I Prefer Show Tunes

by Harmony Charmer

Chapter 8: Breaking Character, Part 1

When school finally let out, everypony rushed out, screaming and laughing about their after school plans. Some were going to go to the local watering hole to cool down after a not-so-hard day's work at school; others were going to go to Sugarcube Corner to get milkshakes.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Silver Spoon did neither of these things.

"This is the stupidest thing we have ever done," Scootaloo said, her tone matter-of-fact.

"Ah second that opinion," Apple Bloom added on. "This tops trying to get our pyrotechnic cutie marks."

"Yeah, I still got burns from that one," Button joked.

The Cutie Mark Crusaders and Silver Spoon all stood a few feet from the gates to the Rich Estate, a proud, large building that gleamed in the afternoon sun. The house seemed too big to hold just Diamond and her father, Sweetie thought, even with Silver Spoon visiting. So much space and so little ponies.

Sweetie wondered if that's why Diamond was staying there; no ponies to judge her.

Sweetie Belle turned to her friends. "If all you three are gonna do is complain, then why did you come with us?"

"Uh... Because I wanna be there for you?" Button replied, unsure of his own answer.

"Because you told us to," Scootaloo answered more firmly, a look of annoyance on her face.

"I didn't want any of you to come with me," Silver Spoon snapped, flipping her mane. "You included, Squeaky Wheel."

Sweetie huffed a bit. "It was my idea to come here in the first place! Besides, I just wanna know if she's alright or not."

Silver sniffed. "Once you find out, you can leave. Diamond needs to spend time with ponies who really care about her."

Sweetie's gaze hardened. "Fine."

"...So are we gonna go to Sugarcube Corner after or what?" Scootaloo asked, causing Apple Bloom to elbow for what seemed like the hundredth time that day. "What? It's a legitimate question!"

Sweetie led the group past the open gates, where she managed to get a better look at what was inside. She had seen what Diamond's yard looked like once before, back when they were using Twilight Time to gain popularity, but now that she was back in it, it seemed more vast than she last remembered. She found herself wondering why Diamond's family needed so much space when they never had anything to put there.

'Maybe they just like having it just to have it,' Sweetie thought.

"Well," Apple Bloom said as the group made it to the door. "Who's gonna knock?"

"I'll knock," Silver announced, stepping in front of Sweetie. She knocked on the door three times. "Randolph? Randolph, are you in there?"

There was silence for a moment. Then, the door opened, revealing Diamond's butler, Randolph. He was aged and tired, but he still put on a smile for the group.

"Ah, hello, there, Miss Spoon," he greeted. He blinked in surprise. "And you brought... friends?"

Silver rolled her eyes. "Hardly. I just brought these four because they wanted to see Diamond."

Randolph blinked in surprise once more, but it was quickly diminished as a stern look came across his features. "Miss Spoon, I told you already. Miss Tiara isn't taking any visitors nor does her father wish for anypony to see her at this time. Now, I'm going to have to ask that you and your... acquaintances, leave."

"Wait!" Sweetie exclaimed, jumping towards the door so he wouldn't close it. "Please, sir, we just want to see how Diamond's doing!"

Randolph's expression softened. "I'm sorry, little one, but Master Rich has requested—"

"Forget what he's requested!" Apple Bloom shouted suddenly. "My family has been doin' business with Mister Rich's family for generations! How much are ya willin' to bet that Granny's gonna have a few things to say to him at their next meetin' when she finds out that he wouldn't even let an Apple into his home?"

Sweetie nearly gaped at Apple Bloom. She didn't think that she would care enough to pull a card like that or that she would even have thought to have done so in the first place.

"W-Well, I can't let you in, Miss Apple," Randolph told her. "I'm afraid that you'll have to come by another time."

Apple Bloom scowled. "Fine. But don't come complainin' to me when Mister Rich gets mad when Granny ain't so willin' to sell Zap Apple Jam next season." She nodded her head to exit of the yard. "C'mon, guys. It's obvious we ain't welcome here."

Sweetie's eyes widened. 'What kind of evil mastermind have we been friends with?'

Randolph's eyes widened as the group began to move away. "Wait!"

Apple Bloom turned back. "Yes?"

Randolph looked around a bit warily, then sighed as he looked back at the group. "There's a key under the mat. Take it and go up the stairs to the left, then go to the third door on the right."

"Why take the key?" Sweetie asked, taking the key from under the mat.

"If Master Rich sees you, just tell him you used the key to get in." He shook his head. "Just... Please, don't say anything to Granny Smith."

