6.5
6.5
Too quiet. Just before the storm quiet, the silence before the hurricane or blizzard quiet. The kind of quiet that made Sunbeam’s flank squirm and prickle uncomfortably beneath her fur as she waited for the bad news to break. Silence that made her watch the playground through the metal slats of a cheap window blind, waiting for something to happen.
Diamond hadn’t shown up the day before, or the day before that. No note to the school, the board of Barnyard Bargains didn’t know where they were—she had asked. Neither she nor her father were at their mansion. Weren’t in Ponyvile, or anywhere in the country for a radius of forty miles as far as she could tell. It was like they had dropped from the face of Equestria, and it rankled her in ways she couldn’t quite figure out. She did not like it at all.
Not. One. Bit.
“Are you looking for Diamond Tiara again?” Cheerilee, on the other hoof, was mostly just fine with the issue provided Filthy turned up again.
Sunbeam’s hoof slipped from the blinds, letting the thing contorted metal snap back to its natural shape with tiny clicks. With the way the vanishing was making her stomach churn, she wasn’t too sure that finally having Tiara out of her mane for a few days was good for her blood pressure or not. “She is our student. Just because I don’t like her doesn’t mean I’m not worried about her.” She stepped back from the side window, squeezing out from between the wall cabinets. “Worried about all my little ponies.” She whispered far more quietly.
“Are you okay? You’re making strange noises again.” Cheerilee worriedly asked as she got the drawing materials for the pictorial lesson after recess ready. Action and reaction was always fun!
With a rub of her stomach, Sunbeam sighed in a bit of frustration over the annoying nuances of the situation. “Just giving myself an ulcer over this.” She lamented, poking her side. Wait, was it firmer? No, that was just silly. What was the time again? Oh, oh dear. They were already late. “Best to hit the bell. We’re a few minutes behind.” She inched over to the door, getting ready to open it. “Oh, and there’s a storm over the Everfree. Might be heading this way.”
Cheerilee rolled her eyes a little at the schedule-fuss as she fished for the buzzer controls in the cluttered drawers of her desk. “Don’t worry so much about the schedule, Sunbeam! It’s more of a guideline than an actual rule.” Her frumpy grimace slowly morphed into a wide smile as she realized there was still some good news to be had. “And with Tiara gone, we can actually teach and have it stick!”
Sunbeam slowly opened up the door just a bit. “Yes, I suppose we can now.”
“Besides, we’re not that lucky. She’ll turn up again, just watch.” Cheerilee bubble-burst pessimistically as she considered how annoying the bully’s return would be on her teaching results. With that, the great metallic din of the bell ringing itself half to death rose up from just outside as Cheerilee started it, silencing the oddly quiet schoolyard further under the thought-drowning loudness.
But the silence continued after it trailed off slowly, oppressive and massive as no foals came for the doors. It was creepy and still out there, prompting Sunbeam to open the door a little farther to seek out the formerly busily playing foals. Wind and storm off in the distance slowly heading their way were the only sounds, the whisper of far-off rain rushing downwards to purge and clean the lands. No chatter of happy foals, no incessant bouncing of rubber balls or the creak of—yes, there was the creak of a swing-set’s chain. Sunbeam leaned out of the door, looking towards the playground equipment in an anxious flash to spot any of the foals at all. Oh, there they all were. They were completely justified in sitting and standing around in shocked silence. “You’re right. We’re not that lucky. She’s back, and she brought a guard.” Sunbeam lamented to her partner in teachy-crime before putting on a brave face to find out what Diamond wanted. “Why, good morning!”
Diamond slowly turned her gaze upon her teacher, a languid glance of boredom much as one might spare for someone particularly troublesome and annoying. Odder than that, her drab-colored suit was cut in the same conservative fashions as could be often seen worn by the nobles of Canterlot, the dark greys clashing with her glaring bright pink fur; an oddness of dress further perpetuated by the subdued tiara on her head. With a sigh of boredom and annoyance, she wriggled through the semi-circle of foals to head towards her teacher.
“Oh.” She grumbled, lifting her nose high. “How good to see you again, Miss Sunbeam.”
