirk. “For us!”
Diamond gave a satisfied smirk. “Yeah, it will be. See you then, Silver.”
Both fillies reared up on their hind legs. “Bump, bump, sugar lump, rump!” they chanted, doing the customary two hoof claps, followed by bumping their front elbows together, and finally bumping their hindquarters together.
The Crusaders looked back, hearing Diamond and Silver from a good distance. “Wow, she really laid it on thick that time...” Scootaloo muttered.
“I wonder if somepony made her jealous again.” Sweetie replied, knowing normally when the spoiled pony rubbed other pony faces in things, it was the result of a bruised ego.
“Ah don't think so...” muttered Applebloom, rubbing her head.
Trixie blinked, looking back. 'I wonder what that was about...'
---
“Thanks for coming over, Silver Spoon,” said Diamond Tiara, leading the way into her house. Not that it was easy to miss. A big fancy house in the middle of rustic Ponyville tended to stick out. Not only did most not have a personal pool, but they certainly didn't have a big enough estate to warrant a wall around it with a large gate. And that was just the way the pink filly liked it. Particularly since the gate was handy during parties in the backyard to watch foals watching enviously.
“No problem, Diamond,” Silver Spoon replied, the little filly now used to the elaborate home of her friend.
Diamond gave a small sigh as she walked through the front gates and into the courtyard.
“Hello, my little princess,” said Diamond's mother as she came to greet her child, giving the pink filly a nuzzle that was returned.
“Hello, momma,” she replied, giving an unusually cute, genuine smile. “How did your doctor visit go?”
Golden Tiara nuzzled her. “Just fine. A clean bill of health.”
“I'm glad, momma.” The daughter gave her parent a hug. “Oh, and Silver's staying the night, do you mind?”
The older mare gave a smile to Silver Spoon. “Oh, hello Silver Spoon, it's been a long time since I've seen you.”
“Hello, Mrs. Tiara,” replied Silver in a respectful tone, but with the cheerful smile she wore around her parents. “I'm glad you're feeling better.”
“Thank you, dear. You can stay, you're always welcome here, dear.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Tiara.”
---
“Well,” said Trixie, leading the trio into the library quite some time later. “Trixie has never seen that many performances in one evening in her life...and given Trixie's profession, that is certainly saying something.”
“Yeah, but we still didn't get our Cutie Marks,” Scootaloo muttered as the trio looked at their flanks.
“True, but you did manage to essentially be a three pony circus...” The azure unicorn gave the little fillies a smile. “Trixie is curious. Where did you learn to do colt du soleil?”
“Pinkie knows a clown!” Sweetie cheerfully reported.
“That does not surprise Trixie.” The showmare closed the door behind them. “Trixie sometimes wonders why she's a baker and not a clown.”
The unicorn set down and looked rather awkward. “So...what does one do at a sleepover? Makeovers, games, and so on?”
The three fillies blinked. “Uh yeah, but...you're the foalsitter...”
“Yes...” Trixie swayed a hoof awkwardly. “...Trixie...didn't have the most foal-like foalhood.”
The fillies flinched a little, not from the mare's tone, but from the memory of Trixie's poison joke induced time as a filly and how little she knew about how to act like a foal.
“Yah've never really had a sleepover before?”
“Trixie's father believed that you only got something if you earned it, so she didn't have any...Though Checker did one time.”
“That sidewinder had friends?” asked Applebloom asked, eyes going wide.
“Not so much friends as 'ponies who didn't know they were pawns.' Trixie is aware that sounds black and white, but it is honestly how Checker viewed everything that wasn't herself. And Checker being Checker, she 'invited' Trixie to perform for her 'friends' after we got our Cutie Marks. As it turned out, what Checker was really saying was 'please come and perform while I take all the credit for your act, then spend the rest of the party at the back of the room like good little window dressing,” Trixie said, surprisingly not showing so much hate as bitterness.
“Wow...sounds kinda like Gabby Gums...only you weren't the bad guy,” Sweetie said, giving a frown.
“Trixie was aware of Gabby Gums, but not that something similar happened to you three.”
The three little filly's eyes went wide in surprise. “You know about that?!” Scootaloo asked in a nervous tone.
“Yes, including 'the Great and Powerful Trixie's Secrets Revealed.'”
The foals fidgeted. “Sorry...we were kinda big jerks then,” admitted Applebloom guiltily.
