Beauty Split can sometimes find it difficult to multitask on a few instances. She sometimes felt that if she did, she’d focus too much on one thing and neglect to give the other as much attention, resulting in inferior performance on her part, and to her that was simply not acceptable.
This is why her mind was reeling right now.
Between trying to focus on Ms. Cheerilee’s lessons, the thought of her possibly being the most hated filly in class, and wondering what that yellow Earth Pony filly had to say, Split was a mess. On the outside, she looked alright. Wearing a rather convincing smile, and looking straight ahead at her teacher…
On the inside however, her situation made her want to slam her head on her desk repeatedly until blood came out of her ears, all the while cringing from a severe mind break and extreme paranoia.
So why didn’t she?
Frowning isn’t good for ponies’ complexion, that’s why.
The thing that had bothered her most though, was the delivery of that filly’s sentence.
About your ‘friend.’
What was that about? Why would she need to talk to her about Diamond? Diamond was just fine. According to her, she was in the higher ranks in terms of popularity here. It was SPLIT with the problem. Celestia knows why, nopony gave her the time of day. And what was with the extreme emphasis on the word “Friend”? What the hoof was she implying with that?
Split was abruptly torn from these thoughts when the school bell rang, signaling the end of class, much to everypony’s delight.
“Alright class! I’ll see you all tomorrow! Have a good evening!” Cheerilee said with a warm smile to her students as they departed.
All of the other foals had mostly exited the building, all except Beauty Split, who was still packing up, and Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon who appeared to be drowning in a pool of their own drool as they slept with their heads pressed against their desks.
Cheerilee noticed the sleeping foals and frowned.
“Asleep during class again I see. It’s a wonder the bell didn’t wake them up.” She said.
Split saw the state Diamond and Spoon where in right now, and slightly cringed. As a pony that strived for perfection, Split couldn’t stand a sight such as this. Both ponies’ manes were shaggy and all over the place, they were snoring loudly, and a large puddle of saliva was forming on their desks…
For her sanity and Cheerilee’s, she needed this to stop.
Now.
Split trotted over to Diamond’s desk and nudged her shoulder slightly.
“Diamond? Diamond get up. Time to go home.” She said softly. This didn’t result in any response from the rich filly, other than more snoring. Split then tried the same tactic on Silver Spoon.
“C’mon, school’s over girls…and no offence but…you guys are looking a little…uhhh…rumpled.” She said, seriously trying to hide how terribly unseemly she thought this display was, in this instance by covering her face with a hoof.
“Did she do this when you two first knew each other?” Cheerilee asked.
“All. The. Time. I’m pretty sure this filly has narcolepsy or something…Oh well. I didn’t want to have to resort to this, but she’s not leaving me with many options.” Split said with a sigh. She levitated the textbooks that were on both foal’s desks into the air above them with her magic, and slammed them down hard, almost instantly jolting the two awake.
“Argh! What the heck Split?!” Diamond screamed, obviously quite enraged at the sudden and unpleasant awakening.
“Morning sunshine.” Split casually remarked with a grin.
Silver Spoon wasn’t as equally grouchy as Diamond is when she’s abruptly disturbed from her sleep, but she wasn’t far behind.
“Split, if you absolutely have to wake us up, can you at least do it in someway that WON’T result in Diamond and I getting a panic attack?!” Silver Spoon exclaimed.
Split gave a slightly awkward laugh.
“Hehe. I’ll try my best not to scare you guys to death next time…maybe.” Split said, whisper/laughing that last part to herself. Although Diamond had been a good friend in the past, Split couldn’t deny that it was hilarious when she got angry. This wasn’t to say Split herself didn’t have anger issues of her own…
Diamond stuck out her bottom lip in an angry sort of pout, before she caught the disapproving gaze of Ms. Cheerilee.
“You two really need to start paying attention in class. This is the third time this week I’ve caught you sleeping during school.” She said in a stern tonality.
