//------------------------------// // Reparation // Story: Collapse, Collide // by Zombificus //------------------------------// Diamond’s spirits were rock bottom as she left her house for school. Cheerilee had scheduled a meeting for that evening about the mess she was in, and the inevitable presence of Silver Spoon’s parents meant that it was bound to end the whole thing in chaos. Nothing would come from this except a reaffirmation of the crisis to come, she was sure. It was not just the impending doom of the meeting which weighed upon her heart. Her father had heard her out; believed her; forgiven her, but the news had not been kind to him. His face this morning had been haggard, his eyes looking at the world around him but not really seeing it; his mind occupied by the fresh worries Diamond had brought to his precarious existence. The ever-present guilt robbed her of what little energy she had after the nightmare of the previous day. Nightmare. If only her troubles were but a bad dream; to be blinked away in the morning and forgotten about in the joys of life. In reality, however, the situation was a damning truth to be carried upon her shoulders. A half-forgotten myth about a giant who held the sky itself upon his shoulders came to mind, and Diamond tried hard to remember his name. What had it been? Anvil…? No, that wasn't it. Something to do with maps… Atlas! She smiled: a brief, wry expression, before the amusing similarity was swallowed by the ravenous ocean of self-loathing which crashed against the cliffs of her heart. The skies of her own mistakes were heavy, indeed. Trying to ignore the dread in her bones, Diamond continued toward her school, idly wondering whether anypony would treat her differently now that she had been seen by half the school punching Silver. She doubted it. If anything, she would be feared more by her classmates, and whilst Silver enjoyed the way they avoided her at any cost, Diamond did not like being universally feared. Although, she couldn't really blame them: after what she’d done, she was just as afraid of herself as they were. Diamond sighed and focused on her hoofsteps: step, step, step, step, step, step, step… Somewhere in the steady rhythm she lost herself, and the rest of the journey passed unnoticed. * The Cutie Mark Crusaders awaited Diamond in the school courtyard, greeting her with subtle nods and indifferent expressions. She approached them and when she was close enough, Apple Bloom began speaking: the filly’s attitude all business. “Morning, Diamond. Listen - I’ve spoken to my sister about your situation and she’s going to try and get some of the other Apples involved. “We’re willing to supply your father with fresh fruit for his store for as long as we get a decent return from it. It’s not going to attract the same high-brow customers as Silver’s fancy tat… but the offer’s there if your father wants it.” Diamond was taken aback for a moment, her sleep-addled brain struggling to process the information. So this was how Apple Bloom intended to help her out? She was impressed: whether the farm filly was aware of it, she had a great mind for business. This just might work, provided they could get the other Apples involved. “Thank you.” She said, earnestly. This was more than she’d dared hope for, and it meant a lot that her former victim would be willing to ask her family to trade with Diamond’s. Apple Bloom shrugged, smiling slightly. “It’s no problem… so long as we get our profit, that is.” “You've got a sharp mind, Apple Bloom. Perhaps you should try for a cutie mark in business sometime?” “Perhaps. Not sure the other Crusaders would want to try it, though. Last time we tried anything business-related, it...uh... didn't go to plan… Thanks anyway.” With this, she turned and trotted away into the school proper, followed by Sweetie and Scootaloo, the latter of whom pausing just inside earshot to turn and call: “You’re alright, Diamond. We might’ve been friends, if all this hadn't happened.” Diamond stood for a moment and watched her dash forward, half-sized wings propelling her quickly to her retreating friends. Sighing in renewed loneliness, she followed them inside. * Diamond’s first lesson should have been Equish, but Cheerilee took her aside instead, reasoning that one lost lesson was a fair price for being able to sort out some of the mess the filly was in. Leaving Diamond’s fellow students outside the classroom, they trotted down the corridor and once more entered Cheerilee’s small, oak-panelled office. “I’ll make sure Mrs Discourse knows I took you out of the lesson, so just relax: you aren't’ in trouble, with me or her. I just wanted to talk with you for a moment about getting your explanation out to the school. “As you probably already know, I’m meeting your father, Silver Spoon’s parents and Apple Bloom’s sister this evening about yesterday’s events. “If that goes well enough, I was thinking that you could tell your classmates during Friday’s assembly – or, if you’d rather not go out in front of them all, I could relay your explanation to them. They’d probably take it better from you, but I can understand if you don’t want to be in that position. What do you think?” Diamond frowned, considering the offer. On the one hoof, she could take the easy route and let Cheerilee do it for her, and