Apple Bloom smirked. "Wasn't plannin' on it." She swiped the key from Sweetie. "Thanks for the help!"

The group rushed into the house, then Randolph shut the door behind them as he let out a sigh. "Why haven't I retired...?"

As soon as the group was up the stairs and out of Randolph's earshot, Button leaned over to Apple Bloom. "What was that back there?"

"Just a little bluff to get in," Apple Bloom said simply, a pleased look on her face.

Scootaloo frowned. "Has Big Mac been letting play poker with his friends again?"

"Maybe, but if AJ asks, the answer is no," Apple Bloom told her, looking at Scootaloo pointedly. "She ain't a big fan of gamblin'."

"Is that how you paid for those milkshakes at Sugarcube Corner last week?!" Scootaloo blurted out, shocked.

"I can't believed you just manipulated somepony like that!" Silver breathed. "That was brutal!"

"You lie and manipulate ponies all the time," Sweetie retorted.

"Yeah, I know, that's why I'm even more impressed," Silver amended. She looked at Apple Bloom. "What else can you do, Big Apple?"

"Oh, cool nickname!" Button praised. "Give me one!"

"Hush, guys!" Sweetie urged, holding her leg out in front of the group. "We're here."

The group all ceased talking as they reached Diamond's bedroom door. Sweetie only knew that because there was a small, sparkly diamond tiara sticker on the door, making it hard to think it was anyone else's.

"Should we knock first?" Button asked, his eyes warily going over the door.

"Not it," Apple Bloom stated, holding her hooves up. "Ah got us in. It's you guys' turn now."

Sweetie sighed. "Well, I guess I'll—"

"No, I will," Silver told her. She paused as she saw the looks they gave her. "What? She's not gonna open the door to just anyone."

Silver knocked on the door in a rhythmic manner, then put her hoof down. She waited a moment before saying. "The spoon needs to be polished."

"Da hay?" Apple Bloom muttered to Scootaloo.

Scootaloo shrugged. "Beats me."

There was silence for a moment before a weak voice came from the other side of the door. "How did you get in here?"

Silver faltered for a moment. "Diamond, we did not spend an entire weekend coming up with code words and phrases just for you to ignore them."

"Ooooh," Apple Bloom and Scootaloo said together.

"What was that?" Diamond questioned. "Silver, is there somepony else with you?"

Silver sighed. "Yeah... Yeah, there are."

"It's us, Diamond," Sweetie spoke. "We just wanted to see how you were doing."

"...Sweetie Belle?" There was silence once again. "I mean, go away! I don't wanna see anypony!"

"Whelp, we tried," Scootaloo said. "C'mon, I bet we can still make it to Sugarcube Corner."

Sweetie glared at her. "We're not leaving just yet!"

Silver put a hoof on the door. "Di, please, you're acting crazy! Come on, let me in!"

"I said go away! I don't want anypony to see me like this!"

Silver sighed and shook her head. "Alright, that's it. I'm coming in!"

"No! The door's locked anyway! You can't get in!"

"Allow me," Apple Bloom offered, stepping up. She pulled a bobby pin from her hair, making her bow fall a bit, and she stuck it in the lock, then wiggled it around a bit before the door clicked.

"What kind of criminal double life have you been living?" Sweetie Belle asked, completely bewildered.

"Don't ask questions to things you don't want answers to," Apple Bloom said as she put her bobby pin back in her hair. She turned the doorknob. "Door's unlocked, Diamond."

"What the— How did you do that?!" Diamond exclaimed as the door came swinging open.

"Di, what are you doing cooped up in here like a..." Silver stopped speaking as soon as the girls walked in. "Oh."

Diamond stood before the group, dressed in a nightgown and wrapped up in her blankets. Her cheeks were stained from tears and her eyes were puffy and red, as if she had just been crying. She didn't look the big, mean bully that Sweetie had trouble remembering her as. She looked like the crying little filly that was onstage with her on opening night.

"I told you to leave!" Diamond exclaimed. "I don't want to see anypony!"

"Di, what's the matter with you?" Silver stepped forward. "I thought you said that you'd come to me if you got like this again!"

"Again?" the Cutie Mark Crusaders blurted out as a whole.

"What in the hay is goin' on?" Apple Bloom questioned.

"Why are they here?" Diamond demanded. "What gives you the right to bring in ponies without my permission?"

"Di, look, I know how you feel about visitors, but I kinda didn't have a choice," Silver told her. She pointed to Sweetie. "She's the one who brought them all here in the first place!"

