SEE HOW YOU LIKE IT
by Silver Rose
CHAPTER 1 - GONE TOO FAR
The Ponyville Schoolhouse was abuzz with activity much earlier in the morning than usual. Young pegasi, unicorns and earth ponies were scattered all over the room hanging streamers and organizing a large pile of hoofmade cards on Scootaloo’s desk. Under the careful supervision of their teacher Miss Cheerilee, Featherweight and Tornado Bolt were unfurling a banner over the door, with a picture of Scootaloo and the words “Welcome Back” in big bright letters.
Yes, it seemed everypony was hard at work making sure everything was ready when Scootaloo came in the door… well, almost everypony. In the corner, Diamond Tiara was showing off pictures of her recent trip to Los Pegasus to her friend Silver Spoon. “And this is me in front of the Fillywood sign,” Diamond Tiara stated with a strong air of pride. “And this is when we went to the Ponymount Studios movie lot. I even met Starlight Chaser making his new movie!”
“Ahem,” Miss Cheerilee approached the two girls with a concerned smile. “Perhaps we can save that for later, girls. We need to get ready for Scootaloo.”
“Oh, we would Miss Cheerilee,” Diamond Tiara agreed with fake sincerity. “But it seems everyone else is already doing such a good job. We’d just get in the way.” The truth was she didn’t want any part of it and didn’t understand why everyone had to come to school so early. So what if that blank flank hurt herself going down a ravine on her scooter, falling off when a wheel broke off and ending up in the hospital. Maybe if she could fly, these things wouldn’t happen, she convinced herself.
“I’m sure you two can find something to do,” Miss Cheerilee suggested, urging them again to put the pictures away and help their classmates. As their teacher walked away, they both let out a long sigh as they got up from their desks and went to help their classmates.
Stupid blank flank, Diamond Tiara thought as she helped with writing a welcome back message on the chalkboard. She and her friends get all the attention.
Once everything was ready, Miss Cheerilee turned off the lights and signaled all her students to hide. “Okay, everyone, get ready. She’ll be here any minute!”
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon half-heartedly hid in a corner behind a shelf, grumbling to themselves. All this fuss because she hurt herself, Diamond Tiara thought without the least bit of sympathy.
“Oh, one last thing, everypony,” Miss Cheerilee mentioned from the window, keeping an eye out for Scootaloo. “Scootaloo is still recovering and has special needs. I don’t want any of you to make fun of her, okay?”
“Special needs?” Diamond Tiara whispered suspiciously to Silver Spoon, but was interrupted as Miss Cheerilee signaled for everyone to be quiet. Even Cheerilee hid behind her desk as the Cutie Mark Crusaders opened the door and came into the room.
“Come on, Scootaloo, it’s gonna be okay,” Diamond Tiara listened as Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle stood in the doorway, looking behind them. In the hall, they could hear Scootaloo’s voice.
“I don’t know,” she said hesitantly. “Maybe I should just go back home.”
“You’ll be fine,” Sweetie Belle assured her friend, heading back into the hallway. Diamond Tiara peeked from behind the shelf as she watched a dejected Scootaloo carted into the room in a wheelchair with a large sack on the back of it and… and…
“Seriously?” Diamond Tiara gasped, putting her hoof over her mouth to keep from laughing. “She’s wearing a diaper?”
“She’s a baby blank flank,” Silver Spoon snickered, cut off by the sounds of cheering as all the other students leapt from their hiding places with big smiles to greet Scootaloo back to school. “Surprise!” they all shouted happily. “Welcome back, Scootaloo!”
Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked to Scootaloo happily as they wheeled her over to her desk. “The whole class was worried about you. Everyone’s glad you’re back!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed as Scootaloo began to sort through all the get-well cards her classmates had made.
“Aren’t ya glad ya came?” Apple Bloom asked knowingly.
Scootaloo nodded with a thoughtful smile, touched at the warmth and kindness of her classmates. “Thank you, everypony,” Scootaloo addressed the class. “It’s been really hard these last few weeks but it’s so great to see that you all missed me. I’m really glad to be back!”
