Tiara in the Rough

by Locomotion

Chapter 2: A Messy Break-Up

Diamond Tiara was still in a foul mood when she arrived for school the following morning. As if being insulted by Lickety-Split and a blank-flank wasn't bad enough, a rather rude teenager had pushed in front of her in the queue at Sugarcube Corner, and by the time she reached the front, Shady Daze had already bought the cream horn she had had her eye on all the while. But even more upsetting was that First Base, a keen baseball fan, had made a cheeky remark of his own about posh ponies always coming last. The pink-furred filly had tried to retaliate by mocking him for liking colts, but her mean remarks were drowned by laughter from the other customers.

Throughout the first classes of the day, Silver Spoon couldn't help feeling rather nervous as she stole the odd glance upon Diamond Tiara. From the angry scowl on her friend's face, perhaps letting the truth out about her crush wouldn't be such a good idea after all; but at the same time, a small part of her was itching to scream it from the rooftops, and she didn't know if she could hold herself back for very long. Only at recess did she finally allow herself to say anything, and even then it was little more than a simple “Everything okay, Diamond Tiara?”

The pink-furred filly snarled inwardly. “Stupid Lickety-Split! Stupid First Base!” she griped. “Thinking they can speak to me like that! I'll give those losers something to make fun of one day!”

“Yeah, well...I don't see that happening with Lickety,” mused Silver Spoon unhappily. “You know how hard it is to annoy him.”

“So what?!” growled Diamond Tiara, frustrated. “Nopony with a brain should insult a rich filly like us! It's the principal of the matter!”

“Nopony with a brain, huh? Careful what you say, Diamond – to hear you talk, anypony might think you lacked one yourself,” chuckled a certain other voice.

Diamond Tiara seethed with rage. “You take that back, Lickety-Split!” she shouted.

“Only if you take back everything you've said about Sweetie-Belle first – and then some,” replied Lickety-Split calmly, and trotted away to join his fillyfriend.

Silver Spoon sighed and rolled her eyes, pretending to sound exasperated in the hope of diffusing Diamond Tiara's wrath. “Some ponies,” she muttered wearily.

But Diamond Tiara wasn't listening – such was her annoyance with Lickety-Split that she was now determined to get her own back somehow. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Featherweight talking gloomily with Shady Daze, and decided to listen in on their conversation.

Featherweight sighed and nodded thoughtfully. “I guess you've got a point, Shady,” he murmured. “To be fair, it was more Loco's doing than mine...”

“Yeah, but so what?” insisted Shady Daze. “If it hadn't been for you, Miss Cheerilee probably wouldn't have believed him. You were there – you were living proof of what Diamond Tiara had been up to, and if you hadn't grassed on her, Apple Bloom and her pals would still be up to their necks in it! You take my advice, buddy,” he encouraged, “you just go and talk to that filly. You'd be surprised.”

This prompted a devilish smirk from Diamond Tiara. By the sound of it, Featherweight was clearly having trouble dealing with his feelings for Apple Bloom, particularly because she had been holding a torch for some other colt in their school. “Not on my watch you don't,” she gloated.

“Wait a minute, Diamond,” interrupted Silver Spoon, confused, “I thought you were planning revenge on Lickety-Split and First Base, not playing with Featherweight's head.”

“Who cares?” scoffed Diamond Tiara dismissively. “He's friends with them both, isn't he? Besides, one little dweeb is as good as another.”

But she had reckoned without Locomotion. The red-furred unicorn railway enthusiast was having an idle chat with Button “High Score” Mash nearby, mostly about video games and a new class of engine that was due to enter service.

“According to Max, my superintendent,” Locomotion explained further, “these new 484P Class engines they're introducing will be able to take 22-coach expresses over the Long Draft unaided. How about that for powerful, eh?”

“That many, huh?” remarked Button Mash, visibly impressed.

“Yeah, and that's not all – they're gonna be naming them after some of our royalty!” Locomotion's eyes lit up with delight. “Means our own resident princess gets an engine named after her at long last, and if they do well enough, ENR might be building a batch named...” but he broke off when he heard a familiar voice.

Button Mash heard the voice too, and rolled his eyes. “Aw, jeez,” he groaned, “not Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon again.”

“Ah, let it go, High Score,” said Locomotion, waving the two fillies away dismissively. “Same old stuck-up heaps of self-importance and all that. They'll get tired of it soon.”

But he was wrong. Instead of a smart comeback from their prey, all he heard was further taunting from Diamond Tiara, and in the end, he was forced to look over his shoulder and see what was going on.

“Oh, I'm so sorry you can't seem to find yourself a fillyfriend. Still, hardly surprising – who would want to make friends with somepony so skinny and weak as you, after all?”

Locomotion's eye twitched. It didn't take a genius to work whom they were teasing and why. “Oh...you did not just cross the line!” he hissed fiercely.

