On the road to Justice.

by SugarHoneyIceTea123

Chapter 5: Heart to Heart

Scootaloo stared incredulously at the pink slip of paper in her hoof.

She looked up and saw Applebloom’s nervous smile. Sweetie Belle was to the side, eyebrow raised in confusion.

“Seriously?” Scootaloo said after a few moments of silence.

“Well…” Applebloom began. “Ah mean… Okay, she didn’t exactly make our childhoods easy before she moved to Canterlot.”

Sweetie grumbled. “That’s putting it mildly.”

“But she and I hashed it out years ago and she told me we were good.” Applebloom explained.
“Besides girls, don’t ya’ll think it’s a bit silly to carry a grudge after six years?”

Scootaloo huffed. “It’s not like she just teased us now and then. But you’re right, I suppose. It has been a long time since we’ve seen her. She might have mellowed out since then.”

Applebloom nodded. “And her sending us this just proves she wants to bury the hatchet and start fresh with all of us.”

Applebloom could tell Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle were still apprehensive, but they eventually decided to trust Applebloom’s judgment.

Scootaloo took one last look at the pink paper in her hooves. On it was a festive design surrounding a formal invitation to Diamond Tiara’s sixteenth birthday party.
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The following days passed in a blur as the date of the party neared. Each of the three teenaged fillies doing their best to mentally psych themselves up to wish a happy birthday to the mare who had made their childhood’s utter torment.

Finally, the three found themselves boarding a train to Canterlot to attend Diamond’s party.

From word-of-mouth, the girls had discovered that Diamond Tiara was also using her birthday party as a sort of going away party, as she planned to go on a long trip around the world with her newly inherited fortune.

Sweetie turned to Applebloom as Scootaloo was preparing to get a few moments of sleep in before the party.

“So…” Sweetie began. “Does Diamond… know?”

Applebloom shook her head. “No. As far as she knows, Ah just happened to be in Canterlot when she was visiting her folk’s grave.”

Sweetie raised an eyebrow. “And she didn’t think that was odd?”

Applebloom shrugged. “If she did, she didn’t say nothin’. Honestly, ah think she was just glad to have somepony to talk to.”

Sweetie nodded, apparently satisfied, as the trip to Canterlot continued in silence. Scootaloo was eventually shaken from her slumber by the train docking at the station.

Letting her friend wipe the last vestiges of sleep from her eyes, Applebloom picked up both their presents as the three left the train. From there, it was a simple matter of asking a nearby local where they could find Fancy Pants’ manor.

As a prominent member of Canterlot’s elite class, Fancy Pants’ residence was not hard to find. The three teenagers stood in awe of the ornate and massive complex.

Applebloom was the first to give the oak door a firm knock.

A few seconds passed before a familiar, if older, face welcomed them.

As soon as Diamond Tiara realized who was at her door, a small smile flashed across her face. “You came! I was worried you wouldn’t after… you know.” She said sheepishly.

“Well it would be silly to snuff your invite because of something that happened when we were kids.” Applebloom said, returning the small smile.

“A lot of somethings…” Scootaloo said under her breath before being elbowed by Sweetie.

If Diamond noticed, she pretended not to as she invited the three inside.

“You can go ahead and put the presents on that table over there.” She said. “You three are actually pretty early. Only Silver Spoon and her family are here so far so go ahead and make yourselves at home while I help my uncle prepare.”

Applebloom nodded as Diamond left the three to their own devices. Sweetie Belle was the first to notice the aforementioned gray filly sampling the punch at a nearby snack table.

Deciding to break the ice, and to see where they stood with Diamond Tiara’s oldest friend, the three walked over to Silver Spoon.

Applebloom cleared her throat to Silver’s attention. As Silver turned to the three, her eyebrow raised up in confusion.

“Applebloom? Sweetie Belle? Scootaloo?” She said. “Wow… You actually came.”

She glanced to her side as she nervously pawed the ground. None of the former Crusaders saw fit to break the silence.

“This is awkward.” Silver Spoon finally said.
“Yeah it is.” Scootaloo agreed.

With the silence thankfully broken, Applebloom decided to interject in an attempt to make small talk.