The fillies had been told this countless times before, and each time had taken this lecture with a grain of salt. In order to get the conversation over with faster, they simply agreed to try and quit going into dreamland in the middle of class.
Did they ever actually do it?
I’ll give you three guesses as to what the answer to that is.
The trio had trotted to the outside of the building, two of which were still slightly dazed from their horrible awakening, and were discussing what they were going to do for the afternoon on the front steps.
“So Di, what’re your plans for the day?” Silver Spoon asked.
“Well, I’ll be at home having my servants give me a slight makeover. I’m afraid that little nap session has made an atrocity of my mane. And no offense Spoon, but yours looks like it could use a little…touching up as well.” Diamond said, gesturing to Spoon’s mane, which looked about as ungodly as Diamond’s at the moment.
“You two don’t know how lucky you are. I normally have to keep up appearances on my own. I can’t have a pony at MY beck and call to do whatever I ask.” Split said.
Diamond scooted over to her old friend and put a foreleg around her shoulder.
“Maybe you’d like to join us Split? If I know you, then you’ll definitely want to make sure not a hair on that mane of yours is out of place.” Diamond said, again in a sort of teasing tone of voice.
Split honestly wanted nothing more than to agree to Diamond’s proposition right now, whilst contemplating the benefits of having friends with such obscene amounts of bits, but then realized…
She still had to go ‘talk’ with that filly.
“Uhhh, I’d love to Diamond, but I have, ummmm….previous arrangements. Sorry.” Splits said reluctantly.
Diamond looked a little bit disappointed that Split wouldn’t be attending, but still kept her composure.
“Oh. Alright then. We’ll meet back up tomorrow then?”
“Totally! You think I’d just meet back up with my best friend and NOT hang out at some point? I’ll try to make it next time.” Split assured.
Diamond and Spoon got up from their seats on the stairs and nodded.
“Cool. See you tomorrow Split!” Diamond said as she and Spoon trotted out of the schoolyard and into the streets of Ponyville. Once Split was out of earshot, Diamond started to talk to Silver Spoon.
“So, still think she’s some kind of mad-pony?” Diamond asked the still-doubtful Silver Spoon.
“Mmmm…She’s TOLERABLE. I’ll give her that much. But honestly Diamond, I haven’t quite seen what makes her so cool in your book.” Silver said.
Diamond again wore a deadpan look and slightly sighed.
“Well for starters, she happens to be a good friend. On top of that, she doesn’t nag, doesn’t judge, doesn’t question, and unlike you lately, doesn’t complain!” Diamond said, putting emphasis on the last two words.
“Sorry Diamond. But after the whole mess with Babs, I just don’t know if we should let anypony else into our group.”
“Look, Babs was a traitor. She convinced us that she was cool and was going to be a good friend, but instead, she stabbed us in the back. I’ve known Split for a long time. She’d never do that to me.” Diamond said, confident in Split’s loyalty to the team.
Silver Spoon wasn’t usually one to disagree with Diamond, but she still didn’t understand Diamond’s friendship with Split.
But when Diamond Tiara is involved in a disagreement, you WILL lose.
“Alright alright. Just…don’t say I didn’t warn you if this whole thing snowballs.”
“It. Won’t. Trust me. Have I ever let you down before?” Diamond asked.
‘Oh, only repeatedly.’
“Of course not.” Silver Spoon said with very little enthusiasm, considering her position in the conversation.
Diamond didn’t seem to notice the state of still being unsure still on her friend’s face as they continued their walk to Diamond’s mansion.
“Good good. Now, let’s just try to focus on relaxing, kay? We’ve got an entire afternoon of luxury spa treatments ahead of us!” Diamond said with an excited smile.
Diamond and Spoon’s departing had left Split by herself on the stairs of the schoolhouse. She hated blowing her friend off like that, but she was sure that if she was a no-show to this “meeting”, the filly who insisted upon it would bite her head off.
‘You supreme bonehead. You realize that you just passed up the opportunity of a lifetime here?’
