Boarding School

by HaloEssence111

Chapter Seven: A Whole lot of Trouble

Chapter Seven

After about twenty minutes of waiting, the bell finally rang, making Diamond jump a little. The classroom door opened and students filtered out, some stopping to jeer at Diamond's discomfort. Periwinkle also exited, stopping for a moment to stare at Diamond with a faceless expression. The last students out were Flicker and Lily, the former making an ugly face at Diamond before trotting away. Lily, however, bent down to Diamond's ear and whispered 'sorry' before scurrying after her friend.

Diamond got up and tried to leave before Ivory could call her in, but wasn't fast enough.

"Diamond, please come to my desk." said Ivory without looking up from her paperwork. Gulping, Diamond shuffled over to Ivory's desk and stared down at her hooves.

Ivory put away her papers and stared disapprovingly at Diamond.

"Diamond Tiara..." she started. "What in Equestria am I going to do with you?"

"But Miss Ivory-" Diamond started, her voice taking on a slightly whiny tone.

Ivory held a hoof up, instantly quieting Diamond. "No buts," she said. "In my classroom, I do not allow excuses."

"But do you allow explanations??" inquired Diamond, looking her teacher straight in the eye.

Ivory stared Diamond down for a moment, looking skeptical. Finally, she replied.

"Fine." she said slowly. "Explain to me what happened from your point of view. But let me tell you that I am not in the mood for nonsense, understand?"

"Yes ma'am." said Diamond. "But this is what happened..."

Diamond proceeded to tell Ivory how Flicker had thrown a note at her and, guessing what was written inside, had thrown it back but never thought of the possibility of being framed for throwing that note at Lily, especially when she had meant it to hit Flicker. Throughout her explanation, Ivory listened with rapt attention, never once averting her eyes from Diamond. Diamond noticed this, and felt a slight boost of confidence as she continued to tell her side of the story.

Once she had finished, Ivory took off her spectacles and cleaned them off with a small rag. She then put them back on, staring Diamond right in the eye with a serious expression on her face.

"Well, seeing as the accusations are circumstantial, and Flicker has a track record longer than the perimeter of this school, I'm considering letting you off this once."

Diamond breathed a sigh of relief. Finally, somepony believed her!

"But unfortunately, I can't do that."

Diamond's jaw dropped. "You mean- I'm still getting punished??? But I just told you, I didn't do anything! It was all Flicker!"

"Oh, Flicker..." Ivory thought out loud, rubbing her forehead with her hoof. "Sometimes I wonder why I don't just have her transferred to another class.." Ivory trailed off, her gaze shifting to nowhere. Diamond could've sworn that she saw her eyes flash a bright, subtle gold. Ivory shook her head.

"I lost my train of thought." she said. "What was I talking about? Ah yes, your punishment."

"Oh, come ON, Miss Ivory!" Diamond exclaimed, throwing her hoofs into the air exasperatedly. "You said it yourself! The evidence was circumstantial! You've got no reason to punish me for anything!"

Ivory sighed. "I know I don't Diamond, and trust me, I don't want to punish you. But from your records, you are here because you are a trouble kid, and I must make an example of trouble kids."

When her only reply from Diamond was a blank silence, Ivory sighed again and massaged her temples. "You don't know what a trouble kid is, do you?"

"I think I get the basic gist of it, but not really..."

"Well, around twenty years ago or so, a very wealthy stallion came to the school and offered us a very generous donation if we would allow his daughter, a juvenile delinquent, to attend the school and possibly be reformed. At that time, the school was failing and was on the brink of being closed, seeing as it was a finishing school for privileged fillies and most ponies either didn't had the money to go or just didn't care about being finished. There was only about fifty students at the time, when there should have been at the least three times that much.

"So our Headmistress, who had just been hired a few months prior, decided to allow it. The girl who came got her cutie mark here in writing songs and performing them, and devoted the rest of her life to making music. I believe you know her today as Sapphire Shores, the pony of pop."

"No way. Sapphire Shores went here???" said Diamond, her mouth wide open.

"Indeed she did. After she graduated and went on to become a star, heads began to turn. The courts especially started to take notice. So one day, the state judge came over with an offer. The courts would have the ability to refer any underprivileged or delinquent young girls to Roseberry's at extremely discounted rates, and in exchange the school would be provided with yearly grants from the state. Still desperate for funding, the headmistress accepted and the 'trouble kids' started pouring in."

