Boarding School

by HaloEssence111

Chapter Three: Welcome to Roseberry's

Chapter Three

Diamond Tiara trotted down the hallway to the admissions office. The map that the Headmistress had given her was complicated, there being three floors of the school. After a few minutes of searching, however, Diamond finally found the admissions office. Creaking open the hefty door, she peered around the inside of the front office.

A red velvet davenport was pushed against a window, and a mahogany coffee table sitting in front of it. A ticking clock hung on one of the dark wooden walls. A pale pink unicorn mare sat at a matching desk, working at a typewriter while sorting several piles of paperwork with her magic. Her mane and tail were a lush, chocolaty brown, her mane in a stylish pixie cut while her tail was only brushed. She had soft lavender eyes, her magical aura an identical shade. Overall, an attractive-looking pony.

"Um... hi?" said Diamond rather uneasily. The mare looked up from her work, surprised.

"Oh, hello." she said, giving a warm smile to the obviously nervous filly. "I'm Lavender, the secretary around here. Who are you?"

"...Diamond Tiara." said the filly suspiciously, rather confused by the mare's friendly approach. After her meeting with the Headmistress, she had thought that all of the staff was going to be harsh and intimidating.

"Now, I presume that the Headmistress sent you in for something?"

Diamond nodded.

"And what might that be?" asked Lavender.

"T-the Headmistress told me to come here and ask for a prefect to show me around the school."

Lavender brightened. "Ah, so you're a new student, are you? Well don't worry, I'll have a prefect here in no time." At this, she turned to her typewriter and quickly whipped out a typed document. Lavender lifted it up in her aura, closed her eyes, then smiled when the paper popped out of existence. Noticing Diamond's bewildered expression, Lavender laughed then said, "Oh, don't worry. I just sent it off to one of the prefects. Somepony will be here shortly."

Diamond nodded, then went to sit down on the velvet sofa.

Diamond Tiara peered around the office. She started noticing things she hadn't before, such as the great lengths Lavender seemed to go to to personalize her office space. Photographs of what seemed to be friends and family members were taped to the wall, and a pale pink and black dust ruffle adorned Lavender's desk edge. But although there was a lot of things decorating the office, it was all very neat and organized.

"Um, I'm here for the new student?"

Diamond snapped out of her pondering, and looked to see where the voice had come from. At the door leading to the hallway, there stood a periwinkle unicorn with a short mint and pale pink mane. Her mane and tail were fluffy and brushed to perfection, and a pair of small, square-shaped glasses perched on her nose in front of light violet eyes. She had a cordial but mature sort of voice, and in her mane were two light pink barrettes. Almost everything about the young mare seemed to project an aura of confidence and warm friendliness. Diamond felt a surge of fondness for her. The filly smiled politely at Diamond.

"Hello, there. I'm Periwinkle. You're new here, right?" Diamond nodded. "What's your name?"

"Diamond. Diamond Tiara."

"Okay then, Diamond-Diamond Tiara, let's get going. You have your schedule with you, right?" Diamond nodded and scurried after her as they departed the main office.

"So you're, like, gonna show me around the school or something?" asked Diamond.

"Yep. So, the first floor's mostly just offices, teacher's quarters, and a couple of classrooms, so we don't need to spend much time around here for now." They briefly went over Diamond's schedule and Periwinkle pointed out where one of her classes would take place. Soon it was time to move on the the second floor.

"Don't you guys have any elevators?" asked Diamond as she gazed up in horror at the hundreds of stairs.

Periwinkle chuckled. "Nope, sorry. By the way, if anyone ever tries to sell you a map to the 'secret elevator', don't fall for it. You'll have to learn to mind the stairs."

Once they had trudged up the steps, Periwinkle cheerfully began to outline the second story. While the first floor had mainly consisted of offices and such, the second consisted entirely of study areas, labs and more classrooms than she could count. Diamond peered around into each room, wondering about which ones she'd be entering come Monday. Periwinkle's descriptions of each weren't exactly what Diamond would've thought particularly interesting, but she listened anyway, considering that she might need the information later on.

"... and over there are the 6th grade homerooms, where you'll probably be. Each grade is split into two homerooms, except for the fourth and third grade, who only have one."

"Wait, so how many grades are taught here?

Periwinkle smiled, as if she had been half-expecting this question. "At Madame Roseberry's, the grade levels range from 3rd to 8th. There's about twenty to thirty fillies to a class, and about 60 or so to a grade. We have to have it that way, otherwise we'd have to fit all 384 students in one room. Why, don't you know how the classroom system works?"

Diamond Tiara shook her head. "No... in my town, there's only a one-room schoolhouse, and only about twelve fillies and colts in all. And every subject was taught by the same teacher. So we don't have the... classroom system, I guess."