“Yeah, who indeed?” added Silver Spoon feebly. Deep down, she felt a horrible pang of guilt just from looking at Featherweight's downtrodden expression – clearly he was having a hard enough time dealing with seemingly unrequited feelings, just the same as she was herself, without Diamond Tiara rubbing it in still further. The only difference was that she might be worse off than if she revealed those feelings. If only there was a way around it, she wondered.

Even if Locomotion knew what she was thinking, however, he couldn't care less. There was no way he was going to let poor little Featherweight suffer like this. “Right!” he declared decisively. “Enough is enough!” and he marched sternly towards the two fillies.

“Let's face it, no way is that physique good for anything,” went on Diamond Tiara in a pitying tone. “I'm surprised you haven't broken any bones yet – with so little muscle on that frame of yours, how can any...” but her tasteless lecture was promptly brought to a sudden halt. In her smugness, she failed to notice Locomotion standing in her path – and you can guess what happened next!

The red-furred colt remained standing even as the pink-furred filly bumped into him, but glowered coldly upon her as she scrambled to her hooves and gave him a mean look.

“Do you mind?!” demanded Diamond Tiara.

“Yes, I most certainly do mind!” replied Locomotion severely. “I've just about had it with your bullying my friends like this, Diamond Tiara! If it's not about the lack of a Cutie Mark, it's something to do their age, their size, their social standing – and now I find you're making fun of one of the most sensitive ponies in our year for his physique?! Well, let me tell you, Glass Crown, you're in no position to be putting the rest of us down just because you think you're above everypony else – because you're not!”

“What are you talking about?!” snorted Diamond Tiara defensively. “I've got loads more money than you have...”

“There you go again, using mere money as an excuse!” bellowed Locomotion, drowning out Diamond Tiara's protests. “You think being rich entitles you to be a mean old prude when in fact it's making you enemies throughout Ponyville! You don't even realise just how bad a name it's making for your own folks – all because you insist on making others feel bad about themselves and angry with you at the same time! Heck, I'm surprised you haven't made it onto the Mayor's blacklist, to hear what others have been saying about your lamentable attitude!”

Diamond Tiara spluttered indignantly. Never had anypony spoken so rudely of her before! “Well...well, at least I know how to be more popular than you!” she blurted out.

But Locomotion refused to buy it. “Freely translated: 'I have trouble making friends – what are you going to do about it?!'” he retorted mockingly. “Quite frankly, Diamond Tiara, you are the one who needs to do something about it! Take me, for example; I may not be as rich as you, but at least I can afford some manners!”

This struck a raw nerve with Diamond Tiara. “I'll teach you some manners!” she screamed furiously, and threw a vicious punch towards his face – but all she succeeded in doing was bruising her hoof against the forcefield Locomotion had hastily cast around himself.

“Precisely what I should have expected from a filly who refuses to mind her own!” said Locomotion huffily. “I'd think twice before trying that again!”

Diamond Tiara leered at him with a mix of pain and anger in her expression. “You'll be sorry one of these days, Loco!” she snarled.

“Oh, I'm already sorry you turned out to be so selfish and insensitive! Face it, Diamond Tiara, with an attitude like yours, there's no way you're gonna win any favour with the rest of Ponyville – and I reckon I speak for maybe 99% of the population here! Now if you take my advice, you'll kindly buzz off and take your fillyfriend with you!” ordered Locomotion, gesturing towards Silver Spoon as he spoke.

Diamond Tiara opened her mouth to make a rude comeback, but something about what Locomotion had just said quickly wiped out whatever angry dialogue she had thought up, replacing it with a feeling of deep confusion. In the end, all she could manage was a frustrated growl before storming off with Silver Spoon in tow. Only when the two of them were back inside the schoolhouse did the pink-furred filly finally vent her frustration.

“What is it with all these other ponies?!” she blurted out angrily. “All anypony ever seems to do with me is throw insults right in my face! Why can't they show a proper pony like me a little respect?!”

“Shouldn't have expected any better of those dorks,” mumbled Silver Spoon, who wasn't really listening.

“If only I was still in charge of the Foal Free Press, I'd give that Locomotion something to think about!” Diamond Tiara ranted on. “Imagine talking to me like that – me, daughter of the richest and best business pony in Ponyville! One day, I'll find that puffer nutter in the cab of a wrecked steam train – then we'll see who's not gonna win any favour!” She paused for a few seconds, glowering contemptuously upon that bane of a red-furred colt before continuing; “And that stupid insinuation of his about me being a flaming fillyfooler! How dare he!”

But that was when Silver Spoon made what she felt was the biggest mistake in all her life, one that she wished she could go back and change in a heartbeat. Without thinking, without realising she was talking in a louder voice than she intended, she quietly murmured to herself, “It wouldn't be a bad thing if you were.”

Unfortunately for her, it wasn't quiet enough. In an instant, Diamond Tiara went as stiff as a board with shock and fury. Only then did Silver Spoon realise what she had done – not only had she offended her best friend, but she had also dropped an unintentional and wholly unwelcome hint regarding her feelings. The grey filly froze over with fear as Diamond Tiara slowly turned her head and directed an aggressive death-glare in her direction, almost as if she were ready to start a fight at the slightest provocation. “What – did – you – just – say?!” she hissed threateningly.

