Scars To Her Beautiful

by flutterJackdash

Chapter 6 - Run From Home (*TW*)

Author's Note:

Trigger Warning! This chapter contains some sensitive subject matter.
And thanks to Scroll for his immense help in getting 2 chapters out in one day!

Sweetie stared at the ceiling in her bedroom. It was about 10 in the morning. She should be in class, but instead she was lying here in her bed. She looked over to the side of her bed, frowning at the pink cane adorned with tiny horses that leaned there. She shoved it away from the bed, and grunted as her head rewarded her with throbbing pain.

“If I had just moved a little quicker… Scootaloo wouldn’t have hurt me, or herself, and I’d still be able to go to school…” Sweetie lamented aloud to herself.

Sweetie looked at the cane again. It lay at the center of the area rug, which was colored a pale purple, almost lilac, which matched the curtains. The dresser and vanity were darker purple, each situated against the opposite wall from her bed. The walls were painted with a vast meadow, brilliant with colorful flowers, distant trees, and even a lake around her door. She loved it. Her mother had taken the time to paint this room up for her when she was still little, and she never wanted to change it.

A pink football helmet hung from a hook on the wall. It would never see use again, but it was still a memory with her father that she recalled fondly. Besides, even if she wanted to wear it, it’s too small for her now.

On her dresser sat a photograph of herself, Scootaloo, and Applebloom draped over each other’s shoulders and smiled huge for the camera. It had been taken at a barbecue hosted by her father. She could see Big Mac and Hondo in the background talking while Granny regaled Cookie with some yarn that wasn’t entirely coherent. Applejack was at the grill, making sure the burgers didn’t burn, and Sweetie held up the camera for them to pose by the length of her arm.

She remembered the day. It was celebrating their transition to high school, they had just finished middle school and were having a day together over the summer break. Of course, Rarity was preparing for college so she wasn’t there.

Was Diamond… hurting herself, even then? Sweetie wondered.

There was a knock on the door. After that, the doorknob turns, was pushed open. Sweetie’s mother, Cookie Crumbles, entered the room carrying a wooden tray painted white with a floral finish.

“Knock-knoooock!” Cookie said in a chipper way as she entered further into Sweetie’s room. “How is my darling little patient doing today?”

“Mooom… Why can’t I go to school???” Sweetie whined.

“Now, now, Hun. Quit your whining,” Cookie said as she delivered the food tray to her daughter on the bed. “Right now, your only job is to get better, Hun. My tomato soup here will help cure what ails ya.” She waved her daughter off with a flick of a wrist which sported a bracelet with many white pearls sewn on. “I even got ya those little seashell crackers you're so fond of. Also, I brought you this.” She lifts a thermometer. “Open wide, Hun,” she commanded softly.

“Mom! I’m not sick! I don’t have a fe-” Sweetie started, but since she had opened her mouth, Cookie stuck the thermometer in. After that, she also sat on the bed and pressed the back of her left hand onto Sweetie’s forehead. After four seconds, she gently and lovingly brushed aside some of Sweetie Belle’s hair from her face.

Moments later, the thermometer beeped. She pulled the device out of Sweetie’s mouth and checked it, then announced, “100.6° Fahrenheit.” She looked from the device to her daughter. “Ya want me to turn down the temperature of the house, Hun? Or do you want me to get ya some more wattah?”

“Ugh… I’d like some more water, please, Mom,” Sweetie said, “I’m not contagious though! You can’t go around infecting people with a fractured orbital and a bruised spine!”

“Oh, I know.” Cookie said with another wave of her hand at her daughter. “I’ll be sure tah bring ya some more wattah when next I come, Sweetpea. I’ll get ya all bettah in no time at all. Then you’ll be back in school all good as new.” She focuses on Sweetie Belle’s new white, padded, square eyepatch with fevered eyebrows as she asked, “You okay there, Hun? Any pain? Want me to get ya anything?”

“Um… Got a bit of a headache, yeah… Do you think I could call Scootaloo later?” Sweetie admitted, then asked. She’d been wanting to assure Scootaloo that she wasn’t mad about the damage, only that Scootaloo would have done that to Diamond. She just didn’t know how to explain why that was so important to her without giving up Diamond’s secrets too.