Sunbeam was rather taken aback by the cold indifference of the filly’s reaction, a far cry from her boisterous bellicose bother that she normally inflicted on her surroundings. The plain-clothes guards pony in his suit was trying—and failing miserably like Pinkie in a boiled cabbage festival—to look inconspicuous at the gate, a sight that was ignored by the foals due to the sheer strangeness Diamond Tiara was oozing as she smoozed towards the schoolhouse door past Sunbeam. Fine, she’d bite the obvious trap.
“Might I ask what’s been keeping you away from class these past two days, Diamond Tiara? I noticed your new clothes, and your bodyguard. Canterlot cut, and designed by some pony with nowhere near the talent of Miss Rarity. Has something happened?” Sunbeam inquired as she delicately stepped over Applebloom. The filly had been trying to block her path while pointed pleading and shaking her head silently.
Diamond stopped in her tracks, her high-held head bobbing as her eyebrows furrowed lightly in a frown that vanished like the morning mists as she took over her self-control again. “Why, I’ve been busy getting enrolled in the Canterlot Business School!” She shouted with something approaching her normal personality. Some pony over to the shadowed side of the school gasped a little at that.
She backed up a little farther towards the door, looking over the crowds a little with a twitch to her eye. “Some pony finally recognized my wonderful talents and gave me the opportunities that I deserved!” Diamond crowed like the Crusaders, making the normally noise-tolerating trio wince and cover their ears. More than a few looked at her like she was crazy as she cast her gaze over the crowd with a strangely desperate twitch. Why wouldn’t they—Tiara being given ‘opportunities’ sounded like crazy talk. Not Pinkie-crazy, but crazy-crazy, something that didn’t seem possible.
But, the truth needed to be ferreted out. Sunbeam scooted ahead of the slowly closing ring of students, her presence making them hold off a little. “So, who’s your sponsor? I hate to be blunt, but ponies not of noble birth need a sponsor to be entered into the school so they can maintain their standards.” She waited a bit to see who she’d get her sister to throw popcorn at.
“Why, Duke Redcoat of Whinneypeg.” Happy feeling very much gone. “He noticed my father and I, and decided to help us with our business! He’s picked me up as his personal student, like Princess Celestia and Princess Twilight!” Diamond preened, rubbing a bluish-silver bracelet against the shimmering tie of her suit.
Oh yes, the good feeling was entirely gone. With her fit of sudden anxiety and a quivering quake, Sunbeam’s ears practically molded and glued themselves to her scalp. “Duke Redcoat? Diamond, I’ll say this for your own good and warning: You don’t know who you’re dealing with.” Forget just messing with Tiara, Redcoat getting involved in Ponyvile was bad news by the same Ponyvile scale that had ‘Act of Discord’ as a bottom-rung inconvenience. That there was the small issue of any outsider-pony entering in the CBS needing to be a Twilight Sparkle grade study-hard to succeed in the school, but that wasn’t in the running for considerations.
Besides, she was just fine with Tiara stuffing her head with knowledge instead of bad works.
Harrumphing, Tiara pranced about in a circle, almost as if she was nervous as she looked everywhere but into Sunbeam’s eyes. “Oh really? You know what? I think you just don’t like me. You think I’m weak, and you don’t want me to be the best I can be.” Diamond grumpily dismissed as she turned back to the door and flicked her tail at the school teacher. She didn’t even notice the small hurt cry from beside the schoolhouse as she stomped up the wooden steps, or the pained look on her grey friend’s face.
Before she could step through the opened portal into the building, though, Sunbeam set herself in Tiara’s path with a wing-fueled hop that kicked up lack-luster puffs of dust about them both. “You’re wrong about that, Diamond Tiara. Well, not about my dislike—you’re really a terrible pony.”
She stopped, sitting down when she realized how horrible her reflexive statement had been. “I’m sorry. You’ve done quite a bit that is wrong, Diamond. Morally, if not legally. But, that doesn’t mean I don’t want you to succeed just like every other pony under my care.” She corrected quietly, drawing on all her diplomatic experience as she squatted down to look Diamond in the eyes.
Without touching her, she carefully moved to half-embrace her and spread the love she still felt for all ponies to the wayward little girl. “I want you to know that no matter what Duke Redcoat says, his interests are not in your best interests.” Sunbeam wanted to gently butt heads with Diamond, or hug her for certain to show the full measure of her love. She couldn’t. It wouldn’t go well, would be taken the wrong way. “Please don’t take the offer. You’re not ready for the school.”