Periwinkle thought this over. "Wait... where exactly do you live? Most cities have to use the system or else it would all be one big jumble."

"Well, I don't live in a city, exactly, I live in Ponyville, practically the blandest town ever. The only exciting thing that's happened in the time I've lived there is, one, I was born, and two, Twilight Sparkle came and gave Nightmare Moon an epic beat down. Then she went and opened up some lame-o library inside a tree. Boring, right?"

Periwinkle didn't answer for a moment, sort of staring out into the distance. Diamond turned around; there was nothing there.

"Um... are you okay?"

Periwinkle snapped out of it. "Sorry about that, just thinking for a second. Let's move on, shall we?"

Periwinkle finished up with the second floor and moved on to the third. The third floor, unlike the first or second, was comprised entirely of dorm rooms. Each room had a number over top and four names listed on the door.

"Now," said Periwinkle. "Kindly allow me to see your class schedule." Diamond complied, reaching into her saddlebags and pulling out the paper the Headmistress had given her. Periwinkle took it up in her magic and looked it over.

"Hmm... It looks like you're in dormitory number fifteen." said Periwinkle, her eyes scanning over the paper and then handing it back to Diamond Tiara when she was done. Periwinkle led Diamond to her dormitory but stopped outside the door. "Now, I'm guessing that you can take care of yourself from here? Your luggage has been magically transported into your room. Make yourself comfortable; you'll be living in this room till the end of the year. Dinner is at 6:00 sharp, so don't be late. If you need anything or are confused, come find me or one of the other prefects, we'll be happy to help." At this, Periwinkle teleported away, leaving Diamond alone in front of her dorm room.

Feeling a twinge of loneliness, Diamond pushed open the door, seeing a very short hallway. On each side was a door with two names, and at the end of the hallway was a small bathroom. The right side, there was the number fourteen above the door and the names Rose Breeze and Dew Drop on the door, but that held no interest to Diamond. On the left side however, there was the number fifteen and the Diamond Tiara on a sign. There was a second name adjacent to her's but it was scribbled out in black permanent marker.

Diamond pushed open the left-hoof door, only to find a reddish-brown pony going through some certain bubblegum-pink bags. Her mane was uncombed and messy, something Diamond was sure would be frowned upon in such a neat, tidy place like this.

"What in Celestia..?!" said Diamond Tiara, mouth gaping at the filly who seemed to be going through her things. "What in Tartarus are you doing??! Get out of my stuff!"

The reddish-brown earth pony whipped around, her dark, muddy green eyes calm and calculating. She was grinning slyly, her expression staying the same even when she saw Diamond.

Diamond scowled darkly at her. How dare she mess with her personal belongings! How dare she!

"Ahem... What exactly are you doing? 'Cause that's my stuff you're messing with, you know."

"Oh! Yeah, sorry 'bout that." The filly had a slight Manehatten accent, and Diamond noticed now that she looked rather ashamed now that Diamond had caught her.

Diamond Tiara squinted her eyes at the filly suspiciously. "Why were you even doing it in the first place? It's my stuff, not yours."

The filly smirked. "Hey, don't go blaming me, Princess. I'm klepto; you're rich. That don't mix well."

Diamond contemplated this. She didn't want to believe her, but somehow she felt herself succumbing to the filly's words. Either she was a masterful liar... or she was telling the truth. Diamond decided to give her the benefit of the doubt this time.

"Fine." said Diamond. "Let's say I do believe you. I still want you to give me back my goods, so fork it over."

The filly grimaced and rolled her eyes, but dug under one of the twin beds in their dorm. Out came the stationary, the pen, some of the bedding, and the hat. Diamond looked in her almost empty suitcase. All that was left were the extra uniforms.

"All my goods." she snarled.

The filly scowled and stuck out her tongue, but brought out the winter coat and boots from under the bed. Diamond checked off her short inventory in her head, then smiled. "Good." she said. "That's much better. Now where were we... ah, yes. I'm Diamond Tiara Rich, and you are...?"

The reddish-brown filly smiled impishly, then held out her hoof. "I like the way you work. Mal Cutpurse, thief extraordinaire. Sorry 'bout the suitcase thing, by the way. Couldn't help myself."

"All is forgiven." said Diamond smiling. Suddenly, however, a dark look came upon her face. "But if you ever, ever, EVER," she said, backing Mal against a wall. "Even THINK about stealing from me ever again, you'll regret you ever crossed me, get the point?!"

Suddenly, Mal burst out laughing, much to Diamond Tiara's anger and surprise. "Why are you laughing?!" screamed Diamond furiously. "I'm TRYING to be serious here!" This only made Mal laugh even harder than before.