Cookie looked worried as she asked, “Ya sure you can handle that right now, Hun, considering your headache? I don’t want ya to strain yourself, ya hear?”

“Later, I know… I do want the headache gone. I don’t want to snap at her or anything. That wouldn’t be fair,” Sweetie agreed.

Sweetie’s mother’s look shifted to curiosity and concern as she asked, “What happened to tha two of you, anyway? Yo always seemed so tight with Scoot’s before. She’s just a doll, after all.”

“She’s still one of my best friends, Mom. Just… Um… I’ve been spending some time with Diamond Tiara, and that has Scootaloo really upset… Ms. Shimmer called me, Scootaloo, Diamond Tiara, and Silver Spoon into a meeting… Diamond said something she really shouldn’t have said, and Scootaloo went to attack her, and shoved me out of the way… I went to try and stop her, and got punched in the eye… but it did stop Scootaloo from hurting Diamond,” Sweetie’s eyes began to tear, which caused her to wince and strain.

“I feel bad. I didn’t want anybody to get hurt, or for Scootaloo to get suspended… or anything like that.

“Hey… um… any idea how Diamond Tiara is doing?” Sweetie tacked on, hopefully.

“Oh, aren’t you such a darling little sweetheart!” Cookie said happily with an affectionate pat on Sweetie Belle’s right cheek with her left hand. “Saving your new friend like that from such an awful and unexpected attack. You do your name justice, Hun.”

After saying that, Cookie Crumbles looked out the open window that lightly blew in a soft breeze through the slightly transparent lilac curtains. Pausing for a moment to gather her thoughts, she finally reported, “As for darling Miss Tiara, I’m honestly not too sure, Hun. Part of me is a bit concerned for her too, but I’m much more worried about you for the moment.” She flashed her daughter a confident smile. “‘cept one thing I do know is ya have thah world’s most doting mother on ya side who will stop at nothing, but nothing, to make sure her darling little sweetheart is back on her feet in no time. That is a promise I intend to keep, Hun.”

Sweetie blushed furiously at the attention, even though no one was around to see the embarrassing display. “Mooom!”

Sweetie’s mother pats the girl on the head as she said affectionately, “If you want to contact your new friend, you go right on ahead, as long as you don’t strain yourself. I’ll trust you to know when that is, which is preferably after you finish your soup.” She stood up. “In the meantime, I’ll get you your water.”

Sweetie sighed, “Thanks, Mom.”

---

Scootaloo stood in her backyard, though there wasn’t much of it. The grass was patchy with great swaths of brown cutting through dull, lifeless green. There were no flowers in the garden here. Random toys, belonging to the smallest children, were scattered about the yard. A plastic car large enough for a small child, a toy gun, a badly eroded doll of some type. Around the yard was a fence in disrepair. It lacked any kind of paint, was damaged at several points, and even had some loose nails and holes.

Scootaloo held a skateboard atop a makeshift half-pipe. Scarlet Line, usually called Scarlet, stood a bit off, holding up her phone and recording Scootaloo’s stunt. The girl’s deep red hair was long, but held back in a ponytail. Her burnt orange skin seemed to glow in the morning sun. Of Scootaloo’s eleven siblings, Scarlet was the third oldest among them. Today, Scarlet was wearing capri pants, a pink t-shirt, and a white zipper-up hoody with a pink tiara emblazoned across the back. While she filmed, secretly she hoped it would be an epic fail, but she didn’t want Scootaloo to get hurt either.

Scootaloo closed her eyes, took a deep breath, fought back some tears, then hopped on to the skateboard and rolled down the half-pipe. She gathered speed before meeting the nadir of the half-pipe, then zoomed back up the other side and took off into the air, spinning as she held the board to her feet. The board, and Scootaloo, came down into the half-pipe smoothly, momentum built as she returned to the opposite slope and shot into the air again. This time she settled for falling backwards and hitting the half-pipe going back the other way. When she arrived on the other end she had slowed down and balanced the board on the edge of the half-pipe before dropping back. By this point she lost footing. The board slipped past her feet. She slid bodily to the nadir of the half-pipe before coming to rest.