"So this place just became a reform school?" asked Diamond.

"Not exactly. You see, there were still some families who wanted to send their girls in to become proper ladies. Obviously you can imagine how concerned some parents got when they heard that the school as admitting delinquents, so at their request the two groups were separated. The Headmistress had to oblige, or risk losing the tuition money that came from Canterlot elites and other rich parents. Each group was put into different sides of the dorms and the most of the classes were separated. They still shared the same common room and a few classes, but that was the only thing they had in common. Things have become a bit more lax in recent years, but you can still see the effects from it.

"And that, Diamond, is why I have to make an example of you. If I let this go unpunished and anyone else finds out, then ponies may start to think that it's okay to do what you were accused of because they think I might let it slide, and I cannot allow that to happen. I'm very sorry, but I don't think that I can do much." Ivory looked regretful, but at the same time, serious about her decision.

Diamond wasn't giving up. "What if you just say that you punished me, but really just let me leave?"

Ivory thought this over for a little while. "Hmm... you might be on to something, Diamond. Here." she said, tossing a candy wrapper on the ground.

"Go pick that up please." she said. Diamond did as she was told, scooping up the wrapper and placing in the trash bin.

"There, now you can tell everypony that I made you clean my office." said Ivory, covering her mouth with her hoof and chuckling a little. Diamond grinned. She liked this mare.

"Thanks, Miss Ivory." she said. "Can I go now? I have to get to my next class soon."

"It's may I go, and yes, you may. I'll be seeing you period seven."

Diamond turned around, slightly confused. "What's period seven?"

"The etiquette and street law class that I teach. All the trouble kids are required to take it, and there's only one period for the sixth graders." said Ivory, starting back on her paperwork. "Now run along to your next class, please. It's going to start soon."

Diamond looked at the wall clock above her teacher's desk and was slightly taken aback by it. She had about five minutes left to get to class before she'd be late.

Diamond quickly gathered her books and supplies into her saddlebags and slung it over her back. She thanked Ivory and dashed out of the room, her main concern getting to class before the bell made her late. The last thing I need is to get in trouble with another teacher today. she thought.

Once she was outside the classroom, however, she bumped right into Periwinkle.

"Hey! Watch where your- Oh hi, Diamond." said Periwinkle, her glowering sneer melting into a small smile.

"Hey, Periwinkle." said Diamond, getting up from where she had fallen. "I'm in a hurry to get to class... do you know where the gym is? I have Phys Ed next."

"Oh yeah, it's about two hallways down and to the left. Big double doors, can't miss 'em."

"Thanks Periwinkle." said Diamond, smiling. "I'll see you later, right?"

"Uh, no offense Diamond, but I'm a prefect, and prefects don't exactly hang around underclassmen, if you get my drift. Nothing against you, but that's just how it works, okay?"

"Um, okay." said Diamond, a little hurt by this. Didn't Periwinkle think her cool enough to hang out with the 8th graders?

"Not that I don't think you're really mature for your age." said Periwinkle, looking at the ceiling absentmindedly. "But I don't really think you've made it to sitting-at-my-table-for-meals status. Hey! How about you meet me in the Library this Thursday for a study session? All the teachers are required to give a quiz every Friday, so maybe I can help you with some of the material that you don't understand."

"That sounds awesome!" said Diamond, her grin returning. Finally, somepony was acknowledging her!

"Great. I'll see you then, 'kay?" said Periwinkle.

"O-Okay!" said Diamond. "Well, I've got to get to class before the bell ri-"

BRRRRIIINNNGG...

"Oh, crap..." thought Diamond aloud, facehoofing. "I gotta go. Later, Periwinkle."

Diamond dashed off, desperate to get to class before she could be any more late. But she couldn't help but notice the unusual look that Periwinkle was giving her as she rushed away.

***

"3 more laps, Princess, come on!"

As punishment for being late, Diamond was running laps around the gym. Thankfully Mal was in her class this time, so at least she'd have a friend around if she could ever get these laps done. On the other hoof, however, Gingersnap was also in here.