Another round of cheering broke out as Scootaloo modestly bathed in the kindness and thoughtfulness of the ponies in her life, while Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle each took one of Scootaloo’s hooves in their own and raised it up high victoriously.
“Alright, everypony,” Miss Cheerilee addressed the class after a while. “Scootaloo, we’re so happy to have you back, but it’s time for us to begin our lessons for the day.”
As Miss Cheerilee was drawing up the lesson for the day, Diamond Tiara leaned over to Silver Spoon knowingly. “This is too good!” she snickered. “Forget her cutie mark, she’s turned into a foal!”
Having been encouraged by her classmates without one pointing or even noticing her diaper, Scootaloo remained blissfully unaware as the two snobby fillies pointed at the bulky white garment with nasty thoughts about how they could humiliate her. They whispered back to each other, often pausing to make sure Miss Cheerilee thought they were paying attention, but of course, the embarrassing sound of Scootaloo’s crinkling diaper was much more entertaining to the two bullies.
“Alright, class, now that you know the proper care for flowers, lets go practice,” Miss Cheerilee announced after her gardening lecture. Each colt and filly took some gardening supplies. Diamond Tiara looked over the items with little interest, until she spotted something that she could use for a different purpose altogether. Picking up a small watering can, she looked to Miss Cheerilee with pure enthusiasm. “Miss Cheerilee, is it okay if I take the watering can?”
“Sure, Diamond Tiara,” Miss Cheerilee agreed. “Just be careful not to spill.”
“Oh, I won’t,” Diamond Tiara announced with a very sing-songish tone of voice, before picking up the can with her mouth and eyeing Scootaloo knowingly.
Outside the schoolhouse, Miss Cheerilee walked her students behind towards a small patch of yellow and purple flowers she had been having her students tend to that they may be able to help with tasks like farming and tending to fields every year for the Winter Wrap-Up. Most of the students eagerly gathered around, but as always, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon hung out in the back, thinking they were too good for such childish activities.
As Miss Cheerilee was helping with Pipsqueak with tending to a few weeds that had popped up, she noticed the ground had dried out. “Diamond Tiara,” she called out to the pink pony eagerly. “We need your help with the watering can.”
“Coming,” Diamond Tiara announced picking up the can. She could see she would be passing right by Scootaloo as she pranced happily towards the garden. She waited until just the right moment and then decided to have a little trip, flinging the watering can up in the air just enough that it turned upside down. Scootaloo gasped as the water rushed out of the top of the can, splashing loudly on her as the watering can clattered on the ground. Alerted by the sound, everyone turned to look at Diamond Tiara standing next to Scootaloo, pointing directly at her diapered lap, now bulging and soaked with water.
“Miss Cheerilee,” Diamond Tiara announced, loud enough that the entire class could hear her. “Scootaloo’s diaper is wet!”
Scootaloo’s eyes welled at the sound of the word “diaper”. It was hard enough for her going through physical therapy, struggling to get up and walk. It’s not like she ever wanted to wear the stupid thing but she had no choice. She knew if she came back to school, no matter how much Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle said otherwise, everyone was going to pay attention to the fact that she was wearing diapers.
Scootaloo bit her lip as she tried not to react or show weakness. She knew Diamond Tiara had done that on purpose but had no way of proving it. Fortunately, she had friends that didn’t care about things like that.
“It’s wet because you spilled it on her on purpose!” Sweetie Belle dashed to Scootaloo’s side, looking Diamond Tiara dead in the eye. Diamond Tiara looked unamused and dutifully explained that was just an accident, with a strong emphasis on the word “accident”.
Sweetie Belle growled at Diamond Tiara. She was always doing this for as long as she could remember; bullying the three of them relentlessly for their failings to make herself feel superior, but she couldn’t imagine Diamond Tiara would sink this low as to make fun of Scootaloo, who was only in diapers because she was still unable to walk.
“Now girls,” Miss Cheerilee hurried over to break it up before somepony did something they would regret. “We mustn’t accuse each other when we don’t know all the facts. Accidents do happen.”
Silver Spoon chuckled behind Diamond Tiara at Miss Cheerilee’s choice of words. Apple Bloom though was quick to defend Scootaloo alongside Sweetie Belle.