“And there you have it, ladies and gentlemen!” Scarlet teased behind the phone in a grandiose way. “Should I list this video as Epic Fails Best Moments, The Blooper Reel, or Jackasses?”

“I will kill you…” Scootaloo said through a groan as she pushed herself up to a sitting position. “Jackasses, probably,” Scootaloo added as an afterthought.

Scarlet lowered the phone as she said, “Jackasses it is, then.

“Oh, by the way, I stopped recording so you can go ahead and be polite now,” Scarlet added with a teasing grin.

“Oh? Do I have your permission, your highness?” Scootaloo said as she got back to her feet. Her jeans had torn at the left knee, and blood was drooling down her leg. “Shall I repair to the stables and prepare your freakin’ pony?”

In response, Scarlet just shrugged, for a moment, then asked with a touch of concern, “You’ll be alright, right? You got a couple of weeks now of suspensions so we can be cellmates during our ‘incarceration’.”

“And here I thought my suspension would be peaceful, too,” Scootaloo said as she approached Scarlet, “Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

Scarlet looked at Scootaloo’s injury with a bit of concern, but she shrugged and said, “Suit yourself,” because she knew that Scootaloo was tough and could easily recover. Besides, she had a pretty good idea why her eldest sister was behaving this way. Eventually she asked, “Want me to email you the footage as soon as I’m done rendering it? Or you can just grab it from MyStable.”

“I’ll take the email, thanks,” Scootaloo said as she retrieved her skateboard. “You see where I went wrong, by any chance?”

“No,” Scarlet replied with a careless shrug, “but I did record the whole stupid stunt so I’m sure you can spot your own weaknesses better than I can. One word of warning for you, however. There was a few times you moved too fast for me to keep up with the phone. I did try as hard as I could, but sometimes, you’re just too fast.” She looked up as she shielded her eyes with her hands. “At least the lighting was pretty good.”

“Sweet. I love that,” Scootaloo said with a chuckle before sitting down on the edge of the half-pipe. “You hear about what happened with me at school?”

“Bits and pieces,” Scarlet replied as she looked at her eldest sister while jewing on some gum that she recently popped into her mouth, then she offered, “Want to talk about it? Also, want some gum?”

“Talk… I guess, yeah. Just… Trying to wrap my head around this… D’ya think Sweetie’ll ever forgive me? And… I guess I’ll some of that gum, yeah,” Scootaloo said, clearly mixed up.

Scarlet reached into the pockets of her pants. She slid out a stick of gum and offered it to Scootaloo while she said, “Well, I don’t know for sure, but the relationship you have with Sweetie and Bloom seems tighter than most I’ve ever seen. I’m actually kind of jealous. I mean, you finish each other’s sentences sometimes. It’s kind of freaky. Are you three sure you're not aliens and such?”

Scootaloo took the proffered stick of gum, unwrapped it, and popped it in her mouth before she replied “I’m… not sure about that, no. But I really hurt her. I just… I don’t get why she’s suddenly all friendly with Diamond Tiara now. I don’t think Silver Spoon gets it either, she wasn’t any happier about it. I don’t think.”

“Well, based on everything you told me and I’ve seen of them,” Scarlet said as she pocketed the rest of her gum, “Sweetie really seems like a sweet one, and Bloom has a good head on her shoulders. They definitely do seem like the forgiving type.” Scarlet sniffs for a moment as she re-crosses her arms. “It’s this Diamond and Silver Spoon characters that I don’t get, but based on what you told me, they sound like real hardcore, arrogant bitches. I might actually like them or hate them. I’m not sure yet.”

“Diamond keeps talking down to me. Treats me like a peasant. Like I don’t deserve to breathe the same air as she does. She’s not as bad now. It’s when we were kids that she was at her worst. Hasn’t really been active the last year or so,” Scootaloo said.

“Well, that explains why I don’t know them,” Scarlet figured. “By the way, aren’t these bitches supposed to be crazy rich? If so, why would they feel it necessary to tease you? I’d figure people like that would be above your notice. Also, why aren’t they in some fancy prep-school?”

Scootaloo spoke thoughtfully. “Yeah, they live in the Heights. Very rich. I think Sweetie was actually at Diamond house overnight a couple nights ago… Has me weirded out. I have no idea why they aren’t in prep-school… Maybe Crystal Prep is just too far?”