That'll be fun, having my arch enemy in my worst class with me. thought Diamond. She had never been one for sports in the past, almost always having some excuse not to participate in PE back in Ponyville. I wonder if the coach will fall for me "spraining" my hoof.

While running, Diamond took the extra time to think about what Ivory had said about the Trouble kids. It's not fair. We get separated from all the regular students just because of what did to get here. That's like discrimination or something!

You wouldn't be thinking like that if you weren't a trouble kid. she argued to herself.

Well... that doesn't matter! It's still not fair the way that they treat us!

But it does matter. If you wouldn't care about this if you weren't here, then what makes you think anyone else will?

Diamond gritted her teeth in frustration. Shut up, me.

She completed the remainder of her laps in silence. Once she had finished, she maneuvered her way over to where Mal was sitting on the bleachers. "Geez, is she always this harsh to late students?" asked Diamond.

"Nope. Sometimes she's worse."

"I was afraid of that." said Diamond. She blew a strand of hair out of her face. "So what now? Do we just sit here or something?"

"For now. In a minute, we'll go to the locker room to change into our gym clothes." said Mal, smirking at Diamond's shocked expression.

"You're kidding. You're kidding, right???" said Diamond. "We already have these... these... rags... to wear on a daily basis! Are they trying to torture m- us???"

Mal shrugged. "Makes no difference to me."

The coach tweeted her whistle, and the class was herded into the locker rooms. Diamond went to follow Mal, but her friend shook her head.

"You haven't got a uniform yet, and they'll deduct points if you walk out of here not wearing one." she said. "Go see Coach Dawn and she'll give you your uniform."

Diamond sighed, moving to leave the locker room. When she returned to the gym, the Coach was sifting through her clipboard and didn't see her. "Ahem." said Diamond, clearing her throat loudly. The Coach whipped around, her sharp black eyes piercing Diamond and causing her to cringe back.

"Yes? What is it?" Dawn demanded, towering high over Diamond. The filly fell back, intimidated. "Spit it out, child, I have work to do."

"Um, yes, well, you see..." said Diamond, unsure of how to begin. "I, um, don't have a uniform, so um, like, I was like, told that you would give me one, you know, if like, you aren't too busy..." she said, her voice trailing off. Geez, I sound like Fluttershy. Get a grip on yourself, Diamond. She's just a Coach.

An utterly terrifying Coach.

"Quite right." said Dawn. "Follow me, I'll see if we have something in your size." She trotted briskly over to her office, Diamond following close behind. Dawn opened a large closet in the corner, stocked with neatly folded uniforms, safety equipment, first aid kits, and other athletic supplies.

"Waist and leg length?" asked Coach Dawn pointedly.

"Um... 45, 32." said Diamond, slightly caught off guard. The Coach scanned the uniforms briefly, before selecting one in the middle row and handing it to Diamond. It had dark hunter green mesh shorts with an elastic waistband, and a maroon cotton crew neck t-shirt with 'Madame Roseberry's School for Girls' printed on the back in matching hunter green lettering. This ensemble actually made Diamond feel physically sick.

"This will be a bit bigger on the waist, but it will work." she said. "Uniforms come with tuition, so you don't have to pay for this. However, if this gets damaged, you will have to buy a new one with your own money. Your locker number is 259, and the combination is 5-27-47. Now go get changed, you have precisely 6 and a half minutes until you have to do another five laps."

At this, Diamond hurried out of Dawn's office, hastily muttering 'thank you' on her way out. She ran into the locker room, quickly finding her locker and beginning to undress. She punched in the combination hurriedly, and threw in her blouse, sweater, skirt and shoes. Trying her best not to gag, she pulled on the hideous shorts and t-shirt. She heard Coach Dawn tweet her whistle, and the class shuffled back out to the gym, herding Diamond along with them.

Diamond found Mal promptly, sitting and talking to Scarlet and Rose Breeze. "Hey, guys." she said, the girls murmuring greetings. Diamond looked around. Gingersnap and her crew were sitting on the other side of the bleachers, near Germy, Quirky, and the twins, who were humming like bees. Closer to Diamond was a group of girls she recognized as Trouble kids. In fact, the whole gym seemed to be mainly comprised of Trouble kids, with a few normal looking fillies scattered throughout.