The roll of Diamond’s eyes with sarcastic boredom wasn’t exactly the expected outcome. “Well, duh. Of course he isn’t in it out of the goodness of his heart. What kind of a business-pony would he be? By helping me become the best business-pony ever, he gets more out of his deal to have stakes in daddy’s business.” Diamond mock-babbled Sunbeam’s concerns under her breath as she squeezed through the tiny gap between the mare’s foreleg and her belly.
“C-Canterlot?” A timid voice pleadingly asked. Silver Spoon slowly emerged from behind the bushes at the side of the school, where she had been hiding from rather vengeful students. No Diamond to have her way? The students had more than just a few things to say. She was a wreck, with mane damaged and ruffled whilst her glasses were askew. “You’re leaving?”
A sigh was Diamond’s first response as she let her head bobble low. “Yes. I’m moving to Canterlot, as the school requires me to be in the city full-time.” She explained in tiny terms to her flunky, so her friend would get it.
Sunbeam flopped backwards as she hopped out of the way of the grey missile that grabbed ahold of Diamond’s back legs. She scraped her head against the fine gravel of the path to look back towards the gate, noting with alarm that the guardspony was reaching into his jacket for his holdout weapon. His slow stop as she frantically waved him off was a bit relieving as she listened to Silver bawl her heart out to Diamond.
“Please, no! Or take me with you—don’t leave me here! Please don’t leave me here with them.” She pleaded pitifully to Diamond as she laid at her friend’s hooves, not caring that she was utterly covered in dust from her slide.
Diamond’s face twitched with dubious doubt at the plight of her friend. Just a twitch in the eyebrows, the slight glint of concern.
Sunbeam pressed the point home for her, hoping to get her to see reason. “The school won’t let you take her with you, Diamond. Even if she could move where would she go? You’d both be treated as you treat the Crusaders here.”
Further doubt wrinkled Diamond’s face as that little tidbit of knowledge sunk in and buried itself right in her gut to churn it like a washing machine; she knew exactly what kind of behavior Sunbeam was talking about, even if she would never admit to it. It was only for the briefest of seconds, a quantum of doubt before she hardened herself against her future. Her voice was utterly neutral as she reluctantly pulled her hooves free from her friend’s grip so she could step into the school. “I’m sorry, Silver Spoon. I have to go: for my daddy, and for our business.”
She reluctantly pulled away from her old friend, her gaze flickering from Spoon to her guard, and then to the schoolhouse before she skittered inside to get away from the pleading gaze of her friend. Silver let her hoof drop to the ground as her friend disappeared into the shadows inside, slowly pressing her face into the wood of the step as quiet moans tried to escape. All about her, the foals of the schoolyard closed in, many of them looking to have their way with one of the former terror of the schoolyard. Who cared if she hurt, if she suffered? She had done far worse to them at the direction of Diamond, and if she was hurting, that just made kicking her off the playground all the sweeter.
Their stalking stopped as Sunbeam had her say on the matter, picking Silver Spoon up in the crook of her fore leg. “It’ll be alright, Silver Spoon.” She whispered to the foal. “She’s just trying to do right by her father. She’s probably hurting just as badly as you.” The tiny whimpers from her burden tugged at strings she hadn’t expected to be plucked that morning. “Let’s get you home.”
Crusaders three crowded up behind them, looking towards the still empty schoolhouse in confusion. It was darker, somehow. It had to be their imagination from Diamond being inside, just an illusion conjured by their minds. Sweetie’s voice filled the gap with innocent confusion. “Did she just—“
“Yes, yes she did.”
Applebloom came up on the other side of Sunbeam, looking similarly concerned. “What the hay just happened? Was Diamond Tiara actually plum sorry fer something?”
“Don’t leave me.” Silver whispered as she continued to weakly grab at the air towards the schoolhouse.
It wasn’t going to do at all. Sunbeam’s wings reached out and bumped the Crusader’s heads all together before her, clustering them so that she could drop Silver just behind them. “Could I ask you three to watch over Silver Spoon? I think she needs to go home.” When she tried to look each of them in the eyes, Scootaloo was the only one to meet her gaze, solemnly nodding to her in agreement. She’d watch her enemy. “I’ll be right back out to take her home after I talk to Tiara and find out what is going on with her.”