“So uh… Silver Spoon, what have you been doing lately?” Applebloom asked, grabbing a cup of punch for herself.

Wanting to try and be nice for her friend’s sake, Silver Spoon played along. “Well, I’ve recently been getting into electronics. I’m thinking when I go to college; I could work towards a programming major.”

Despite their history, Sweetie couldn’t help but perk her ears at this. “That sounds interesting. You never really struck me as a ‘tech-savvy’ pony.”

Silver blushed slightly. “Well computing technology is getting a lot more advanced. It’s a lucrative business to be getting into.”

Taking a sip of her punch, Silver Spoon allowed herself to relax around her former tormentees. It seemed like they were making an earnest attempt to let bygones be bygones so she supposed she could do the same for them.

‘What about you three? I can see you finally got your cutie-marks.” Silver noted pointing at Scootaloo’s flank.

Indeed, all three of Crusaders had finished their crusade in the year following Applebloom’s discovery of her heritage.

Scootaloo explained her cutie-mark, a blue scooter with flames coming from the rear tire. She received it as the result of teaching a younger colt how to repair his own scooter and, in gratitude; the colt’s mother paid her for her service.

Since then, she’s been working up the money to open a street sports hobby shop.

Sweetie Belle’s mark was a silver bell with a black musical note over it. She explained she received her mark after a wandering talent scout heard her singing to herself. Although she respectfully declined his offer for a performing contract due to her young age, it did open her eyes to the idea of singing professionally.

One cutie-mark later, and her parents are now paying for a singing coach to cultivate Sweetie Belle’s natural skills.

Silver Spoon, all things considered, was very impressed. “I guess that’s what I get for making fun of you when we were kids. You girls get some actually useful cutie-marks and promising career paths. I get a kitchen utensil that doesn’t have anything to do with I want career-wise.”

Scootaloo smirked a little. “Well… It is a very nice kitchen utensil.”
Despite herself, Silver Spoon couldn’t help but chuckle. She continued to converse with Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle much more openly now.

None of them had taken any notice when Applebloom quietly excused herself from the conversation before Silver Spoon could enquire about her cutie-mark.

A half-hour passed before the rest of the guests arrived and the party started in earnest. While Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle surprisingly had no problem mingling with Diamond Tiara’s friends, Applebloom mostly kept to herself.

That is until a white dapper unicorn with a blue mane and gentlemanly moustache approached her.

“Miss Applebloom?” He asked. Applebloom gave an affirming nod.

The unicorn bowed cordially. “My name is Fancy Pants, Diamond Tiara’s uncle. I’ve been asked to inform you that Miss Tiara wishes to speak with you privately on the upper floor balcony.”

“Oh.” Applebloom said, slightly taken aback by the sheer formality. “Uh… Okay. Ah’ll go up in a second.”

Fancy Pants gave a polite nod then left to attend to the other guests.
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Luckily for Applebloom, the second floor had fewer rooms than the lower. Finding the balcony was simple enough.

Granted, she would have had an easier time if she had simply used her ‘unique’ talents but she made it a point not to look inside other people’s rooms unless it was absolutely necessary.

Opening the doors to the balcony, Applebloom found Diamond Tiara looking out to the Canterlot horizon as Celestia’s sun started its descent. Her ear twitched as she heard the door open and close behind her.

Diamond turned to face Applebloom, a small smile appearing on her face when she realized who it was.

“Ah, you got my message. Thanks for seeing me.” She said.

“No problem.” Applebloom replied. “What did ya’ll need to talk about?”

Diamond Tiara motioned for Applebloom to take a seat in one of the cushions she apparently laid out for the two of them. Applebloom accepted the seat as Diamond sat in her own cushion.

“So how are you and your friends enjoying the party?” Diamond asked.

“Actually, things are going better than ah expected.” Applebloom said. “They’re getting along well enough with Silver Spoon and, aside from a few grumbles from Scootaloo earlier today, nopony really drudged up any of the stuff from when we were kids.”

Applebloom smiled as she assumed a more relaxed position on her seat. “Ah gotta say Diamond, this was a good idea.” She said.