“Miss Cheerilee, Diamond Tiara dropped the watering can on purpose,” she explained, knowing her own history with the bully filly. “She’s always doing stuff like this. It took a lot for Scootaloo to come back to school and now she just wants to make fun of her for what she can’t control.”
“Diamond Tiara,” Miss Cheerilee looked down at her student seriously. “Did you spill the watering can on Scootaloo on purpose?”
“No, Miss Cheerilee,” Diamond Tiara answered as sincerely as she could manage through her lying teeth. “I swear it was an accident. I was just calling it to your attention because I know that it would be really uncomfortable for Scootaloo to have to sit in a wet diaper the whole time we were out here. Honest.”
Miss Cheerilee looked at Diamond Tiara and back at the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “Okay, Diamond Tiara,” she sided with the pink filly having no evidence to justify if it was or wasn’t an accident. “But next time, bring it to my attention privately. It’s not nice to embarrass others, even if that wasn’t what you meant to do.”
“I will, Miss Cheerilee,” she responded politely before turning to Scootaloo without any sense of remorse. Still, she said the words that would get her off the hook. “I’m sorry, Scootaloo. I’ll try to be more careful next time.”
Scootaloo grumbled, wincing at how completely fake she sounded and knowing that she really did mean to do it. No matter how Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle tried to console her, it was no use.
“Keep working, everypony,” Miss Cheerilee announced as she took the handles of Scootaloo’s wheelchair and helped her back into the schoolhouse to change her into a fresh, dry diaper. “We’ll be back in a minute.”
Scootaloo spent most of the morning questioning if she should have waited until she was fully healed to come back, but she knew that wasn’t possible. After all, the doctors had told her that it’s possible she may have to wear diapers the rest of her life if the incontinence turned out to be permanent. She fidgeted in her chair as she felt a twinge in her bladder. She had already been made to look like she wet her diaper once already today. She struggled desperately to hold it but the accident had left her bladder as weak as a foal’s. No matter how hard she tried, she felt like she could cry when she felt the first few drops of her pee trickle against the soft cottony padding.
“Look, look!” Silver Spoon called it to Diamond Tiara’s attention first with a shrill whisper.
Diamond Tiara did and resisted the urge to laugh as she saw Scootaloo’s face turning bright red as she strained to hold herself back. Diamond Tiara giggled over to Silver Spoon, disbelieving in what she thought she was seeing. “Is she actually using it? Oh my gosh, she really is a baby blank flank!”
Overwhelmed with amusement at the humiliating display Scootaloo had no choice but to put on for her class, Diamond Tiara took out a spare piece of paper and began to doodle with the pencil in her mouth, sketching a crude image of Scootaloo in a stroller, sucking on a pacifier. Large stink lines were shown coming from an oversized diaper, bulging with telltale lumps. She wrote “BABY BLANK FLANK” in big letters at the top. Eager to show her work to the class, she slid the paper under her desk and quietly crumpled it into a tiny ball.
Dropping it on the floor, she kicked it with the side of her back hoof over Silver Spoon. When Miss Cheerilee turned away to write something on the board, she leaned down quickly to pick it up, uncrumpling the paper and resisting the urge to laugh. Quickly, she crumpled it and passed it to Pipsqueak, who then passed it to Berry Pinch, to Dinky Doo and so on until the ball came rolling over from Snips to Peachy Pie’s desk where a purple hoof firmly stomped on the rolling ball of paper. Miss Cheerilee leaned down to pick up the ball of paper as the classroom become incredibly quiet. Passing notes was expressively forbidden. The normally gentle and caring teach quickly became firm and authoritative as she opened the paper ball and looked at the drawing inside. Crumpling it back up, she looked over her classroom with deep disappointment.
“I want to know who made this,” Miss Cheerilee asked, clear and straightforward. “And I want the truth. Anyone who lies will be in just as much trouble.”
She looked to Snips first, who had been the last one who pass the drawing around the classroom. “Snips, do you know who drew this?” The bluish-gray colt hastily point a hoof at Snails who pointed at Sunny Days who pointed at Aura and down the line went until it ended with Pipsqueak pointing to Silver Spoon. Miss Cheerilee looked down on the grey bespectacled filly with disapproving eyes. “Silver Spoon, is this your doing?”