There was not time to stop and measure their reactions as she rushed back inside, catching a glimpse of Tiara’s tail flicking behind the disagreeable filly just before the pink rump it was attached to disappeared through the cracked open door to Cheerilee’s office. Sunbeam could hear the foals finally filing into the classroom behind her as she shimmied, squeezed, and scooted down the tight hallway to her fellow teacher’s office and slithered through the door like her treacherously thin sister. You couldn’t trust some pony who had no softness. They were always up to something.
“Oh, Miss Sunbeam! Have a seat!” Cheerilee help a hoof out to the enormous mare, gesturing to her other cushion so as to save herself the trouble of being alone in a room with Tiara. “Diamond Tiara here was just filling me in on her unusual request to have her records transferred.”
“I heard. I find it rather unusual as well. The Canterlot Business School won’t be accepting new students until the start of the next fall term, so I’m not certain why Diamond is in such a hurry to unenroll from Ponyvile.” Sunbeam mused aloud as she squeezed into the tight space left beside the filly with a whuff of sucked-in gut. Wriggles of discomfort didn’t help her in settling down; each little movement pinning and pinching small parts of her gut painfully between a desk and her hard legs. She looked to Tiara, Tiara frowned anxiously and looked back. Sunbeam went back to trying to make the best of her tight spot until she got fed up with the silence. “Are you getting tutored over the spring and summer semesters to make up for your current grades?”
“Yes. Maybe. He’s helping me.” Diamond babbled as she scooted over to keep from getting squished in Sunbeam’s quest for seating.
“Ah.” Sunbeam tried one last gambit for making room, giving up in a huff of disappointment as she was forced to just rest her fore legs to either side of her gut in the cramped space. “When I said you would have to study hard to make up for your current position, I meant it. You might end up with many of Twilight Sparkle’s neurosis by the end of it. She didn’t start out a neurotic mess.” Sunbeam started reaching up to pat Diamond on the head, stopping with a jerk of her hoof when she remembered how awkward it would be. To make up for it, she put on a small smile and leaned in for the whisper. “Just between you and me, your sponsor didn’t exactly help out.”
She actually looked a little confused. Tiara was sort of conflicted, disconcerted by the reminder of the resident alicorn. But, emboldened. “I need to. I’m supposed to be my daddy’s princess. I can’t learn that here. Oh, uh, no offense, Miss Cheerilee.” Diamond corrected when she realized she was starting to insult her favorite adult by accident.
She fidgeted in place, averting her gaze from the other ponies in the office. “Look, I’m supposed to run my daddy’s business when her—goes.” She contorted her face, wanting to spit the taste of the word ‘dies’ from it before it ate up all her thoughts. “I can’t learn that properly in Ponyvile. Daddy went to the school eventually, and Duke Redcoat wants me to live up to my potential, even if he has to take time to help me himself. Why do ponies have a problem with that?”
Cheeerilee glanced up and over to Sunbeam, who was wriggling her ears apprehensively in thought as she pondered how best to explain her experiences with the mad Duke of Whinneypeg. She spoke after another awkward silence, quiet and calm with concern. “Duke Redcoat just has never done something like this. He’s putting into a situation you’re not ready to handle. Please, don’t do this to yourself. If you want to go, I can help you get ready.”
Sunbeam’s explanation got something through to Diamond again, and the pink filly’s tiara nearly fell of her head when she bowed in thought. She whispered under her breath as her eyes tightly shut and twitched, eyelashes wet with moisture. “I know he is. He told me that he wanted to make me into more than I already am.”
“What? What did he tell you?” Cheerilee asked of Diamond, leaning up onto her desk as if to pull the information bodily from Tiara.
“What I needed to hear.” Diamond dismissed with a stomp of her hoof and a huff of finality. “Can I get my records now, or does my daddy need to get them?”
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Except for all the bad that will befall Ponyville because of this, this morning I am TOTALLY and COMPLETELY am thrilled with DT being in league with redcoat. It'll quite entertaining to see the terror and befuddlement that'll tear through her head when red's brought up on treason charges and she gets pulled along through affiliation. The wake up call will be hilarious!
