//------------------------------// // Chapter 6: Off to Liberty Hall // Story: Tiara in the Rough // by Locomotion //------------------------------// It was late in the evening when the Crusaders decided to call it a day and head home. No new Cutie Marks had appeared, but they had more than enjoyed making their film, and Silver Spoon was even happier that they had begun to see her for whom she truly was. Even Scootaloo no longer held a grudge against her. Diamond Tiara, meanwhile, was in such a state of anger with Cheerilee, Locomotion, Silver Spoon and her own father that she never once left her room. She just sat and sulked all day, quietly griping about the supposed injustice she had been dealt, and how she would have loved to get back at them. Even at dinner, when Filthy Rich announced that he had enrolled her in the Liberty Hall Preparatory School over in Manehattan's East End, she refused to accept defeat – soon enough, she kept trying to persuade herself, those idiot foals and that biased teacher of hers would be made to pay up, she herself would be back in her father's good books, and then they could all get back to normal. But they didn't get back to normal. When Locomotion returned the following day, the first thing he saw as he passed through the station was Filthy Rich and a disgruntled Diamond Tiara standing on the platform, waiting for the next eastbound train. “Interesting,” he thought aloud. “Where could she off to?” “Search me,” muttered his driver, bringing the goods train to a halt under the signal gantry. “Wouldn't surprise me if she's off to boarding school or summat. Maybe go and ask her old man once you've signed off?” “Yeah, maybe,” mused Locomotion. He watched as the Second City Express, a train which ran from Canterlot to Manehattan, pulled up alongside the other platform. In that instant, his attention was distracted away from the pink-furred filly and her father by the engine pulling the train – it looked very similar in appearance to the City Class engines he usually saw on the express turns, but was longer and had an extra pair of driving wheels. The engine's red-backed brass name and number plates gave its identity away as No. 484P1, “Princess Celestia”, and its smart emerald-green paint sparkled in the sunlight. How wonderful it would be to ride behind such a huge and glamorous engine, he thought – that Diamond Tiara sure was lucky. But the red-furred railway enthusiast promptly shook the erroneous thought from his head. Diamond Tiara was supposed to be an adversary, not a role model – why should he be envying her?! And more to the point, why was she even here? His thoughts were disturbed by the sound of whistling as the engine clanked ponderously out of the station, across the main line and into the goods yard with its heavy train crawling slowly along behind it. Quietly assuring himself that he would get his answer soon, he shrugged it off and got down to uncouple. An hour later, and Locomotion had come to the end of his shift. With the locomotive safely stowed away in the sheds, the red-furred teenager signed himself off, left his hat and overalls in his locker, and went round to the other side of the yard to watch the goods train being shunted. He reached the footbridge across the main line just in time to see the Second City Express pulling out of the station. “I wish that was me riding behind 'Celestia',” he murmured as he watched the train recede into the distance and disappear round the curve. But his envious reverie was cut short as he stepped down onto the other side of the tracks and saw Filthy Rich plodding wearily away from the station building. He had a look of dismay and regret in his eyes, almost as if he had been double-crossed by his loyalest business-partner. “Something up, Mr Rich?” asked Locomotion curiously. “Hmm?” Filthy Rich looked up. “Oh...morning, Locomotion. How's your promotion to goods train firepony been treating you?” “Pretty well, thanks. Hope you'll excuse my mentioning it, but things don't seem to be treating you very well at the moment,” replied the railway enthusiast, concerned. Filthy Rich sighed unhappily. “Well, if what you saw in the schoolyard is anything to go by, no, it hasn't,” he admitted. “I really was hoping that Diamond Tiara would get her act together one day and stop mistreating you all; but I can see from what she did to Silver Spoon that she hasn't. I've rather reached the end of my tether with her – everything I've done to try and change her attitude seems to have little effect on her, and to top it all, she gets expelled and I have to send her to the Liberty Hall School in order for her to keep up with her education.” “Yeah, pity, that,” sympathised Locomotion solemnly. To say he wasn't still annoyed with Diamond Tiara would be untrue; but ironically, he actually held a great respect for her father, and so he thought better of speaking his mind. “I'm really sorry about all this.” “It's alright, Loco,” replied Filthy Rich, giving him a small smile and a friendly pat on the shoulder. “You did the right thing by owning up to her misdeeds. I couldn't possibly fault you for that.” “Nah, I suppose not,” agreed Locomotion with a chuckle. “I spoke to Silver Spoon, by the way, and managed to help her make amends with the Crusaders. She should be okay by now...in theory, at least.” “Oh, well that's something,” remarked Filthy Rich thankfully. His expression then turned solemn again, and another sigh followed, somewhat more drawn out. “I know this is a terrible thing to say, but she's been nothing short of troublesome right from the moment she got her Cutie Mark. It's times like this that I really wish I could have been a better father...” “Hey, don't beat yourself up about it, Mr Rich,” interrupted Locomotion. “I'd say you've