potentially have her classmates think ‘d fooled the teacher into believing a wild tale. On the other hoof, she could go up in front of all the ponies who hated her and tell them herself that she never wanted to hurt any of them. She could imagine the leering faces, the calling out, the angry objections – the laughing! But she could just as easily see them hearing Cheerilee speak, but not really listening to the meaning behind it: the opportunity could so easily be wasted. “I’ll tell them myself.” She decided: instantly regretting saying it, but knowing it was the right thing to do. “Good. I’ll talk to you later in the week, in the meantime, perhaps you could try and apologise to some of your classmates anyway – every little bit’s going to help you in the long run.” “Okay”, Diamond said, mentally cursing her teacher for unwittingly backing the Crusaders’ stupid idea. Now there was no way out of it. Groaning inwardly, she headed for the door. * Looking around the classroom in Maths, Diamond had realised that Silver Spoon was not in school today. Diamond was glad: the last thing she wanted right now was to have a vengeful sociopath on her back; what with the meeting arranged by letter for that evening, the looming threat of bankruptcy and her Crusader-assigned ‘duty’ of apologising to the ponies who despised her. Resolving to start fulfilling her ‘duty’ now, Diamond approached the most level-headed of her visible ex-victims: Rumble. “Hey, Rumble!” she called, trying to sound pleasant. The athletic colt turned to deliver a hard stare right into her eyes which almost made her halt her progress toward him that very moment and seek another to apologise to. “What?”, he growled. Diamond winced; this was already going badly. “I just wanted to say… I’m sorry, for everything. I didn’t mean what I- “ Rumble refused to let her finish, turning on the spot and stalking away from her, his only acknowledgement of her apology being his angry rebuttal: “You meant every word, and you know it. I never told Cheerilee what you said, by the way, so you can do me a favour and shut your lying mouth.” He spat, refusing to look at her. Eyes wide with shock, Diamond did as he asked and tried her best not to cry. * When the time came for lunch, most of the students flocked straight to the cafeteria to sate their ravenous appetites. Two fillies – a small, ashen-coated unicorn and a gangly, copper-maned pegasus – did not join the mad rush. The silence that accompanied them on their meandering route was a comfortable one, broken only by the dull hum of the unicorn’s magic as she lifted a butter-yellow lock out of her face and took a sideways glance at her friend, who was deep in thought as usual. Noticing her gaze, the pegasus swivelled her pea-green eyes to meet Dinky’s and raised an eyebrow questioningly. Dinky shrugged, and with a quiet chuckle the pegasus turned away once again, figuring the unicorn filly’s little quirks were not worth worrying about. Nearing the end of their loop, the two fillies found themselves back in the corridor off of which branched the cafeteria. The aura of quiet calm was slowly eaten into by the clamour of the cafeteria as they made their approach, and devoured completely as they entered the eating hall itself. Dinky’s gaze swept back and forth across the room and eventually, as the pair made their way to join the relatively short line for food, the unicorn spoke what was on her mind. “Hey, Auburn, do you see Diamond Tiara over there? She looks upset...” “Mm-hm…” affirmed Auburn, punctuating this with a nod of her head. “D’you want to go talk to her?” “Wouldn’t be our business to pry, but…” Dinky trailed off, her pegasus friend picking up her train of thought. “Yeah…” Their minds made up, the two fillies took their trays and walked casually over to Diamond sitting right opposite her. No words were spoken between the newcomers and the outcast besides the obligatory “is anypony sitting here?” but the company lifted Diamond’s bruised spirits anyway. * Though she felt better than she had before lunch, Diamond felt no resurgence of enthusiasm for her ‘duty’ of apologising. It was with a little surprise, therefore, that she found herself in a position to do just that. Snips and Snails – two colts who’d often been the recipients of slights on their looks and insults to their intelligence – approached Diamond in the Biology corridor to give their two bits on her claims of relative innocence. Stepping out in front of his friend, Snails put on a shoddy mask of confidence and opened his mouth to speak his mind. “Now, Apple Bloom’s been telling everypony that Silver Spoon was makin’ you bully us all. Most of what she said we – that’s Snips and I – can believe, but we’d be crazy to believe you didn't mean any of what you said. No way somepony could say the things you said and not mean it.” “No way at all”, agreed Snips. Diamond took a deep breath and let it out in a low, mournful sigh. “I didn't want to hurt you, believe me, I didn't… I mean, yeah, some of the things I said to you were… disgusting… but I just wanted to keep Daddy safe… “Silver Spoon is... something else. You have no idea what it’s… what it’s like to have that little… psycho pulling all the strings in your life. I only did what I did because I had to do. You don’t have to forgive me, but please believe me