"Hey Mal," said Diamond, tapping Mal's shoulder. She turned around. "Yeah?"

"Quick question- where are all the preps and nerds and stuff?"

"That's right, you don't know." said Mal, slapping her hoof against her forehead. "Gym is one of the classes where the normal students and us are separated. I don't think the Headmistress really wanted any lawsuits when she decided to let delinquents attend here."

"Makes sense when you think about." said Scarlet. "I mean, seriously, who'd want their kid being pounded into the ground by some juvie filly anyway?"

Diamond tensed at this. "W-what do you mean, p-pound into the ground?"

Scarlet laughed. "Pfft, come on Diamond, do you really think that the Trouble kids are going to play nice??? I mean, look over there," she said, pointing to a filly with a grayish green mohawk with dark purple stripes. She was a dark, grayish tan, with ink-black zebra stripes in intricate designs all over her body. She was talking quietly with some friends while slowly sharpening an obsidian-plated steel switchblade. Dark circles were under her dark raspberry colored eyes, as if she hadn't slept in a long while.

"That's Kesi." said Scarlet. "She's from Las Pegasus, not Zebraca, if you were wondering. She lived in my old neighborhood, just outside the glitz and glam of the city. We hung out some, but never really got to be friends. About three or four years ago, she and her gang got caught during a heist, and with her being the only girl that got caught, she got sent here. Heck, she's one of the only ones who's been here longer than Mal!"

Mal grunted in response, but Diamond kept her gaze on Scarlet. "So, what's your point?"

"Take a good, long look at that switchblade. Now imagine what that blade could do if you pissed it's owner off."

Diamond's blood ran cold. Scarlet couldn't possibly mean what she thought she meant...

"Are you saying..."

"Yup. That little beauty has scarred more than one student. Kesi was the one who put that scar on Nettle Blossom over there." She pointed to the filly who Mal identified as one of the leaders of the Troublemakers the day before. "I wasn't there to see the fight, but from what I hear, seven teachers had to pry them apart and they each got the ice box experience, plus morning and evening detentions for a month. Earned them both some serious street cred, even if it meant hard time."

Diamond turned to Mal, her eyes silently asking for an explanation of whether this was true or not.

"She's not lying, if you're wondering." said Mal. "I saw it all happen last winter, and it would've gotten pretty bloody if one of the nerds hadn't squealed and led the teachers to the fight."

Diamond shuddered, then tried to hide it with a sneer. "Okay, I get it. Little prissy rich kids can't handle getting rough. Makes enough sense."

Rose and Scarlet took one look at each other, then back at Diamond. Rose snorted, and the two burst into uproarious laughter, much to Diamond's chagrin.

"What? What'd I say?" said Diamond huffily.

Between laughs, Rose managed to answer.

"No (snort) offense, Diamond, but... you're kinda one of those (snort) prissy little rich kids. The difference between you and them is that you actually committed a sorta-crime to get here and thus get zero protection."

"Speaking of zero protection..." said Scarlet, cringing and pointing to where Coach Dawn was pulling out a mesh bag filled with dozens of red rubber balls. Rose moaned and hid her face in her hooves, mumbling 'Why?' over and over again. Mal simply rolled her yes as if she was bored. Diamond was confused. Okay, so we're playing something with balls. What's their deal?

Dawn gave an earsplitting blast from her whistle, and almost immediately the loud chatter of the gym quieted down.

"Alright everyone, you know the drill. Line up for Monday dodge ball!"

A collective groan rose up from the bleachers, and Dawn gave another deafening blow on her whistle. "That's enough!" she shouted. "Now I'll be choosing the teams today. On the red team, Gingersnap! On the blue team, Nettle Blossom!" she continued to list off the ponies for each team. Rose Breeze was placed in the blue team with Mal, and little while later, Scarlet was settled into the red team. Despite two of her friends being on the blue team, Diamond kept praying that she would be placed on the red. She could only imagine the horror if she had to go up against Gingersnap.

"Red, Skyward Wind! Blue, Kesi! Red, Diamond Tiara!"

Diamond let out a breath of relief. Oh, thank goodness... she thought, walking over to join her teammates. She made sure, however, to stand as far away as possible from Gingersnap.