Scarlet grinned at her sister as she teased, “You jelly of their wealth?” Her grinned dropped as she said more seriously, “Also, I’m not sure where Crystal Prep is. Is it far?”

“No. The reason I’m not jealous is I’ve got you, babe. Meanwhile they’re alone in those huge houses while I’ve got my siblings. I really don’t know how far it is, honestly. Almost an hour by bus or something?” Scootaloo grabbed Scarlet in a headlock and noogied her as she spoke.

“Huh,” Scarlet mused as she gained a thoughtful look, then lifted her phone to her lips and clicked a button. A bing sound issued from the phone. After it did, Scarlet requested, “Siri, show me information and location on Crystal Prep.”

“Here is the information I got on ‘crystal meth’,” Siri’s robotic voice replied.

Scarlet glowered at her phone as she complained, “No, you stupid program! I didn’t say … Oh, nevermind.” She put her phone away. “I’ll just look it up on dad’s computer later on.”

“I’m sure he won’t mind you looking up crystal meth on his computer!” Scootaloo teased, “Are you that lazy, though?”

Scarlet rolled her eyes as she replied, “If I wasn’t, do you think I’d be suspended, too?” She grinned. “You know, it’s actually funny how we both got suspended only four days apart, yet we go to different schools and got suspended for different reasons. Normally you are the one with the cool head on your shoulders around here. Those bitches must really get under your skin … or is this more to do with Sweetie?”

“I… I guess it’s got something to do with Sweetie. But, Diamond said some really shitty things to me, about me… And if it’s about me, it ends up being about us. I just wanted to kill her. I haven’t heard from Sunny since, either. I guess she’s pissed at me or something. I don’t blame her. Said I’d never amount to anything but working in fast food…” Scootaloo said through a sigh.

“Well, if you ever get into a showdown with Little Miss Bitchy, I’ll hold her down for ya. We’re family, after all.” Then Scarlet squinted an eye at her sister. “By the way, didn’t Sunny swing by on her cool-ass bike to pick you up the other day? What did you two talk about?”

Scootaloo blushed, “Um… My temper. She was worried that I’d really hurt someone. After all, I’m being trained by Rainbow Dash. She said my fists were lethal weapons!”

“No kidding!” Scarlet strongly agreed. “Speaking of Rainbow, she might stop by sometime soon to have some words for ya. I’m curious, what are you going to tell her?

“You know, if it were up to me, I think the two of you should turn on the radio to some rock and roll station and just do some air-guitar jamming to cool off.”

“I’ll tell her the truth, don’t doubt that. Oh, Rainbow Dash can shred an actual guitar. You know she used to have a band? Sunny was in it, too! Sunny can play guitar! Uh… What was… Oh, right. I’ll tell Rainbow Dash the truth. I’m a little worried, though,” Scootaloo confessed.

“I have seen some of the online posts of The Rainbooms. Dash really is as awesome as she claims. I know she can shred the guitar. That’s why I asked. She seems like the type to handle her problems that way.”

Scootaloo shook her head, “I guess, but… She’s always taught me to use violence as the absolute last resort. Scar, I lost my shit. I went after Diamond with every intention of putting her in the hospital. Instead, I landed Sweetie there…,” Scootaloo’s eyes began to tear as she spoke.

Scarlet frowned to see her eldest sister in pain, but she wasn’t eloquent in handling this diplomatically, so instead, she opted to shift the subject somewhat by asking, “Do you have any idea what Dash’s opinions are of the Bitch Twins? Maybe she’d find your reaction understandable, but knowing her, I do think she’d tell you to at least send a text to Sweetie to apologize, if I were to be honest.”

“Dash would tell me it doesn’t matter. It’s up to me to forgive them, and not let them rent real estate in my head. She’d remind me that they haven’t done anything in a long while, and that this had been the first time in a long time. She’d want me to put myself in their shoes. I dunno. I think that’s how she’d handle it… I’d text Sweetie if I had my phone. Mom took it away, remember?” Scootaloo sniffled a little as she spoke.

“Hmm.” Scarlet did a half-smirk. “I know all that advice is easier said than done, but for what it’s worth, do you agree?”