“It's fine. Trixie admits the hamster incident was probably entertaining...and has also been a gigantic jerk on several occasions...most occasions until she met Twilight again...Anyway...should we perhaps begin with makeovers? Trixie knows mane spells.”
“Sure!” Sweetie Belle announced excitably while Scootaloo rolled her eyes with an exaggerated gag.
---
A purple unicorn maid with a mane similar to Golden Tiara's put a bowl of chips in front of the fillies as Diamond took her turn playing the video game. Her efforts received no thanks and she simply left the room.
“Uh...Diamond Tiara?” asked Silver, staring at the screen with a blink.
“What?” asked Diamond, hitting the buttons rapidly with a rather sadistic expression.
“I think you won like a minute ago...”
Diamond blinked, stopping and allowing Spiderpony to let an unconscious thug hit the ground, long defeated.
“Oh...yeah, just blowing off some steam...”
Diamond gave a small growl, unable to help feeling a tad annoyed that despite the overkill inflicted on the hapless NPC, her frustrations seemed to refuse to ease up. It was like her earlier attempt to make her classmates jealous. It just felt...empty.
“I'm tired of this game.”
“Yeah so am I.”
Diamond gave a wide yawn and looked at the clock. She gave an annoyed sigh. “Bedtime...”
“Shiny Star! Randolph! Bring in the spare bed!” she called clapped her hooves loudly, resulting in the same maid from earlier trotting in carrying a heavy looking bed with the help of an old looking light purple Earth Pony stallion in a gray vest and blue bow tie. Both struggled with the bed's weight despite Unicorn telekinesis and Earth Pony strength as they carefully put it across from Diamond's.
“A little to the left,” the pink foal ordered.
The two groaned and moved it again to line it up properly.
“That's fine.”
The hired help seemed to wait for thanks, but finally sighed and left when none was given.
Silver looked to Diamond. “Thanks for inviting me over, Diamond.”
The spoiled filly took a proud stance. “You're welcome, I needed some company.”
Silver gave a genuine smile. “Well, it was fun. We should do it again some time.”
Diamond blinked. Not at the statement, but at that genuine smile. One she remembered her friend having on her face while the two played on the seesaw for the first time in forever. Was Silver actually...enjoying this? The thought left her staring for a moment at her friend before she managed to catch herself.
“Oh...Y-Yeah...we should...”
---
“N-No...I...I don't want to...I...stop...that's not...”
Diamond Tiara whimpered in her sleep, tossing and turning in her sleep, a look of fear on her face.
“Diamond?”
The pink filly jolted awake as she felt a hoof nudge her.
Diamond panted, looking up at a frightened silver filly. “S-Silver?” she asked. For a moment, the pink bully looked strangely guilty. Like she'd hurt Silver somehow. That was before she blinked fully awake and looked humiliated for a moment at the position she was currently in. She quickly sat up, trying to hide her expressions and hoping Luna's night had helped with that.
“Are you okay Diamond? You looked like you were having a nightmare.”
Diamond quickly downed a more composed look. “Y-Yeah. Just a little one...It was nothing...”
Silver gave a concerned gaze. Diamond mentally noted that the silver filly hardly looked like herself. Silver Spoon lacked any traces of her typical smugness. Even when their attempts to torment the CMC backfired, that sense of superiority that complimented Diamond's so well always remained in the filly's posture and expressions. It was now just...gone. Silver just seemed worried about her.
'Must be because we only just woke up, that's all...' Diamond thought silently.
“Are you sure you're okay?” her friend asked again.
“Y-Yeah! I'm fine. We just all have nightmares, right?” the pink foal replied, putting on an air of confidence. She silently double checked her sheets to make sure she hadn't wet herself. Normally she wouldn't worry about that, but with Silver's expression she wondered if she'd done something else to get the silver foal to act like this. “Don't get so worked up, Silver Spoon, like you've never had a nightmare.”
Silver Spoon looked like she wanted to say something else, her eyes wandering to a picture of Diamond's family, specifically her mother.
“Yeah, you're right...”
“...T-Thanks for waking me though,” Diamond found herself saying without thinking, then blinking. Had she just thanked someone? The words 'thank you' were words that she honestly couldn't remember saying to anypony but her parents. Why should she? They should be happy to know she acknowledged their actions without expecting her to show gratitude.
'I just woke up, I slipped. That's all,' she stated mentally.
Silver looked like she didn't know what to say for a second. “Uh...you're welcome Diamond...” she said, blinking.