"S-sorry," said Mal, her voice shaking with laughter. "But you just sound so ridiculous!"

"'Ridiculous'?! Whaddaya mean, ridiculous?!" said Diamond Tiara furiously. She hated it when other ponies laughed at her.

"Exactly what is sounds like, toots. That little statement of your's ain't gonna get you nowhere 'round here."

"And before you start," said Mal when Diamond opened her mouth to speak. "If that was a tactic ya used at your old school, then it sure as heck ain't gonna work here. Kids around here are tough, and most of 'em ain't gonna take nothing from some spoiled rich brat like you. So I suggest ya' get smart and get tough like the rest of 'em. It's the only way to survive 'round here."

Diamond analyzed this. If the methods she used to intimidate the kids in her old class didn't work here, then she was going to have to come up with a new system. But she'd have to work fast; her father had always told her that first impressions are everything in the business world, so school should be no different, right?

"What do you mean, 'tough'?" asked Diamond, her voice taking a rather shrewd tone now.

"I'm guessing that you got in trouble at your old school," she said, momentarily avoiding the question. "You're already rich, so it wouldn't be for stealing, at least not anything big enough to land you in this kind of trouble, and I doubt you'd be the kind of filly to cause property damage. So I'll bet that either you got framed as revenge for something else, or you went too far in asserting yourself and somepony got hurt. How'm I doin' so far?"

Diamond just nodded, amazed at how close to the mark she had gotten.

"Judging by the way you were talking to me just now, I'd bet that whatever happened was your fault. I'd also bet that this 'somepony' had been your punchin' bag for awhile and you felt they had it coming, even though they probably didn't."

Diamond was offended at this. "That's not true! Apple Bloom tried to tackle me to the ground, so of course she deserved whatever happened to her!"

"Apple Bloom, eh? Country name. That means that you probably don't live in the city. However, you'd also have to at least live in a town, otherwise you wouldn't have enough ponies your age for a school to get kicked out of. The only small towns I can think of like that are Appleloosa, Dodge Junction, or Ponyville. Any of those ring a bell?"

"Ponyville. How are you doing-"

"This?" she interrupted. "I can read ponies. Comes in handy when you grow up on the streets of Manehatten. Always been able ta' do it. Like for example, when I told you you were asserting yourself and you went too far, your eyes lit up. That told me I was on the right track. Two or three lucky guesses later and you practically spilled your whole life story right in front of me. It helps that you have no poker face whatsoever, not to mention I got to see in your suitcase before you got here."

Diamond grimaced. Was she really that easy to read?

"And the answer to that is: yes, you are."

Diamond was astonished. "Wha- but I didn't even say anything!" she sputtered, her pink cheeks blushing red.

"You didn't need to. Like I said, your poker face needs work."

Diamond sat down on the right-side twin bed. She couldn't believe that she could be read so easily. And like her father had said, first impressions were everything.

"You done sulking yet?" Mal said simply. "Cause I still have to show you around school before you can get settled in."

"I already saw the school." Diamond stated, sounding bored. "They had one of the prefects to show me where everything is."

Mal Cutpurse smirked, "No, that was the building, I'm gonna show you the school. C'mon, we've got a lot of material to cover so try and keep up."

Well, I've got nothing else to do. Why not?

And with that, she followed her out, off to see her new school in all it's glory.

Author's Note:

From the Editor:

Next stop, psychos everywhere. Have fun! Moowahahahaha!!!

Comments

[LuluCalliope]

Don't worry, I wasn't thinking about ships! I hope Diamond makes some allies and takes down Periwinkle!

[Sparkler774]

5553030 Why would she need to take down Periwinkle..?

[LuluCalliope]

5553057 She's going to be Diamond's rival...I can sense it... *Pinkie Sense*

[HaloEssence111]

5553214 Well, you sensed wrong.

AAAAH!!!! I SAID TOO MUCH!!!! NO MORE SPOILERS!!!!

[TheFanficFanPony]

At first I thought Mal was Babs...

[HaloEssence111]

5568632 What do you mean?

[TheFanficFanPony]

5569849

Reddish-Brown, Manehatten

[HaloEssence111]

5571941 oh. well, I assure you, Mal is definitely not Babs.

[HapHazred]

Finished reading everything here with regards to your submission to Olympus.

I have to admit, this was a vast improvement from the previous one. However, I'm personally unable to decide whether to reject this story or not: it has high points and low points that make me deciding what to do with it almost impossible, so I'm going to have to find another admin to help me decide.

In the meantime, here's the review I made on this story.

I'm sorry for being so indecisive, but I really hope to see you continue to show this level of improvement across stories.

[Starlight Nova]

5587442 What is Olympus?