“Yeah… I guess so…,” Scootaloo slumped down to sitting on the half-pipe’s nadir again.

Scarlet glanced in the direction of their home, then strode over to her sister as she whispered conspiratorially “Tell ya what. If you don’t tell mom, I’ll loan you my phone. You can tell Sweetie on it that the text is coming from you and that mom confiscated my phone. Just be quick about it, though, or else mom will also confiscate my phone. If that happens, there will be hell to pay!” She gave a daring smirk. “You game?”

“Yeah. I wanna tell Sweetie I’m sorry in the worst way. I hope she’ll forgive me,” Scootaloo said.

“Alright. Here you go.” Scarlet handed over her phone. “Just don’t get caught.

“Also, what if Sweetie tried to text you but couldn’t because mom confiscated the phone? This is your chance to check that, too.”

“I doubt she did, but… Okay. I wanna do that. Thanks, Scar,” Scootaloo said, wiping her eyes with a sleeve as she took the phone with her hand

“Hey, what are sisters for?” After that, she walked back into the house and waved at Scootaloo over her shoulder. “Catch ya later. In the meanwhile, I’ll keep an eye on Mom and make sure she’s sufficiently distracted. Just don’t take too long.”

Scootaloo hurriedly pulled up the dial pad on the screen, entered Sweetie’s phone number from memory, and actually took the time to type out a message carefully.

---

Scarlet: Sweetie? This is Scootaloo. My sister, Scarlet, is letting me use her phone for a minute so I can send you a message. I want to say that I’m sorry. I don’t know if that’s enough, but please believe that I didn’t mean to hurt you. I’d never want to do that. I’m sorry. Can you ever forgive me?

The chime on her phone indicated that the message came from an unknown source. That was unusal by itself, but when she read the message her eyes widened. She was stunned. Scootaloo had sent her a message using another phone? Wow. It took her a few minutes to gather herself. She was relieved that Scootaloo was sending her a message. If she hadn’t used her own phone, that might explain why she didn’t reply sooner.

---

Sweetie Belle: Scootaloo, I am not mad at you. I never was. I love you. I’m sorry that things are getting this way and that I can’t really tell you why. I just want you to trust me. I’m not trying to hurt you by talking to Diamond. Of course, I forgive you. I was never mad anyway. I feel like it’s my fault anyway.

Scootaloo sighed, and wiped more tears from her eyes. She hugged the phone to her chest, shaking.

“Thank you, Sweetie… Thank you…,” she said through a sob. Scootaloo quickly stashed the phone when she heard someone approaching. She also struggled to regain composure.

To Scootaloo’s surprise, it was actually Rainbow Dash that waved at her behind the glass door leading into the house. But, after a moment, she recalled that Rainbow probably used her super speed to quickly visit during Rainbow’s lunch break. Now she regretted not checking the time on Scarlet’s phone when she had the chance.

After Scootalooo nodded to Rainbow, Rainbow took it as permission to enter. Accordingly, she opened up the glass door, stepped out into the backyard, but notably also closed the glass door behind her quietly and carefully. After that, she turned to regard Scootaloo as she said while approaching, “Hey, Sport. Heard you got into a little trouble a short while back. Wanna talk about it?”

Scootaloo sighed, standing up and shoving her hands into her pockets. “Yeah, I guess. I got pissed at Diamond Tiara when she said I’d never amount to anything but food service, and I went to attack her and ended up hurting Sweetie pretty bad instead. She’s walking with a cane, though that should be temporary… I don’t know… I just saw red and I wanted to put Diamond in the hospital… and nothing was gonna stop me… until Sweetie did.”

“Well,” Rainbow said with a roll of her eyes, “that certainly isn’t ideal, but I’m sure Sweetie Belle will bounce back up in no time. Just you wait. In the meantime, do you agree with anything Diamond said about flipping burgers and such? Because, if you do, you should actually ask A-J for advice. She’s got that stuff down pat! That, and pancakes.”

Scootaloo blinked. “No. I can do better than that! I know I can! Even I don’t get a good education or whatever. I’m not the brightest, I know that. But I’m pretty skilled anyway.”