“...G-Goodnight Silver Spoon.”
“Goodnight Diamond Tiara...”
Diamond watched her fellow filly return to the guest bed with a hint of worry before laying back down and rolling over, looking at the wall. Her mind wandered back to her nightmare. “I'd...I'd never do that to her...I wouldn't...” she muttered fearfully to herself before returning to her slumber.
---
Trixie yawned widely the next morning, rolling over and standing up in her bed, set next to Twilight's. She'd made it a point to buy one of her own as soon as she got a job and began making money. She might have no longer been afraid to accept help, but she certainly did not like the idea of her 'sister' sleeping on the floor in her own home while she enjoyed a nice warm bed.
Naturally, with Twilight in the far north saving a lost empire (a journey that Trixie was admittedly somewhere between envy and gratitude on the fact she had not gone along), the lavender unicorn's bed was currently occupied by three tiny fillies. Trixie chuckled, checking her unusually braided mane (she'd thankfully managed to wash out the copious amounts of make up Sweetie Belle had somehow managed to put on her...and on the fillies themselves). She felt kind of giddy. Yes, she had been the foalsitter (admittedly not the most mature one that could be picked), but there was just something that made her love the simple act of enjoying sleepover games with those three.
The showmare quietly got up and teleported down to the floor from the higher area where the beds were located. Trixie may have loved being as bombastic and over the top as possible, but even she didn't want to wake three innocent children before needed.
Then a green wisp of flame came in and manifested above her head, turning into a scroll that she caught in her telekinesis. “Huh, Twilight's seal...”
The azure unicorn then opened the scroll and began to read.
A loud, excited squee suddenly rang out and resulted in the Crusaders going from their slumber to the ceiling in a few seconds.
“Ugh...did Rarity see a famous pony she has a crush on again?” Sweetie Belle asked groggily as the three landed back on the bed.
Trixie was presently rereading the letter giddily. “This is fantastic!”
The trio of fillies peaked curiously down at the mare. “What's goin' on, Trixie?” asked Applebloom.
“Twilight managed to secure Trixie a gig at the celebration of King Sombra's defeat in the Crystal Empire! Trixie shall be the first entertainer for a thousand years to entertain the Crystal Ponies!”
“Uh, Trixie?”
“Sure, it's not like the Princesses are there, but it shall still let her make a good first impression on ponies who know nothing of her!”
“Trixie?”
“This is fantastic! Trixie needs to go get ready at once!”
“TRIXIE!”
Trixie was left on her back, ears ringing by the notoriously loud fillies. “Oh...sorry girls...”
“Who's King Sombra?” asked Applebloom, cocking her head.
“And what's the Crystal Empire?” Sweetie Belle asked. “Sounds like something Rarity would really like...”
“And what are Crystal Ponies?” Scootaloo finished.
“Oh...” Trixie said, finally letting her mind catch up to her excitement. “Apparently the lost empire your sisters and Twilight went to protect was called the Crystal Empire and vanished for a thousand years thanks to an evil unicorn king named King Sombra who Celestia and Luna had defeated. From what Twilight said, he returned and those six had to beat him again.”
“Wow! They saved the world again?!” asked Applebloom with a wide grin, the three dashing down in front of Trixie in a blink of an eye.
“It seems so.” The azure mare didn't seem phased by the fillies' speed.
“Awesome!” all three replied.
“I can't wait to hear about this from Rainbow Dash!”
“Ah can't wait tah hear about it from AJ!”
“I can't wait to see Rarity's new designs!”
Sweetie Belle blinked, finding everypony staring at her. “What? It's a Crystal Empire! Rarity's designs are going to look so awesome!”
“Right...” said Trixie, a tad confused, then smirking widely and putting a hoof smugly to her chest. “They're having a celebration of King Sombra's defeat. Twilight discovered there had been storytellers from outside the Empire visiting to perform at Crystal Fairs, so she sent Trixie Midsummer tickets for the train to perform if she so chooses! She leaves as soon as you three are safely at school!”
“That's great, Trixie!” Scootaloo exclaimed, the three smiling.
“Yes it is! It is fantastic! Amazing! Trixie will tell the Crystal Ponies stories the likes of which they've never heard before!” Trixie announced dramatically, standing up on her hind legs in her typical pose.