Sweetie frowned at Silver, but she got over her anger as she looked at Diamond. "Diamond, we came because we were worried about you."

"I'm not," Scootaloo admitted.

Sweetie sighed. "OK, well I was worried about you, at least. You didn't even show up for curtain call and nopony's seen you at all since then. What's going on?"

Diamond scoffed. "Like you would ever understand how I feel. You don't know what it's like to feel how I do."

"Like you're better than everypony?" Scootaloo commented.

"Scoots, cool it!" Button said, pushing her shoulder a bit.

"What? I'm just being honest!"

"Scoots," Sweetie urged. She turned back to Diamond. "Seriously, what's going on? I mean, first you're nice to me, then you disappear, and now you won't even let anypony see you!"

Diamond glared at her. "You wouldn't understand."

Sweetie threw her hooves into the air. "Well, yeah, I don't understand! If something is wrong, you're supposed to tell somepony because guess what? We're not mindreaders!"

"Do you think that's a special talent one of us could get?" Scootaloo asked suddenly.

"Scoots, no," Apple Bloom groaned.

Diamond put her hooves to her head. "Enough! I want all of you out of here before I call Randolph in here to throw you out!"

"Even me?" Silver questioned, a little hurt by the statement.

"You let them come in here with you!" Diamond roared. "I can't believe you would do that after what happened last time!"

"Last time?" Scootaloo murmured. "Look, if this is about the time I cannon-balled into your pool and got everything wet, I already told you that I was sorry!"

"No, you twit!" Diamond shouted. "It's just—" She shook her head. "You know what, I don't have to explain myself to you! Just get out!"

Sweetie stood firmly. "No."

Diamond blinked in surprise, then resumed her glare. "No?"

"Yeah, no," Sweetie reiterated. "I have spent all these years wondering why you've been so awful to me and my friends for all these years. I spent so long wondering what was so wrong with me that you felt the need to tear me down and take away anything that might make me happy." She pointed at Button. "You made me compete for Button like he was a trophy! Who he wants to be with is his choice!"

"I know that now!" Diamond argued. "Besides, I don't want him anymore!"

"Exactly!" Sweetie exclaimed. "You don't want him anymore because you realized that you couldn't use him against me!"

Diamond was silent.

"Not to mention that you were mean to him and terrible to him, even after you admitted that you liked him." Sweetie glared at Diamond. "Did you really like him or did you just want him so I wouldn't have him?"

"Who are you to say such—" Diamond tried to interject.

"And then the play!" Sweetie continued on. "You couldn't even let me have that, could you? As soon as you saw me get Luna's part, you wanted to sabotage me! You made fun of me and made rehearsal a nightmare! The only time you ever listened to me was when Cheerilee wanted to change something in the play!"

"Because all of the ideas she had were awful and you were the only pony who understood why they were bad ideas!" Diamond snapped. "I may be self-centered, cruel, and downright rotten, but at least I know that excluding Luna's conversation with Clover to overthrow Celestia takes away from the entirety of the play itself!"

Sweetie was not amused. "And, then, because you were so intent on competing with me, I got caught up in the play and practically ditched my friends!"

"That was your own fault!" Diamond exclaimed.

"Yeah, it was!" Sweetie concurred, sounding bitter. "But what about how you ditched Silver Spoon?"

Diamond's face twisted into shock, her jaw dropping from sheer bewilderment.

"I may have ditched my friends, but at least I apologized to them." Sweetie looked at Silver. "You haven't even spoken to Silver since this whole play mess has started."

Diamond's face began to crease with apprehension. "I... I..."

Sweetie took a deep breath. "And, now, as I'm standing in front of you, after years of your relentless torment and cruel behavior for being a blank flank, I just have to ask..."

Diamond closed her eyes, as if she were bracing herself for a slap.

"Why did you act nice to me?"

Diamond looked up, her eyes widening. "What?"

Sweetie frowned, almost a bit sympathetically. "You were nice to me. On opening night. You were still sounding nasty, but you said nice things to me. You talked me down from an anxiety attack and you complimented me. You... You told me my special talent was singing."

"Wait, what?" Silver Spoon uttered, turning to Diamond with a shocked expression. "You told her that her special talent was singing?"

Diamond shuffled awkwardly, a sight that was not usually seen from the pretentious filly. "I... I just..." She sighed. "Do you have any idea how annoying it is, watching you all go on your stupid crusades for your marks?"

"Well, if what ya had to say in the past is any correlation—" Apple Bloom began to say, but Button put a hoof over her mouth.

"Dude, seriously, not cool," Button told her.