And then there was the doubting voice in the back of her head that was definitely NOT making things any better.
“Quiet brain. I had my reasons, and you know it.” She said to herself.
‘Yeah, because completely blowing off your best friend after you two just hooked back up can TOTALLY be justified.’
“Listen, from the way she was talking, that filly probably would’ve hunted me down and burned me at the stake if I didn’t hang around. Is that enough reasoning for you?”
‘There you go again, only thinking of yourself. Did it ever occur to you how upset Diamond could be right now?’
“I swear if you say one more word-“
‘No wonder all these ponies are hating on you. You’re so selfish! It’s a wonder Diamond even puts up with you and your stupid paranoia.’
“SHUT UP!” Split screamed at the top of her tiny lungs.
“Ummm, who’re ya’ll screamin’ at?”
The paranoia-driven conscience of Beauty Split had been silenced when she heard the same voice from the playground speaking directly to her again. She looked in front of her and saw not only the Earth Pony to which the voice belonged from earlier, but alongside her were two other fillies that Split didn’t quite recognize. One was an orange, purple-maned Pegasus, and the other was a white unicorn with a pink and purple curly mane.
‘Uh-oh, she’s brought backup.’ Split thought to herself.
“Ummm…I was talking to…myself.” Split said, as strange as it sounded.
The unicorn filly piped up in what Split could describe as what she thought her pet mouse would sound like if it sucked in a metric ton of helium.
“You see? The poor filly’s so lonely she’s resorted to conversation with herself! You two were just way too quick to judge!” she squeaked.
The Pegasus turned to the unicorn, then to Split and gave a look which was somewhere between a grimace and an intimidating suspicious expression.
“I don’t know Sweetie Belle. She’s probably just trying to lure us into a false sense of security by playing innocent.” The Pegasus said.
The filly now known as Sweetie Belle looked curiously at the orange pony.
“That…has to be one of the most logical things I’ve ever heard come out of you Scootaloo.” Sweetie Belle said.
“Ask me how I know all of that, dictionary.” Scootaloo said with a deadpan.
Sweetie Belle conveyed a look of irritation mixed with offense. Just because she sometimes liked to use big words is no reason to refer to her as a “Dictionary.”
The yellow filly in the middle cleared her throat.
“Ahem. Anyway, mah name’s Applebloom. Those two are Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. We’re the founding members of the Cutie Mark Crusaders.” Applebloom said to Split.
“…The Cutie Mark what-now?” Split asked.
“It’s a club we started devoted to helping blank-flank ponies get their Cutie-Marks! We’ve got our own capes, emblem, clubhouse and everything!” Sweetie Belle squeaked.
This definitely piqued Split’s interest.
“Huh. Quite a noble cause you girls have going. Glad to here you three are making an effort to help others find their true selves. Getting a Cutie-Mark is an experience like no other. Putting so much effort into something you love doing, and discovering that it happens to be what makes you special. Heck, I remember the time when I got my-“ Split wasn’t given the time to finish her statement, because Scootaloo had zoomed up to her, mere inches from Split’s face, glaring her down intensely.
“We didn’t come here to listen to the same speech we’ve heard a thousand times! We came here to show you that your friendship with Diamond Tiara is a BIG mistake!” Scootaloo shouted. Scootaloo’s loud tone of voice, combined with the short distance between the two of them, was starting to scare Spilt a little. If she had known that THIS is what was in store for her, she probably would’ve just joined Diamond at her mansion.
“M-Mistake? W-What’re you talking about?” Split stuttered, starting to cringe.
Applebloom trotted up to Scootaloo’s side and put a hoof on her shoulder, trying to calm her down.
“Heel Scoots. Yer scarin’ her ta death.” Applebloom said.
Scootaloo looked back and forth between her friend and Split, and proceeded to pout grumpily as she turned around and crossed her forelegs.
“Grrr. Fine…I still don’t trust her though.” She grumbled.