when I say I’m so, so sorry. For everything.” Her voice cracked and she concentrated on keeping her trembling lip still – she was not the one who had been hurt, so why did she feel like crying? It was stupid. Noticing her expression, Snips stepped forward to lay a reassuring hoof on her shoulder. “I still don’t know what to believe, Diamond... but I think I could do a lot worse than accepting your apology. We’re even.” He removed his hoof and left her with Snails, who, despite having started the conversation, seemed to be speechless. “Yeah…What he said…” he added after a moment, somewhat awkwardly, and he hurriedly trotted off with his waiting friend to their next class. Diamond nodded in acknowledgement and continued her day with a renewed sense of confidence. Perhaps this might work out after all. * It was the end of the school day, but Diamond wasn’t leaving with the thralls of fellow students – not yet, at least. She was waiting for one pony in particular out of the innumerable foals she’d hurt, and was rapidly losing confidence in the whole plan as the clock ticked on, on, on… Finally, the filly she’d been waiting for meandered into sight, babbling on about some nonsense game she and her companion were hooked on. She fell silent when she noticed Diamond watching, and met her gaze evenly. Diamond got up and headed over to her, stopping at what she hoped was a respectful distance before asking the question in most immediate need of an answer. “I take it you’ve heard what Apple Bloom’s been saying about me?” “Yep.” “Okay, I don’t need to go into all that, then… Dinky, I just wanted to say that I’m truly, truly sorry for everything I've ever done to you. I really didn't want to do it, but I had to so that Silver wouldn't threaten me so much... I… I don’t think I can say anything more than that, just that I’m sorry.” Dinky’s pegasus companion, who’d been watching with a curious look in her teal eyes as Diamond apologised, did a sort of half-shrug with her wings, sending an indecipherable look the way of the unicorn filly. “I appreciate that you’re trying to make amends,” began Dinky, sincerely, “but I think you know that words alone aren't going to make much of a difference. “And to answer your next question, I've already forgiven you: I saw you putting the lunch money you stole back in my desk last October and that, along with what the CMC have been saying, gave me all I needed to see that you aren't so bad.” Diamond smiled, feeling immeasurably grateful to the unicorn for having the heart to forgive her. “I… Thank you.” She said, and trotted off home before something could spoil her good mood. * Dinky and Auburn watched the pink-coated filly go: the former’s face twisted in a small smile and the latter’s a picture of intrigued wonderment, one brow raised above the other. “Well…” drawled Auburn, blowing a trailing end of coppery mane out of her eye and grinning, “That was interesting.” Dinky giggled a little. “You’re telling me! …I never expected her to just come along and apologise. I thought she’d just keep the past the past and pretend like it never happened, but here we are. Maybe Apple Bloom and the others have done the filly some good.” “Yeah, maybe… Homework’s at your house today, isn't it?” “Uh-huh” affirmed Dinky as she made her way over to the door, golden magic pushing it gently open and letting a cool breeze in which caused Auburn’s trailing fringe to swing back over her eye. Huffing at the unwelcome entrance of her mane into her retina, the dun pegasus followed her friend out the door, pulling a hairclip from a small pouch on her bag with which to pin her fringe back so the wind wouldn't blow it into her face. As usual, they walked in silence; both sharing a tendency to space out when walking and marvel at the scenery presented by Equestria's countryside. After what felt like mere minutes later, they found themselves at Dinky’s home: a cosy little bungalow sandwiched between two far larger homes. Derpy Hooves greeted them at the door with warm smiles and, for Dinky, an equally warm hug. The pair eagerly entered the home, trotting straight through the living room to the kitchen table in order to finish their homework sooner, freeing up more time for them to have some fun. “Do you girls want some muffins?” Called Derpy, as they extracted their homework from their saddlebags. “ I saw them at Sugarcube Corner and thought you might like a few to eat while you do your homework.” “Yes, please!” chorused the fillies, and Derpy obliged with a grin. Checking that there were no Three Kingdoms pieces stashed out of sight, she left her daughter and her friend alone to their work. A few minutes passed before Auburn, swallowing a mouthful of muffin, asked. “Diamond Tiara doesn't have any friends now, does she?” Dinky shook her head. “No, why d’you ask?” “Well, I was thinking that since she’s alone and she’s apologised to you, we could see if she wants to hang out with us? – I mean, it’s just an idea, we don't have to…” Dinky scratched her head with her hoof, frowning momentarily as she made up her mind. “I don't see why not… yeah, let’s give her a chance at least.” “Cool.” Said Auburn, and with that the duo returned to the daunting task before them: homework revolving around a cruel invention known as algebra. It was going to be a long evening. *****