Diamond’s smile widened. “I’m very happy to hear that. The last thing I wanted before I left was to leave behind a lot of bad blood that didn’t need to be there.”

Applebloom’s face scrunched up a little. “Yeah, about that. Ah heard you were planning on travelling the world or something like that? Care to tell me what that’s all about?”

Diamond sighed as her smile dropped a little. She figured this topic would come up. “That’s a bit of a… complicated story.” She got up to her feet and started to pace around. “Let’s see…” She glanced back towards Applebloom before noticing the image on her flank.

Diamond smile returned a little. “I see you got your cutie-mark. Would you mind telling me how you got it?” She asked.

Applebloom tilted her head in confusion but Diamond lifted a hoof before she could say anything.

“I know it seems like I’m changing the subject, but trust me when I say I have a point here.” She reassured Applebloom. “So… Do you wanna share your story?”

Applebloom sighed as she gave her mark a rather expressionless look. “Ah got my mark when my sister, Applejack, decided to give me some bigger jobs around the farm.” She began.
“I was getting older so she started to trust me with the more dangerous work like fixin’ all our broken down machines and what not.”

Applebloom shrugged as she showed her mark more clearly to Diamond Tiara. A red apple with a hammer overlaid on top of it. “Ah always had a knack for fixin’ things that ah sort of became the farm’s official handy-mare.”

Diamond listened intently as she noticed Applebloom’s rather bored tone. After all, this was the same filly who used to obsess everyday about getting her cutie-mark and, now that she had it, she seemed very… underwhelmed by the whole thing.

“Do you enjoy being the farm’s handy-mare?” Diamond asked.

Applebloom looked up in thought. “Ah guess. Fixin’ stuff is fun and it makes me a decent wage.” She shrugged her shoulders. “Ah got a mark and a job. Can’t exactly ask for more than that.”

Diamond glanced downwards as she thought about Applebloom’s story. “Do you mind if I tell you how I got my cutie-mark?” She asked Applebloom.

Applebloom was surprised by the question but motioned for Diamond to continue.

“My mother works… worked as a gem-cutter for a jewelry store. When I was… Oh, I couldn’t have been older than seven but anyway, she brought me into her workshop as a special birthday treat. We worked together to carve five small diamonds before placing them into a small tiara.” She explained.

Applebloom’s eyes widened at this. “So that’s where your old tiara came from?” She looked up at Diamond Tiara’s head only to notice for the first time that is was completely bare of any headdress. “Hey, where is it anyway?” She asked.

Diamond waved her hoof nonchalantly. “I still have it; I just grew out of it.” She said “It’s somewhere in my uncle’s attic. I’m sure I’ll hold onto it for sentimental reasons but to still be wearing it at my age…” She trailed off.

Applebloom rubbed the back of her neck. “Yeah, Ah guess that would be a little weird.”

Diamond Tiara cleared her throat, trying to get the attention back to her story. “Like I said, I had a point when I started talking about our cutie-marks.” She began. “Applebloom, do you want to know the reason why I bullied you and your friends when we were children?”

That got Applebloom’s attention. She didn’t exactly know where Diamond was going with all this but she nodded her head all the same.

Diamond sighed before continuing. “It’s because I was under the belief that when you get your cutie-mark, you basically have everything in your life set up for you.”

“I made fun of you and your friends for not having cutie-marks because I felt superior to you.” Diamond explained.

Applebloom smirked a little. “This aint exactly putting you in a positive light.”

However, Diamond’s face was dead serious. “I didn’t say I was going to justify my actions, I said I was going to explain them.”

Diamond continued, obtaining Applebloom’s attention more and more. “I was so proud of my cutie-mark that I never stopped to think about what it really meant to me.” She leaned in closer to Applebloom. “Do you know what my cutie-mark means to me?”

Applebloom said nothing but merely gestured for her to continue.

“As far as I’m concerned, my cutie-mark is a reminder of a happy memory I shared with my mother and the symbol of my most prized possession.” She explained. “What it isn’t, in my own opinion, is some arbitrary blueprint for my life. While I have nothing but respect for my mother’s profession, I have never entertained the idea of becoming a gem-cutter myself.”