To bad Filthy is to damned dumb to comprehend anything past DT is a wonderful and wadda wadda wadda little filly that you all should be privileged to know and get walked all over by. Oh well, HIS trouncing will be nearly as righteous as what happens in RealityCheck's The Rise of Darth Vulcan 
my daily allotment of IGAS was spent on dealing with work last night
This was an interesting chapter. But now CelesTia knows Red coat is actually up to something and can start a counter. That's something he hadn't counted on in his plans.
Next up: Celestia orders an investigation on Redcoat.
On the sly, that is....
Wow... intriguing... Every chapter, I feel I need to reread to remember what's going on... I'm reading too many things at once, I think...
Typo:
"many of Twilight Sparkle’s neurosis" ... "neuroses", plural...
Soo much stuff going on...
Loved the update. keep up the great work! I hope to see the CMC befriend Silver Spoon!
6043542 Since you bring up Rise of Darth Vulcan, I'm actually expecting Redcoat to train Tiara, not as a successor to Filthy Rich, but as his own successor in the arts of Magnificent Bastardry, as is her special talent in that fic. Problem is, he's still only a Smug Snake.
Neither do I.
Yep. You'd think that little brat being gone would be GOOD to SUnbeam's blood pressure.
You're too kind sometimes, Tia.
Hm.
Like the Pirate Code?
Sadly, she's probably right.
Oh boy.
Little brat.
Hm.
Your funeral.
You'll find out soon enough.
Like half the stuff Discord does but not as fun?
Duke Turncoat.
You realize he's using you like a tool, right?
Oh dear, guess the guy's mad news even for Celestia.
That's bullshit and you know it.
FINALLY SOMEONE SAYS IT!
Fair enough.
Hardly. You're a means to an end.
Oh, dark.
Have you no heart?
Guess Silver does have a heart.
Might teach the brat some humility.
*sigh* Of course
Kids, be better than this...
Yes, yes she did. She apologized for something.
I'm as shocked as you are.
That's twice I've seen Silver Spoon be abandoned by Diamond Tiara and be watched over by the CMC.
Whatever you say, Sunny.
You're chipper.
I see.
To be fair, considering she's utterly terrified of disappointing you, has had little to no regular social interaction short of you and Spike, and she's as scared of you as she admires you, and that she's never been a very social pony and love books more than anything, can ya blame her?
Nice save.
He not her goes. And it's less you taking over the business that worries us, and more Duke Turncoat, he's nothing but trouble.
You're not gonna sway her.
Stubborn filly.
6044764
Did you really need to quote and comment on the entire chapter?
Ponyville, not Ponyvile. Is Diamond quite all right? Babbling's not like her. Also, what are Equestrian educational politics like in your headcanon?
6044891
The problem is it makes for a comment
as long aslonger than the chapter.6044891 It would be better suited to a blog with links to entries rather than one massive comment.
6044815
Strictly speaking, no. I just do it because it's fun. Because, I don't usually comment on chunks of the story, usually just snippets.
6044905
6048551
Reality Check once had a line in 'Great Alicorn Hunt', something about how an alicorn ascending is like a power chord straight to the horn for those attuned to that astral realm if they're not careful.
These three? That one Douglas Adams side-tale in Hitchhikers' Guide comes to mind. The one about the rock band that rocked so hard that they blew a hole in the crust of a planet....
Diamond Tiara is everything terrible about childhood rolled up in a single unpleasant package, but even she has one redeeming attribute: her devotion to her father. She has bound herself in chains of duty out of that devotion, and sees no recourse but to follow the path Redcoat has set out for her. She knows she's a tool, but for Filthy Rich's sake, she's willing to make herself one. Sunbeam is going to have her work cut out for her if she wants to undo these machinations...
6048612
You mean the entire tectonic plate is going to flip like a pancake? Well, it'd be a fitting tribute to the Crusaders' ascension.
6048612
Could be worse. Disaster Area had a tendency to destroy star systems.
6071372
It's actually closer to her real shape than her idealized disguise she puts on for Equestria (even if that is her real colors). She's got great tracts of land around the middle! Also, she's basically a brickhouse in build anyway, like Big Mac.
I just binged read the last fourteen or so chapters in the last three or so days, and it was definitely worth it.
There is just so much happening and I can't wait to find out what's around the next corner!
I have to read this from the beginning again.