My Little Pony, Friendship is Magic: The Broken Diamond

by SuperPinkBrony12

Part III: The Offer Made, Getting to know Diamond Tiara!

The next day, the Cutie Mark Crusaders put their plan into action. Of course, they had to wait until school let out before they could really do anything. But as soon as it did, they kept a close eye on Diamond Tiara.

Now without an office or position, Diamond Tiara was left to try and not let others see her mope. But she hadn't gotten far when the filly's ears heard a quartet of familiar voices call out. "Hey, Diamond Tiara, wait up!"

Spinning around, Diamond found herself staring down the four little ponies responsible for her recent state of affairs. "What do you want now?!" She hissed. "Come to rub more salt in the wound?!"

"What?! No, no, no! You've got it all wrong!" Rumble insisted.

"Yeah," Apple Bloom nodded, and stepped forward to explain. "Ya wanna hang out with us today? You know, seein' as you're without a friend at the moment."

"Wait?! You actually wanna hang out with me?!" Diamond gasped, as though what she'd heard had been spoken in a foreign language.

All four ponies nodded, and Sweetie Belle added. "We just figured you might like somepony to talk to now that Silver Spoon's on the outs with you."

"Of course, you don't have to join us if you don't want to," Scootaloo added. Then under her breath she added. "And I hope you don't."

"Seriously?! After everything I've said and done, you still care about me?" Tiara remarked, and when she got a series of confirming nods she reluctantly added. "Well, thanks to you all, I don't have any important student pony president business to attend to or anything, so I might as well. But I'm not doing it because I want to be friends or anything like that, I'm doing because otherwise I'd just be moping around, complaining about having nothing to do. So don't get any ideas." To emphasize her point, the filly folded her hooves across her chest and made a pouting face.

"I... guess we'll take that as a yes." Rumble nervously replied, scratching the back of his head with a hoof.

---

The Crusaders led Diamond Tiara to their clubhouse at Sweet Apple Acres, making sure to show off all the bells and whistles. "We fixed up this clubhouse all on our own, and now it's our official headquarters," Apple Bloom proudly explained to Diamond. "So, whadya think? Pretty cool, right."

Diamond had to admit, she was kind of impressed by the choice of paint for the walls, and the color of the curtains for the windows. But what really caught her attention, were two charts that hung side by side near a podium. One depicted a huge variety of things hastily crossed out in red marker, and the other hadn't yet been filled in. "So, you all just sit around here, planning ideas for how to get your cutie marks?" She asked all of a sudden.

"Yeah. I mean, why do you think we call ourselves The Cutie Mark Crusaders?" Sweetie Belle replied.

Tiara didn't answer, she just glanced at the charts and suddenly commented. "You know, you four are... kind of lucky, actually."

"Oh really? Well if that's how you feel then why don't you just... wait, lucky?!" Scootaloo gasped. She was certain she'd somehow misheard.

"Yes, lucky. Did I stutter or something?" Tiara muttered, and then she explained to the Crusaders. "You have all this free time to just plan out fun activities to try, and any number of possibilities to consider for a cutie mark. You don't know how lucky you are, to be able to do all this. And not be stuck with something that you don't know the meaning of, yet it's there for all to see."

"But, you already have your cutie mark, right?" Apple Bloom guessed. "I mean, it's not painted on or anythin', is it?"

As though she'd been insulted, Diamond loudly protested. "Yeah! Of course I have my cutie mark, I've had it for years! And I'm not struggling at all to figure out just who I'm supposed to be and what I'm supposed to be doing with this mark, that's already on my flank!" She emphasized that last point by shaking her rump, so her cutie mark was clearly visible for all to see.

"Uh, are you sure about that?" Apple Bloom nervously asked.

Diamond groaned. "That's a weird question. Of course I'm sure!" And then she added. "Why wouldn't I be?" When Apple Bloom opened her mouth to speak, the pink coated filly was quick to add. "That's a rhetorical question, don't answer that!"

"Uh, not really, since we kind of overheard you talking with your mother yesterday." Sweetie confessed.

The revelation, needless to say, shocked Tiara to her very core! All of a sudden she leaped back and shouted! "What?! How did you find out?! What, were you all trying to get your cutie marks in spying or something?! Is that on that little chart of yours?! I don't intrude into your private lives, do I?!"

"Whoa, whoa, easy!" Rumble cautioned. "We weren't trying to spy on you, we were just worried about you, that's all."

"And since when did I ever say I wanted your concern?!" Tiara huffed.

"Diamond, please," Sweetie said in a gentle tone. "We saw and heard everything. We heard your mom yell at you for losing the election. We know she's putting a lot of pressure on you. We even heard your little sad song about how you want to be a better pony. You don't have to lie to us, just to preserve your reputation. Nopony has to know besides the five of us."

"Assuming you haven't already told Silver Spoon." Scootaloo added.

Tiara shook her head. "Silver Spoon never asked, so I never told her. It wasn't her place to know, and neither is it yours. I don't know why you're suddenly so concerned about me, Crusaders, but you can drop the act! I just want to be left alone, I don't buy for a second that your worries are legit. You're just trying to keep me content so I won't try to sabotage Pipsqueak's administration."

"Tiara, why are you so thickheaded?" Rumble protested. "Don't you want to believe that ponies want to help you, just because it's the right thing to do?"

"You actually want to help me? Really and truly?" Diamond asked, all of a sudden sounding less angry and more hopeful.

All four Crusaders nodded. "Not everypony is as selfish as you think they are," Apple Bloom said firmly. "We know you can be a better pony if you try. And we're not gonna let ya give up on yourself. If you let us I promise we can-"

---

But just then, a familiar voice shouted out! "Help! Cutie Mark Crusaders!"

"Oh no!" Rumble gasped! "It's Pipsqueak!"

"What are we gonna do?! We can't let him see Diamond Tiara, he'll get the wrong idea!" Apple Bloom nervously added!

Luckily, Sweetie had an idea. "Okay, everypony, don't panic," She advised, and brought all the clubhouse occupants together into a huddle. "Here's what we're going to do."

Author's Note:

I decided to preserve a little bit of drama here. Yes, I know that in the original episode, the CMC talk with Pip outside the clubhouse and he never sees Diamond Tiara. But I wanted to add a bit of tension, and give them perhaps more of a reason to do it here in the next chapter.

Comments

[Comickook]

Once more, you did a VERY good job on the exchanges, characterizations and future chapter set-up in all the right places, as well as the combination of episode faithfulness and your own details. Well, I'll very certainly be looking forward to more of this, but will also be quite willing to be patient.