done a great job thus far – okay, she's probably stuck in my bad books forever, but at least you try. My parents have seen ponies who've become absolute doormats to their own foals. They give in to their every demand, make no real effort to raise them properly, and some even encourage unacceptable behaviour...” Including Diamond Tiara's mother, he thought darkly to himself. “...whereas you've been doing your level best to keep her in line. That takes a lot of gut.” The brown business-pony smiled appreciatively. “Yeah, I guess it does. Still, it's just a shame it was all in vain.” “Yeah, well...such is life. Anyway, I'm gonna go watch them shunt trucks for a bit, and then it's off to bed with me.” “What, at ten in the morning?” “Yeah, I've been out all night on that freight,” explained Locomotion, fighting off a yawn, “and I'm in serious need of sleep.” “Okay then, Loco, I'll see you later,” chuckled Filthy Rich. “Thanks for talking to me, by the way.” “Anytime, sir,” replied Locomotion, and trotted round to his favourite vantage point above the yard. Secretly, he couldn't help but let chortle at the irony of what he had just seen – after all Diamond Tiara had said and done to his friends, her father's punishment was none other than to send her off to where she would almost certainly fit in! Heck, as far as he was concerned, she had every reason to be smug about it... Diamond Tiara was anything but smug when at last she arrived at Manehattan's Pennsylhaynia Station, where her father's cousin, a miserly money-lender, was waiting to meet her off the train and escort her to Liberty Hall. Other than a muttered greeting to the pink-furred filly, he barely spoke a word as they made their way through the crowded streets of the Big Apple, and didn't even bother to help carry her luggage. In fact, he barely seemed to notice her at all. The city itself was quite different to what Diamond Tiara had expected. She had been to Canterlot once or twice before, but even the Equestrian capital could compare with the hustle and bustle of cosmopolitan Manehattan. Several times, she found herself bumping into strangers and nearly getting swept away in a crowd – and what really stung was that that lousy excuse for a relative of hers didn't seem to care whenever that. He just frowned disapprovingly and carried on, and the flustered filly had a job trying to keep up with him. Dusk was already falling by the time they reached the vast, grandiose buildings that made up the Liberty Hall campus. His lamentable task having been completed, the relative had Diamond Tiara sign in at the reception desk before heading home and leaving her to her own devices. By now, Diamond Tiara was in a very sour temper. As if packing her off to a boarding school for no good reason was bad enough, she had had to spend the whole of the rest of the day contending with some grouchy second-cousin whom she barely even knew, and on top of that, he didn't even have the common decency to show her any respect! How was this fair?! Why should she be treated like some inferior peasant?! And how was it that nopony at the school could even be bothered to show her around?! With an exasperated sigh, the pink-furred filly began to pick her way down the seemingly endless corridors, trying to seek out the dormitories. But no matter how hard she looked, she couldn't even seem to find a subtle hint as to where they might be. What she did find was an elderly-looking grey Earth stallion clad in a white shirt and a brown jacket, with a blue tie around his neck, a red question mark on each flank, and barely any mane or tail. By the looks of him, and the fact that he was busily mopping up the floor and picking up any rubbish, he had to be the school janitor – not exactly Diamond Tiara's first choice of pony to ask for directions, but better than nothing. “Hey, mister,” she called out to him. “Pardlo?” The janitor looked up, puzzled – but then his expression became somewhat more genial. “Ah, freshly meatload! Deep joy! Deep joy!” he exclaimed, holding out his hoof to shake with the newcomer. But Diamond Tiara was so taken aback by the stallion's confusing choice of words that she barely even noticed. “Uh...yeah, whatever,” she muttered uncertainly. “Look, could you possibly tell me the way to the dormitories?” “Ah, seeky direct-it, do we?” rambled the janitor. “Okay, so, triddlyhow along the hormone until out-y buildit, cross the pattyhold in deep shadyho of the statty Pegasoli, and upon the lefty rotatingmost, you'll see another build-it of simile to a Manehattery flabberblop. Through the dorm you go, huffy stairloders for thru level, and on the right for the fillyponage dormitrobers.” If Diamond Tiara was puzzled earlier, she was now completely lost. She couldn't seem to make head or tail of what this seemingly crazy pony had just said. “Uh...triddle along the...what in the hay are you talking about?” she spluttered. “That's the whereabode of the dormitrobers – D, O, R, M, dorm, dormitrobers, if you follow my meal. I'll show you the wold,” and the janitor motioned for the pink filly to follow him. Still confused, Diamond Tiara reluctantly trotted after him – down the corridor, out of the building, across a patio with a statue of a Pegasus standing proud in the centre, and into another building immediately to their left which looked like a block of flats. Once inside, the grey stallion led her up three flights of stairs before pointing her towards a door marked “FILLIES' DORMITORY, YEAR NINE.” “There you are, my dear childer. Now you go settery dowder; you'll want plenty sleevers for the classrobers in the early mordy. Cheerihocus.” “Uh...yeah, sure.” Diamond Tiara watched as the janitor briskly trotted back down the stairs. She had seen plenty of weirdos in her life, but this had