Diamond looked back at Sweetie. "It's just... I see all of you going through town all the time, trying to find something that you might be good at and it's just... So frustrating that you morons can't see what you're good at!"

"What do you know about what we're good at?" Scootaloo challenged. "You don't even know any of us."

Diamond glared at her. "You, Chicken, like to ride around and do tricks on your scooter. You can't fly, but you're good at that." She sighed and put a hoof to her face. "And yet you three thought it would be a good idea to put the most tone deaf of you all as the lead singer."

Scootaloo took a step towards her. "Trust me, I'm not tone deaf. I can hear that snippy tone of yours just fine."

"Not what that means," Button mumbled.

"She does have a point, though," Apple Bloom conceded. "Ah mean... You couldn't even write the song by yerself."

Scootaloo opened her mouth to argue, but then stopped. "OK, that's true... Sweetie had to help me with the lyrics. And the music." She rubbed the back of her head nervously. "I'm not good at playing the piano." She suddenly remembered who she was talking to and put on a mean face. "But, you told me that I was never going to learn how to fly and that it made me less of a Pegasus! What did that have to do with my special talent?"

Diamond winced a bit. "I said that to hurt you. It wasn't right of me and... I'm sorry."

Scootaloo's irises seemed to shrink as her eyes enlarged. "What?"

"I'm... sorry," Diamond repeated, with much more difficulty. "I was... I was envious of your routine. I only said that so you wouldn't win the competition and become flag carriers."

Scootaloo gaped. "You actually thought we could have won?"

"And you did, not shockingly." Diamond frowned. "I just wanted you guys to do something else... Something that wouldn't be as good."

"Yeah," Silver commented. "We were worried you guys would beat us." She grimaced a bit. "As much as I hate to admit it, you guys did a good job with your routine."

"Well... Thanks, if not a bit too late," Apple Bloom replied, not sure what else to say.

"But... If you hate us because we don't know what our talents are, why are you so intent on sabotaging us whenever we try to find them?" Button questioned, genuinely confused.

Diamond gave him a deadpan look. "Do you really think that zip lining is going to be your special talent?"

Button paused for a moment to think about it. "Not really... I just wanted to try it and see if anything happened."

"And that's where you're making your mistakes, you idiots!" Diamond cried out. "You're just looking for random things to do instead of focusing on what you're already good at! Like, do you really think that all four of you are going to get painting cutie marks?"

"Well... Not necessarily—" Apple Bloom tried to say.

"Yeah, because everypony is different and you four are all trying to do the same thing!" Diamond rubbed her hoof across her temple. "The whole point of a special talent is that it's a reflection of who you are! Not of your friends, not of your family, and not what they want you to be; a cutie mark is literally who you are!"

"But... Babs got her cutie mark while she was in Cutie Mark Crusaders and she told us that she got it when the Manehatten Branch decided to learn how to cut hair!" Apple Bloom protested. "So it can't be such a bad thing that she wanted to practice it with her friends!"

Silver Spoon groaned. "You idiots! Who do you think told her about hair cutting in the first place?"

The entire group of crusaders all dropped their jaws in shock. "What?"

Diamond flipped her mane. "Babs told me that she cut her own hair a lot of the time because her family couldn't afford haircuts and I was the one who told that maybe that would be her special talent." She sniffed. "Looks like I was right."

Apple Bloom's eye twitched. "Diamond... Tiara... helped my cousin... get her cutie mark... Ah... Ah think Ah need to sit down..."

"Wait, you actually helped Babs out?" Sweetie Belle blurted out. "Like, actually gave her advice? So I wasn't the first pony you helped?"

Diamond shook her head. "No. I felt bad for her and I didn't want your mentality to ruin her chances of getting her mark."

Sweetie frowned. "So, instead of actually giving us advice and being helpful, you decide to be cruel, manipulative, and abusive towards us? Really? Is that supposed to fix what you did?"

Diamond shook her head. "No... It won't fix how awful I acted towards you. I intentionally hurt you with full knowing of what might come of it and I can't excuse my behavior for that. I just... I didn't want to actually try to get close to you all. The last time I did that..."

"You said something about 'last time' when we first got here," Sweetie commented. "What's that about?"

Silver stepped up. "It's... a bit of a long story..."

Sweetie took a seat on the floor. "I got time. Rarity's going to be working late anyway and I bet she'd be happy to have me out of her mane for the rest of the evening."

Apple Bloom sighed. "Well, AJ ain't gon' like it, but Ah guess Ah'll stay. Ah'm curious."