Diamond Tiara crossed her hind legs together in anticipation. Silver Spoon had been her best friend for years. She wouldn’t rat her out, would she? Diamond Tiara kept a watchful eye on her best friend as Silver Spoon looked back and forth between her friend and her teacher. “Silver Spoon,” Cheerilee reminded her. “Answer me and be honest. Were you the one who drew this?”
Silver Spoon’s lip quivered for a moment, her eyes squeezing shut as her desire not to get in trouble outweighed her loyalty to her friend. “Diamond Tiara drew it!” she shouted aloud, pointing an accusatory hoof directly at her. The sudden fear of discipline made her spill details far beyond the initial situation as well. “She also spilled the watering can on Scootaloo on purpose!”
“Ah knew it!” Apple Bloom turned around in her desk, pointing at Diamond Tiara angrily. “There was no way that could have been an accident, not with you!”
“Apple Bloom, this doesn’t concern you. Please don’t get involved,” Miss Cheerilee warned. Apple Bloom knew better than to get on an adult’s bad side, turning back around in her chair while Miss Cheerilee turned her attention back on Diamond Tiara. “Diamond Tiara, is all of this true?”
Diamond Tiara shrank as Miss Cheerilee turned her stern gaze on the pink pony disapprovingly. “That’s a lie,” Diamond Tiara tried to lie but the shock of being sold out by Silver Spoon made her statement far less convincing than she normally was when lying to her teacher. “I didn’t do any of it! I’ve never seen that drawing in my life!”
“Miss Tiara,” Cheerilee addressed her with the utmost gravity. “Do you think I can’t recognize one of my students’ handwriting?”
“I… I don’t know…” she replied in a small voice, feeling so small under the disciplinary side of her teacher. “Maybe?”
“Diamond Tiara, this type of behavior will not be tolerated in this classroom. You’ll be staying inside for recess today and you’ll clean up the classroom at the end of the day. Then, I’ll take you home and we’re going to have a long talk with your father about this.”
“You’re going to talk to Daddy?” Diamond Tiara sputtered out, slamming her hooves on her desk, eyes wide with fear. “Miss Cheerilee, I promise I won’t do it again! Please don’t tell my daddy!”
“You should have thought about that before you decided to act this way,” Cheerilee chided as she returned to the lesson.
Diamond Tiara could barely focus on anything other than the fact that Miss Cheerilee was going to tell her father that she was in trouble. The last time she did that when she insulted Granny Smith in front of the class, she was made to completely humiliate herself helping her prepare zap apple jam. She couldn’t bear to face any punishment like that again.
True to her word, Cheerilee did keep Diamond Tiara inside for recess and in school until the classroom was clean to her satisfaction. By the time they left, all her classmates had already headed home. She looked for Silver Spoon, but she was nowhere to be found. It boiled her up inside that she would cave under that kind of pressure. She was part of it too, Diamond Tiara thought bitterly as Cheerilee escorted her back to her family’s mansion on the edge of Ponyville.
At the gate, Cheerilee rang the bell. The butler Randall came out dutifully. “Good afternoon, miss,” Randall dutifully greeted his employer’s daughter. “Your father has been wondering where you have been and… oh, your teacher is here?”
“Good afternoon,” Miss Cheerilee greeted the butler warmly. “I’m Cheerilee, Diamond Tiara’s teacher. I was hoping I could speak with her father for a moment. It’s of utmost importance.”
“I will call from him immediately,” Randall acknowledged, opening the gate and leading the two onto the property and into the main house. The inside was fairly luxurious with many expensive pieces of furniture and artwork gracing the corridors. They were eventually led to a large sitting area where Miss Cheerilee was asked to sit down on a very expensive-looking velvet couch.
“I’m going to go now,” Diamond Tiara tried to excuse herself, not wanting to be here when her father got here.
“That’s fine,” Miss Cheerilee agreed to Diamond Tiara’s visible surprise. “I’ll discuss things with your father and I will see you tomorrow morning.”