to be the craziest pony she had ever met in all her life. What she couldn't know was that this gibbering bottlewasher would soon be the least of her problems... At first, Diamond Tiara expected the other students to share her attitude and be a bit more sympathetic towards her than her father and second-cousin, and that the teachers would easily accommodate her upper-class background and connections. But from the moment she walked into the dormitory for the first time, she gradually began to realise that this wasn't the case. None of the other fillies said anything as she entered the common room, but simply gazed warily upon her, and even when she tried to strike up conversation, they would just snort and turn their backs. The following morning was chaotic to say the least. Diamond Tiara had a daunting time trying to find the cafeteria, and by the time she did, there was barely any time for breakfast. To make matters worse, the classroom where she would be attending her first lesson of the day was right on the other side of the campus, so she had to run for all her worth in order to get there on time – but sadly, it wasn't fast enough. When at last she reached the classroom, she found that the teacher had only just finished taking the register. The teacher looked daggers at Diamond Tiara. “What time do you call this then?” she asked severely. “Wasn't my fault,” panted Diamond Tiara indignantly. “If somepony had given me a map, this wouldn't have happened.” “Excuses, excuses,” scoffed the teacher. “Next thing we know, a filly like you will be needing one to find your seat. Now go and sit down so we can begin the lesson.” Diamond Tiara was appalled. How could anypony expect her to know her way around a place she had never been to before? And how dare that teacher speak to her in such a manner?! She was even more offended when the teacher didn't even bother to introduce her to the rest of the class; but it didn't seem to make much difference anyway, for the other students appeared to have already worked that out for themselves. “Would you get a load of that?” one whispered as the pink-furred filly took her seat. “We've got some half-wit newbie in our midst!” “Yeah, and not from around here either,” snickered another. “Sounds more sort of 'country' to me.” “Guess that'd explain why she's taken five-million years to find this room,” mused the first. “Never trust a peasant girl in a place like Manehattan, that's what I say.” “Peasant?!” burst out Diamond Tiara in shock and fury. “How dare you! Let me...” “You there at the back, what's your name?!” The sound of the teacher's voice quickly cut her rant short. “Diamond Tiara.” The teacher didn't reply immediately, but muttered under her breath as she wrote something down. “Stay behind after the lesson, Diamond Tiara,” she ordered. “I'll be having words with you about this.” “What?! But miss, those other ponies...” “None of your lip!” snapped the teacher. “I won't have students picking arguments in the middle of a lecture! Now be quiet and listen!” Diamond Tiara seethed with sullen rage. First the gibberish janitor, then students making fun of her, and now she was being reprimanded for trying to put them in their place! With a bitter scowl on her face, she sat and listened to the lecture, glaring back at the pitying looks of the other students and wondering how to pay them out. “...so – are there any questions?” Some of the other students enthusiastically raised their hooves, but the pink-furred filly simply gritted her teeth and glowered at her desk. “Yeah, I've got one,” she muttered under her breath. “What did I do to deserve all this?” Things were no better at lunchtime. Once again, Diamond Tiara ended up getting lost on her way to the cafeteria, and when at last she did reach it, the two colts who had been talking behind her back earlier were loitering nearby with another colt and three fillies. “Well, well, well, if it ain't the peasant filly again,” taunted the deep brown Earth colt, whose Cutie Mark resembled a currency that Diamond Tiara couldn't quite place. “What's the matter, babes – can't even find your way to some rotten cottage in the middle of a field?” Diamond Tiara growled angrily as the six ponies burst into fits of laughter. “You dare call me a peasant?!” she snarled. “I'll have you know I'm from one of the richest families in Equestria!” “Oh, are you? Well, if you're so rich, then how come all you're wearing is a silly imitation crown? I've got every accessory a filly could ever want,” boasted the mauve-coated unicorn filly, proudly showing off her sapphire earrings, her pearl necklace with a ruby pendant, her expensive-looking dress, and her beautifully painted hooves. “Yeah, take that, Little Miss Pauper!” mocked the heliotrope unicorn colt by her side. “Richest in Equestria? More like richest in Peasantville!” “That's Ponyville to you, and my name is Diamond Tiara!” “Oh, Ponyville, is it?” laughed the brown one. “Well, that'd explain why you were so lame compared to us real city ponies. I must say, I feel so sorry for you, Diamond Tiara,” he went on, his voice heavy with irony as he spoke the pink filly's name in a condescending tone. “Here we've lived in Manehattan all our lives, and you don't even know what city life is like?” He slyly arched an eyebrow. “Maybe you should just go back to the country life where you belong.” “Yeah, you tell her, Nick Shilling!” chimed in the carmine Pegasus filly. Diamond Tiara's angry comeback was drowned out as the six ponies fell about laughing once again, and she stormed off with a frustrated growl. Why was it that nopony seemed to have any respect for her? Why couldn't those ponies accept her for who she was? Was this...how other ponies felt when she spoke to them in such a cruel and unfeeling manner?