‘Jeez, somepony woke up on the wrong side of the bed this morning.’ Split thought.
“Sorry bout’ Scoot’s behavior just now. She can sometimes be a little hotheaded. Look, we ain’t lookin’ for trouble. We just wanna talk. As Scoots was sayin’ it’s about your friend, Diamond Tiara.” Applebloom said.
Now it was Split’s turn to speak up about her thoughts on the situation.
“Yeah, about that. I don’t really know what there is to talk about. Diamond Tiara is doing just fine for herself. I don’t see why we need to bring her up. I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but I’M the one with the issues. EVERYPONY is either scared of me or angry for some reason!” Split exclaimed.
The three fillies looked nervously between each other, Applebloom biting her bottom lip for reasons unknown to Split.
“She…she really doesn’t know?” Scootaloo asked nopony in particular.
“Ah guess not.” Applebloom replied.
“Oh dear Celestia. To lie behind her friend’s back like that. Unbelievable.” Sweetie Belle gasped.
This was when Split won the award for “Most Confused and Uninformed Filly” in her mindset.
“What is going on? Is there something Diamond’s not telling me?” Split asked.
Applebloom returned her gaze to Split and sighed.
“Look Split, ah’m startin’ to see first-hoof that you’re not a bad pony. Just misguided beyond belief. The reason everypony’s been avoidn’ yah ain’t your fault…It’s Diamond’s.” Applebloom said in a serious voice.
“…WHAT?!?!” Split yelled in disbelief.
“Well…how do I put this lightly…” Sweetie Belle started, but was interrupted by Scootaloo.
“Let me... Diamond Tiara’s the Devil.” Scootaloo said, putting it into the most blunt words possible, which caused Sweetie Belle to deadpan.
“Thank you Scootaloo.” She said sarcastically
Split was starting to wonder if her ears were playing tricks on her. There is no way she just heard what she thought she heard.
“W-What? What’d she do?” Split stuttered.
“Hmmm, let’s see… Making fun of every blank-flank in class, possibly in town even…Teasing ponies with disabilities…acting like a snobby, stuck-up, self-absorbed, spoiled little brat that thinks she’s better than everypony else…turning Applebloom’s cousin against us at one point…Do I even need to go on?” Scootaloo asked, after listing pretty much every reason Diamond Tiara was considered unlikeable.
“B-But I’ve known her for so long! S-She wouldn’t do any of that!” Split said, still stuttering.
“Sorry for bringin’ this all up on you at once Split. You seem like a nice enough pony, and we just don’t want to see another pony being hated for what Diamond Tiara has been doin’.” Applebloom said, trying to hopefully bring the filly to her senses and possibly comfort her a little.
“W-Wait…Everypony alienating me… Featherweight being scared out of his mind…They were all afraid of me because t-they thought I was…mean?” Split was starting to struggle to even find her words. Part of her wanted to cry, but another part of her reminded herself that she was in the presence of other ponies and demanded otherwise.
“Unfortunately, yes. Silver Spoon’s case is kinda like yours in that aspect, except she really IS like Diamond Tiara. Your case is just a bit of misunderstanding with the others.” Sweetie Belle said, also trying to get Split to maybe calm down.
Split was at a complete loss for words. She didn’t even know what to say to that. Some part of her wanted to say “Look, I don’t appreciate you talking so badly about my friend”, but the logical spot in her mind was screaming at her “LOOK AT THE FACTS YOU IDIOT! DIAMOND HAS BEEN LYING TO YOU!”
“I-I’m sorry. I-I need to go home. It’s not you or anything, I…I just gotta go.” Split didn’t stop to take any questions as she bolted past the Crusaders to her home in Rocky Road on the west side, hoping beyond hope to maybe find some peace.
“Wow…I feel like such a jerk right now.” Scootaloo said sadly, hanging her head low to the ground.
“Don’t. If we didn’t tell her, who would have? She had the right to know, and everypony else is too angry or too scared to go anywhere near her. We did the right thing. Right Applebloom?” Sweetie Belle asked.