"Same here," Button said, taking a seat beside Sweetie. "I'm kinda wondering what happened, too."

Scootaloo shrugged. "Sure, whatever."

Silver Spoon looked to Diamond Tiara. "Do you wanna start or should I?"

Diamond shook her head. "No... I'll start." She took a deep breath and put on a stoic face, much like the one Sweetie saw on opening night. "It all started when I first moved to Ponyville..."

Author's Note:

Yo, sorry to make y'all wait for another chapter, but I felt like I should stop here for now. Besides, the next chapter coming up is gonna be... interesting, to say the least.

Comments

[SuperPinkBrony12]

Ooh, this is getting interesting. Diamond Tiara's story sounds really promising.

[superfun]

Sweetie's eyes widened. 'What kind of evil mastermind have we been friends with?'

Honestly. I think all three members of the CMC are evil masterminds, and it's just that this version of Apple Bloom is already aware of it.

I hope AB was just kidding about her response to Sweetie's question about her leading a criminal double life... But that WOULD make an interesting side story to this series.

Also, I was actually half expecting Scootaloo to go hang out with Rainbow Dash instead of listening to Diamond's story.

Regardless, this will be an interesting thing to learn about this interpretation of Diamond Tiara.

[Jesse Coffey]

So it was thanks to her that the Babs Seed's potential got wrongfully wrecked too soon. No. Please tell me that they actually edited that scene out! I think when I buy Babs Seed out of Hasbro's Arms of Doom for Little Manehattenites, I might be taking her out of the Magical Beauty School of Total Self-Dictatorship and placing her right on the stage. That's where she belonged anyway --- I was born in NYC, where the questions "How much do you like fashion?" and "What do you think of the latest Broadway show?" are somewhat (though not too much) like the kind of thing that was attacked by the animated public television programme Arthur in its episode "Dear Adil"; in other words, they're stereotypes, and I don't think anybody at any time wanted Babs Seed getting into those. When I get ahold of the ownership rights for Babs Seed, the obvious stereotypes in her character will be no more. I think she has a much bigger dream: I think she should become a famous entertainer. That should be her. I think Sweetie Belle should not monopolize, but should have the honor of having quite friendly competition - I feel that Babs Seed makes an outstanding competitor with her (and the one who gets along with her rather well). In this day and age, having two fillies with the same talent and the same career helps them achieve great results because when they have the same knack, and they enjoy doing the same knack, they can get along great!

[Harmony Charmer]

6439018
I personally like to think that Babs would be a famous hair stylist. I wasn't all too happy with how the writers handled her mark, but in the comics a good while before the episode aired, they very much hinted at Babs being interested in cosmetology. Also, yeah, Diamond helping Babs get her cutie mark can be a good or bad thing depending on who you are.

[Jesse Coffey]

6439032

I personally like to think that Babs would be a famous hair stylist. I wasn't all too happy with how the writers handled her mark, but in the comics a good while before the episode aired, they very much hinted at Babs being interested in cosmetology.

I don't read the MLP comics. But Hasbro has one giant rule: DISTINGUISH MLP: THE TV PROGRAMME FROM MLP: THE COMIC BOOK. Hasbro's people made the mistake of disobeying this one rule, and, as it turns out, with an accomplice.

Diamond helping Babs get her cutie mark can be a good or bad thing depending on who you are.

And, of course, it makes the entirely horrible thing even worse for me since it presents my opponent in the Fight For Babs Seed's Justice, Hasbro, as having gone from making Diamond Tiara merely a bad girl to a vile, wicked person forcing her into a career and to get a cutie mark just because of the fact that she registered herself in the CMC according to this representation, because between the period of the "Apple Family Reunion" episode airing and the events of 18 April 2015, anyone who knows the two, along with many of Babs' big fans, including me, could very easily tell the two apart. But in the end, Diamond Tiara forcing Babs into a stylist role may actually help me. And for good reason: I'm trying to lure Babs Seed out of Hasbro's control and into mine simply because I want Babs to actually do something other than be a Big Ol' Stereotype anyway, and I'm very likely to succeed in buying Babs Seed away from Hasbro once one or more of their employees sees this chapter anyway because EVERYBODY KNOWS WHO DIAMOND TIARA IS BY NOW ANYWAY.

[ButtonMash]

Huh. No cheesy punchlines or revenge plots. And what makes me think it isn't all a lie is that she's telling the truth behind the crusaders. This is going to be fun!

[Widgity]

6439010
I second this! Need spinoff based around ABs secret life.

[Ded account]

I LOVE this