She looked away from Applebloom and saw that Celestia had finished setting the sun. The final light of dusk was receding as Luna no doubt was being roused from her slumber to raise the moon as they spoke.

“In fact…” Diamond continued. “Once I return from my trip, I plan on taking over my father’s company.”

She looked over towards Applebloom once more with an almost pleading look. “My point is while you should always be proud of your cutie mark; don’t ever let it limit what you are capable of.”

Applebloom was, needless to say, completely shocked at hearing these words come from her former bully. Diamond Tiara had become far more wiser and mature these past six years. Applebloom, try as she might, could not see a single trace of the vapid, vain brat this mare used to be.

Whoever Diamond Tiara was before her parents were killed, that filly died with them.

Diamond took Applebloom’s silence as an invitation to continue. “And you capable of so much. You are an intelligent, creative and caring individual Applebloom. You are capable of being so much more than a simple handy-mare.”

Both girls were snapped from their conversation when a svelte white unicorn poked her head through the balcony door. “Diamond, everypony is waiting for you to open your presents.”

Like a switch had been flipped, the heavy atmosphere lifted as Diamond adopted a jovial attitude once more. “Okay Aunt Fleur, we’ll be right down.”

Fleur de Lis retreated back downstairs to inform the guests that the birthday filly would be down soon. Applebloom and Diamond Tiara got up to follow Fleur downstairs before Diamond held Applebloom back once more.

“Applebloom, when my parents died, you gave me a piece of advice that helped me through a very dark period of my life.” She said. Her serious demeanor returning in an instant. “Will you let me return the favor?”

Applebloom was a little intimidated by how quickly Diamond could switch gears as she did, but nodded all the same.

“So many ponies believe that our cutie-marks are meant to tell us our destiny. But if there is one thing that I have learned, it’s that there is no destiny but what we make for ourselves.” She said before pointing towards Applebloom’s mark. “My advice to you: Think long and hard about what that picture on your butt means to you.”

With that, Diamond returned to being a completely normal teenaged filly before going downstairs to partake in the timeless birthday tradition of opening presents, leaving a completely stunned Applebloom on her balcony.
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The party continued and then finally ended with little incidence after that. Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle officially accepted Diamond Tiara’s and Silver Spoon’s apology and all five of them agreed to let the past be the past. Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon even exchanged numbers so that the two of them could stay in touch when Silver goes to college.

The three former crusaders said their goodbyes and wished Diamond Tiara a safe trip. On the train ride back to Ponyville, both Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were quick to fall asleep after the excitement of the party.

But Applebloom was wide awake as Diamond Tiara’s words rang in her head.

Author's Note:

Please leave a comment below.

Comments

[Sirius_Face]

Really happy to see this story got updated. Little sad though that it's just me commenting...

This chapter came out pretty strong. It's good to see so much character development for Diamond, though I found it really strange that she says her tiara is somewhere in her uncle's attic and then calls it her most prized possession.

Her philosophy on cutie marks was very interesting to read, and I'm glad you fleshed it out so well. It was interesting to see Bloom so passive about her own cutie mark, but with what she has going on in her life, it's really no surprise. I hope the next chapter shows a little more of her side of the story.

I'm still expecting another time jump for this story. It's kind of a shame too, but again that's just a pet peeve of mine. I can see why it's needed. It does feel a little rushed though.

I hope you'll be updating this again soon. I'll be looking forward to the next chapter.

[SugarHoneyIceTea123]

5413356
I hope you don't mind the time-jumps too much since there are going to be a few more.
The story follows the girls into adulthood. Kind of hard not to have time-jumps when your starting from childhood.
At least I'm not doing it Nolan-style and keeping the jumps in sequence.

[Sirius_Face]

5415514
Good point. And again I see why the story needs these jumps, but there is still a sense of rushing the plot. I'm probably wrong though.

I'm certainly looking forward to reading more when I can.

[FiM Fact]

I think I'm starting to see where that "Silver Spoon: Barbara Gordon" casting from chapter one will be going.
Anyway, I'm enjoying the story and can't wait for more chapters.