Silver Spoon didn't reply. If she was scared of admitting her feelings before, she was now utterly terrified, and her only response was to silently pray for a way out. At that moment, almost as if in answer to her plea, the school bell rang, and the other fillies and colts began filing into the schoolhouse. Not wishing to create a scene unnecessarily, Diamond Tiara shot Silver Spoon a warning leer that seemed to say “We're not finished yet” before making her way over to her seat.

---

The atmosphere between Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon during the next two lessons was rather unsettling to say the least. Few of the other students paid any mind to the cold silence of the former; they were used to seeing her in a sulk after she had been taken down a peg or two, not least because such occurrences had become rather more frequent of late. Some did notice a look of anxiety on Silver Spoon's face, but they didn't think much of it either – though it might have been better if they had.

It was during lunch break that the storm finally broke. Silver Spoon had tried to sneak round the back of the schoolhouse in a bid to escape Diamond Tiara's wrath, but didn't get very far before she heard the irate filly's voice immediately behind her.

“Okay, Silver Spoon,” demanded Diamond Tiara sharply, “what was all that about?!”

Silver Spoon didn't dare to look at her. “Uh...I don't follow,” she stammered meekly.

“You know fine well what I'm talking about!” snapped Diamond Tiara. “After Loco came and ruined our fun with that feather brain, you said you wanted me to be a fillyfooler!”

“Uh...I can explain...”

“Are you trying to tell me you have a problem with who I am?! That I'm not allowed to choose whether I prefer mares or stallions?! And give me one good reason why I'd ever wanna turn lesbian!”

The sound of Silver Spoon's heart breaking was almost audible. Her mother was right, she thought – Diamond Tiara wasn't ready for such a relationship, and going by what she had just heard, she probably never would be. “Diamond, please...” she began, trying to calm the pink-furred filly by resting a hoof on her shoulder.

But this only added fuel to Diamond Tiara's fire. Without warning, she lost control of herself and punched Silver Spoon hard in the cheek, knocking off her glasses as she did so. “KEEP YOUR HOOVES OFF ME, YOU DISGUSTING CREEP!” she screamed out loud.

“DIAMOND TIARA!! CUT THAT OUT RIGHT THIS INSTANT!”

Startled, the pink filly spun around just in time to notice an unusually angry Cheerilee marching firmly towards her and Silver Spoon, while a flabbergasted Locomotion stood near the doorway and stared upon them in utter disbelief. Diamond Tiara glared back at him accusingly; but deep down, her wrath was overshadowed by a feeling of dread and confusion which spoilt her stoic façade with ease, and she mentally prepared herself for the inevitable.

“Inside at once!” ordered Cheerilee, pointing back towards the schoolhouse. With little more response than a blunt nod, Diamond Tiara did as she was told, while the cerise-coated mare followed closely. “And Locomotion...”

“Uh...yes, Miss Cheerilee?” stuttered Locomotion, caught completely off guard.

“Take Silver Spoon to see the nurse.”

Needless to say, Locomotion was still confused by the whole affair, and for a while, he could do little more than stand where he was and continue to stare upon Silver Spoon, who was now curled up into a ball and crying her heart and soul out. This was a whole new low for Diamond Tiara – not only had she attempted to smash the self-esteem of one of his friends, but she had also lashed out at the only one she had ever had thus far! How could she have been so...heartless?!

The more he thought about it, the more he began to feel sorry for the grey-furred filly. Up till now, all he had seen in her was a half-baked replica of Diamond Tiara in a different shell, a mere yes-pony who simply tagged along regardless of the pink-furred filly's behaviour – yet now, right before his very eyes, she had been reduced to a wailing, shuddering, tear-stained and visibly heartbroken shadow of the Silver Spoon he used to know. Even after all that she had said and done to his friends, and in spite of her former association with the bane of his and his friends' lives, it nevertheless pained his heart to see her suffering so badly after such a messy break-up.

At last, he could no longer hold it against her. “Oh well,” he murmured to nopony in particular, “needs must, I suppose,” and he trotted over to the sobbing, trembling heap who used to call herself Diamond Tiara's best friend. “Come on, Silver Spoon, let's get you cleaned up.”

Still brimming with tears, Silver Spoon gingerly lifted her head from her front legs and gazed plaintively upon the red-furred railway enthusiast. For the first time since he and his family had come to Ponyville, there was a look of genuine sympathy in his eyes as he gingerly and wordlessly helped her back to her hooves. Touched by his somewhat unexpected forgiveness, she gave him a small, grateful smile in reply, which was met by a more modest look that seemed to say, “Don't mention it”. Then, one cautious, measured step after the other, with Locomotion allowing Silver Spoon to lean against him for physical and emotional support, the two of them made their way over to the nurse's office.