Dawn finished calling the names for the teams, and dumped out a huge bin of red rubber dodge balls, scattering an equal amount on both sides. She blew her whistle, and the game began.

Immediately, missile-like spheres flew through the air, threatening to smack Diamond in the face. Instinctively, she ducked down, narrowly dodging the ball. She army-crawled towards the sidelines, grabbing a ball and hurling at anything or anyone.

After throwing some more balls and dodging several more, Diamond started to get into the game. Pretty soon, there were only a couple of players left on each side, and more balls near the middle of the gym. Diamond dashed to grab one, and raised it above her to throw at one of the blue players.

Pow!

A ball smacked the back of her head, the impact causing her to drop her ball and fall forward, face planting on the slick gym floor. Her head throbbed, and she felt a bump forming both where she had fallen and where the dodge ball had hit her. Her head pounded, and her eyes streamed from the pain.

Diamond could hear the tweet of Coach Dawn's whistle and began to piece herself together, trembling. Sweet Celestia, that had hurt. But the blow had come from behind, and she had been facing the blue team's side...

"GINGERSNAP!" Dawn barked. "What was THAT??? You know the rules! No headers, and for pete's sake, don't go hitting people on your own TEAM!"

"I'm sorry," said Gingersnap, glancing over at Diamond with a fire in her eyes. "She shouldn't have gotten in my way." Diamond shuddered, catching the double meaning in her words.

"No excuse! Bleachers, now!" Dawn pointed over to the bleachers, her lips pressed thinly together. Gingersnap sauntered over smugly, deliberately bumping into Diamond's side on the way. Dawn briskly walked over to Diamond, took out a small flashlight, and shone it in her eyes.

"Well, you don't have a concussion, so that's good." said Dawn, putting away the flashlight. "But you should probably sit the rest of this game out, to be safe. Go to the bleachers." Diamond did as she was told, her head still throbbing.

She didn't pay much attention to the rest of the game. She couldn't think of anything else except that Gingersnap was a huge jerk, and that her head really hurt.

After what seemed like an eternity (but what was really 15 minutes), the game ended, and the fillies were all herded back into the locker room to change. Diamond finished changing quickly, then waited by the gym doors, ready to leave the minute the bell rang. Mal, Scarlet, and Rose Breeze soon joined her.

"Wow, Diamond, that's some bruise you got there." said Scarlet, pointing at Diamond's forehead. A light purple bruise had developed right below her hairline, a little bit darker than her mane color. Great, she thought, disgruntled. Now I can go through the day being a trouble kid who looks like she got in a fight. Perfect.

The bell rang, interrupting her thoughts. Students rushed past her, almost knocking Diamond over in their desire to get to their next class.

"I got History next. How about you?" asked Mal.

"Hey, me too!" replied Diamond happily. "Room 210, right?"

"Yup. Come on, let's hurry or we'll be late."

Diamond and Mal walked out of the Gym together, Diamond not feeling much like talking. Mal seemed to understand this, and left Diamond alone for the time being. Diamond felt grateful for this; the last thing she wanted to do was talk about Gingersnap's victory over her.

But she'll give up sooner or later. She's bound to get tired of ragging on me sometime.

Right?

Author's Note:

Very sorry this chapter took so long to publish. My computer broke down and it's taken a long time to fix. I've also been busy editing my friend Sparkler774's story, For the Love of Food and Friendship.

OC Ponycodes:

Coach: 3B3R000000CAFBFCFFC49D00A01000000KE183750400000141FEBDF20000001E107F3FCC004CB2

Kesi:
2S4H0000017C5E3C00000001601AA162FHI1735504000001H1737C4F3D093105107F3FCC004CB2

Comments

[IanRises]

Why is this labeled as "Mystery Thriller"?

[HaloEssence111]

6725535 You'll see.

[IanRises]

6725936 So it's essentially a spoiler for a thing that hasn't been written yet?

[Architect Ironturtle]

I reviewed your story. You can find it here.

[HaloEssence111]

7059426 Thanks, I've been waiting for it to be reviewed for a long time.

[Butterscotch Moonglow]

I really liked the extra touch of Diamond Tiara being able to tell the coach her measurements when he asks her unexpectedly; it definitely added a little bit more accuracy to the character.