Applebloom didn’t answer for a few moments. She had seen the tears starting to form in Split’s eyes as she ran off, and was starting to wonder if she even did what was right or not.
“Ah…Ah don’ know.” She said.
Split didn’t say a word as she trotted up the stairs and slammed the door to her room. She had answered Soft Serve and Shaken Soda's question of how her first day was with a short and simple “I don’t wanna talk about it.”
The slamming of her door resulted in the awakening of Sprinkles, Beauty Split’s pet mouse who slept in a cage in the corner of her room on a pink table. Sprinkles looked like any other mouse normally would. Brown coat, pink tail, and whiskers. Not much else to say in terms of appearance, other than his slightly torn right ear. As stated before, Beauty Split is EXTREMELY particular in very small details, and one would think she wouldn’t want a mouse whose ears were not exactly alike. But Split looked way past that and loved Sprinkles nonetheless.
Sprinkles would sometimes try to act as the “Voice of Reason” for when Split was freaking out over an experiment gone wrong, or if she was obsessing over not finishing a particular flavor of Ice-Cream in situations which “The Delight Zone” had her in a choke-hold…
…Of course, this would probably be a lot more effective if Sprinkles could actually speak his mind to ponies. Most of the time, split just took a wild guess as to what he was saying.
But tonight proved different for him when he heard “Mistress Split” slamming the door to her room, a look of utter sadness glued to her face.
Sprinkles got up from his pile of bedding upon seeing his owner’s face, and started to squeak in concern.
Split slightly got out of her trance long enough to pay Sprinkles some level of attention.
“No Sprinkles, Mommy’s not in the mood to talk.” She sighed.
Squeak Squeak Squeak Squeak!
“Ugh. Alright, if you’re going to pry, I’ll tell you. Sprinkles, you remember Diamond Tiara don’t you?”
Squeak Squeak?
“Yes, the one with the bits. Anyway, all day everypony’s been avoiding me and for the longest time I couldn’t figure out why. Then after school was over, these fillies told me something that I didn’t want to believe was the truth…heck I still don’t…but looking at the facts, it makes too much sense.”
Squeak?
“…Diamond Tiara is a bully, that’s what.”
Squeaaaaak?!?!
“Exact same thing I said. Sprinkles, I don’t know what to do here! I feel like I’ve been betrayed, and it hurts. Badly.”
Squeak Squeak Squeak!
“Tell her off?! But I’m not the confrontational type!”
Squeeeeeeak…
“Like Ice-Cream, revenge is a dish best served cold? But shouldn’t I just try to be the better pony and take the high road, handling the situation with quiet dignity and grace?“
Squeak!
“Screw the high road? You’re supposed to be the one keeping me from doing this kind of thing remember…you must be REALLY angry about this.”
Squeak Squeak Squeak Squeak Squeak!?
“Well, yes I’m angry too…yes I feel hurt and betrayed by the pony I trusted most…and yes I do owe it to all the ponies Diamond Tiara has hurt since she’s been here...you know what I just realized Sprinkles?”
Squeak?
Split’s composure had noticeably been changing as she went through all of her emotions to her mouse, and she started to change from “Depressed Pony” to “I’m gonna wring that mother-bucker’s neck” Her eyes were starting to dilate, her face was turning red, and a vein in her forehead was starting to pop out.
She then proceeded to stomp her hoof on the ground, which made Sprinkle’s cage shake violently, which made him slightly nauseous.
“I just realized that I don’t WANT to handle this quietly! I don’t want to take the high road; I WANT FLANK KICKING!” She screamed.
Squeak Squeak!
“Good! Now get out of the cage, and let’s go give her a piece of my mind!” Split screamed again, unlocking Sprinkle’s cage with her magic, prompting him to scurry out and onto Split’s shoulder.
“Hmph. Some friend Diamond turned out to be.” Split grumbled angrily as she trotted out of the room, slamming her door again.