“Okay,” Diamond Tiara managed after a moment of speechlessness. Perhaps this wouldn’t be as bad as she thought it would be. She skipped up to her room, torn between relief and trepidation, blissfully unaware that Miss Cheerilee had no intention of letting Diamond Tiara off the hook so easily. Randall offered to bring her some refreshment, but Cheerilee declined, waiting until Diamond Tiara’s father, Filthy Rich, greeted her with his presence, dressed as if he just came from a business meeting, his mane still slicked back as if he would be going back in when he was done here.
“Sorry for the delay,” he stated with a deep southern drawl. “Running a business is a 24 hour job after all, Miss Cheerilee. Now then, how’s my little Diamond doin’?”
“Well, Mr. Fil… Mr. Rich,” she corrected herself quickly. “I’m afraid she’s not doing all that well.”
“Is she falling behind in her studies,” Mr. Rich eyed Miss Cheerilee curiously. “She’s never shown a problem before.”
“No, her grades are fine,” Miss Cheerilee assured him, taking control of the conversation. She needed to spell it out to him very clearly. “Mr. Rich, your daughter was caught bullying one of her fellow classmates today, one who is currently disabled and in a very delicate emotional state. What’s more, your daughter doesn’t seem to show any remorse for her actions.”
“I know she has a bit of an attitude, but…” Filthy Rich quickly tried to defuse the situation, but Miss Cheerilee was not having any of it today.
“Mr. Rich, over the past few years, your daughter has bullied her classmates incessantly, and whenever I can I try to make sure she is punished accordingly. We took the school paper away from her; we made her help Granny Smith when she insulted her in class. I do what I can when I see it happen, but I don’t see it stopping or even signs of improvement. Mr. Rich, this is a very serious problem.”
“I punish her when I can too,” Mr. Rich acknowledged, not wanting Miss Cheerilee to think him as less than any other parent. “But what else can we do?”
“I’ve been thinking about that,” Miss Cheerilee came to the crux of what she wanted to discuss with Filthy Rich, something she had considered over the course of the day regarding what to do with Diamond Tiara. “And I know this may sound strange, but I’d like you to hear me out.”
“Go on,” Filthy Rich allowed, relaxing in his easy chair with his hooves clasped together in his lap.
Miss Cheerilee pursed her lips for a moment, considering where to start. She took a deep breath and proceeded. “Mr. Rich, up until know we have been punishing Diamond Tiara when she does wrong, but she hasn’t been improving. This could be for a number of reasons, but the one I believe most strongly is that while she understands her actions have consequences, she doesn’t seem to grasp why certain actions are harmful. A punishment of taking away her recess privileges or making her do extra work around the… house,” she hesitated, not even sure if such a large place could be called a house. “It doesn’t explain to her why her behavior is wrong. I think it would be to Diamond Tiara’s benefit if instead of the normal punishment that she understand why her actions are harmful from a first pony perspective.”
“Miss Cheerilee,” Filthy Rich spoke sharply in response. “Are you suggesting you let other children bully my daughter?”
“No, Mr. Rich,” Miss Cheerilee assured her. “What I’m suggesting is that your daughter walk for a little while in someone else’s hooves.”
Miss Cheerilee then began to detail how this would affect Diamond Tiara. She was right to ask for him to hear her out. To say the punishment was unorthodox was an understatement, but as Miss Cheerilee explained the potential benefits, it seemed to be something that the troublemaking filly would find a learning experience in a strong way. He was reluctant, but spending more time at work than at home, he valued her opinion over his own in raising his daughter. “If that’s what you feel is best, I’ll agree to it,” Mr. Rich acknowledged after Cheerilee had finished explaining. “I’ll let the help know immediately. We’ll get everything ready to start tomorrow morning.”
“Thank you, Mr. Rich,” Miss Cheerilee bowed in gratitude. “I just know Diamond Tiara will become a better pony from this.”
Upstairs, Diamond Tiara was brought her dinner to her room with less of a serving than normal. Her nanny, Loving Care, came at the behest of her father to tell her she was to go to bed early. Diamond Tiara felt if this was her punishment, she was getting off easy, and with as furious as she was at Silver Spoon, she went to bed without any resistance. What Diamond Tiara didn’t know is that her punishment would not even begin until the next day.