“Hey, there's more to the letter, Trixie,” said Sweetie, looking at the paper after Trixie dropped it. “'And Trixie, please don't begin bragging until the girls are fed and at school, otherwise they will probably be late for school. And remember, pack light, we'll be coming back tonight.'”
Trixie blinked, falling on her back from being startled while posing. “...She knows Trixie well...”
---
Diamond sat in class later that morning, giving a small yawn. Her tired eyes wandered the room, once more doing her best not to look at the three fillies who she blamed for the majority of her life's problems. She noticed Alula still seemed to be looking at her. What was that filly's deal anyway? Had she noticed the bags forming under the pink Earth Pony's eyes? Or was she just jealous?
Diamond found herself being a little freaked out and turned back to look at Silver Spoon. Her fellow bully was as she normally was: like a little angel when Cheerilee was looking, as smug as her comrade whenever the teacher's eyes were elsewhere. Once more, Diamond Tiara found herself wondering what had happened with Silver Spoon the night before. Why had her friend looked almost like a completely different pony in that moment?
'Oh well, not important,' Diamond thought to herself.
Fleeing that uncomfortable thought, she dared take a peak in the Crusaders' direction, noting the trio seemed to be talking excitedly about something or other.
Diamond felt queasy as she tried to will herself not to think of an insult directed at the trio. Why did she have to be so good at it?!
She was grateful when the bell finally rang and she could look back at Mrs. Cheerilee.
“Alright, my little ponies,” the teacher announced. “I have some big news that recently arrived from Mayor Mare. Does everypony remember when Princess Luna returned?”
“Yes Miss Cheerilee” was the general reply.
“Princess Luna is the greatest!” was Pipsqueak's reply.
“Well something like that has happened again.”
The teacher now had the class' full, excited attention.
“At some point yesterday, a new city state reappeared in the far north. Not much is known about it right now, but apparently soon we'll be seeing more of the inhabitants throughout Equestria, so remember to be good little ponies to them, alright? They haven't seen much kindness for a very long time and need a good deal of it.”
“Miss Cheerilee?”
“Yes Applebloom?”
“Do yah mean the Crystal Empire?”
Cheerilee's eyes widened. “Yes, Applebloom. That is correct. How did you know?”
“Cause mah big sis helped save it!”
“What?!” asked Diamond Tiara, turning so fast she almost fell out of her seat.
“And so did mine!” Sweetie chimed in.
“And Rainbow Dash did too!” Scootaloo finished, all three Crusaders smiling widely with pride in their big sister figures...or, as Diamond Tiara perceived it, in being the center of attention.
“Really? What can you tell us, girls?” Miss Cheerilee asked, evidently having not yet received the whole story.
Diamond had to cover her mouth to prevent her from saying what she wanted to say. Which she was pretty sure would have gotten her detention...and her daddy asking her where she learned certain words.
“We don't know much. Just that the Crystal Ponies got sent somewhere for a thousand years by an evil unicorn king named King Sombra and they stopped him!” Scootaloo exclaimed, taking an action pose.
“And there's some kinda party goin' on there now! Celebratin'!” Applebloom followed. “Miss Trixie is part of it!”
Diamond put a pencil in her mouth and began biting down on it to keep herself from screaming as once more the Crusaders got their share of excited looks.
“Well, I hope you will tell us more when they return, I'm quite curious about it myself,” Cheerilee replied.
And then Diamond had to begin removing pencil splinters from her mouth when said pencil snapped into three pieces thanks.
“Maybe we could take a field trip there?” asked Sweetie Belle, the three turning on the puppy dog eyes.
To their surprise, the experienced teacher was unaffected other than a chuckle. “Maybe sometime, but not today.”
“Aww...” replied half the class.
“Too bad, would have made a nice distraction...” muttered Diamond. Though she did admit the prospect of hearing the Crusaders brag about their siblings and...whatever Rainbow Dash was to the flightless chicken for the entire time would probably not have been worth it.
“Now, now, remember, today we have a project to start,” Cheerilee replied professionally.
“Dang it, I forgot about that,” the pink filly muttered to herself.
“Your project will be a presentation on a major event in Equestria's history,” Cheerilee explained. “This will include a visual aid, an oral presentation, and a written report. The project will be done in groups of five due to the amount of work and research that is expected.”
Diamond's eyes went wide. “Wait, five?!”
“Yes Diamond, five. This is a big project after all.”
Diamond's eyes looked around the room, the pink filly coming to a realization.
She only had one friend, and now she needed three more.