“Well, in that case, if you know all that, then what does it matter what she says to you?” Rainbow queried. “Look, it’s up to you to forgive them or not, and it’s up to you what you want to do with your life because it’s your life. Only your opinion matters about it in the end. In that case, don’t let them rent real estate in your head. They haven’t done anything wrong in a long time so I don’t know why they are suddenly acting up like that. But, even if they do, you don’t have to follow their bad example. You’re better than that, Kid! You’re special, and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise.”

Scootaloo swallowed. “You’re right. I’m sorry. All I want to do is apologize to Sweetie, and make sure she’s okay. I haven’t heard from AB. I-I don’t know if I even have friends anymore…”

Rainbow looked aghast for a moment, then said, “Scootaloo, you …” she trails off with a sigh. She looked down for a moment, saw a toy near her feet, then, for some reason, kicked it up with expert ease and caught it as it fell. Then she said, “I ain’t gonna lie to you, Kid. Sweetie was hurt pretty bad physically and emotionally, but one thing you should never question is the loyalty of your friends. True friends, like yours, will always get your back through thick and thin, so you should return the favor.”

Rainbow Dash kicked the toy back and forth over her head and shoulders, then said, “Here, CATCH!” At last she kicked the toy towards Scootaloo.

Scootaloo snapped to attention, and rolled back, grabbing the toy out of the air as she did, then tossing it back as she arrived on her feet after the roll. “Yeah. Yeah, you’re right, Rainbow Dash. I shouldn’t question that.”

Bumping the toy with her head, she proceeded to sort of play hacky-sack with the toy as she cheered, “There you go! That’s the spirit! Friendship isn’t always easy, but there is no doubt it’s worth fighting for.”

---

Diamond Tiara sat in the study, waiting for her mother. The tension was driving her insane. She couldn’t fathom what her mother wanted to say to her, but she knew it wouldn’t be pleasant. It was never pleasant when she was summoned to the study. Spoiled sent a servant, who in turn relayed the message that Spoiled had heard about a certain altercation at school. Sure, Diamond had invited the response, but if she was putting Scootaloo in her place, then surely that was a good thing to her mother? Right?

Diamond looked around the study, the bookshelves were full of literature on business ethics and salesmanship, the large oak desk contained all of her father’s pens, quills, a huge botter, a ledger of some sort, a counting machine. The drawers were locked, and the computer was password-protected to prevent anyone from sabotaging his business. Mother will probably sit there.

She looked back at the door, considering hiding the wine bottles before her mother could arrive. But that would make a bad situation much worse, she knew. She began to scratch at her arm, through the sleeve where some of her scars were. She fidgeted with her tiara. She never wore it except for meetings with her mother. That’s what they were, too, meetings. By appointment only, and Mother decided the appointment.

A few minutes later, Spoiled Rich just suddenly burst into the room. As Diamond figured, she immediately went for the liquor cabinet and poured herself something brown in a wine glass. Diamond also noticed that, today, her mother was wearing a single white and sleeveless business suit which easily revealed all of her jewelry, including a diamond band wristwatch.

Once she secured her prize, Spoiled moved over to the great brown and tall back-sided lounge chair and sat on it. She regarded Diamond with cold menace for several unnerving moments but did not speak right away until she sipped on her wine a couple of times. After that, she began abruptly.

“I got a call from one of your teachers today calling herself Sunset Shimmer. She reports that you had a fight with a brutal low-life in her office. Now I heard her opinion on the situation. From you, I demand elaboration.”

After that, Spoiled fell silent, waiting for her unruly daughter to explain herself.

“Well, Mother. I was putting a lowly peasant in her place. She had the audacity to speak to me as though we were on equal footing. She didn’t like what I had to say, so she lashed out and wound up hurting another p… p…,” Diamond swallowed. Insulting Sweetie didn’t feel so easy anymore, “peasant!” She eventually spat out. Diamond scratched at her arm once more.

Spoiled Rich raised an eyebrow sharply when she noticed her daughter’s nervous reaction, then said, “I do not mind you putting other peasants in their place. After all, as a member of the Rich family, it is your duty to remind others where they belong, but that said … I am very perturbed by this altercation due to the sensitive nature of the timing. After all, your term for reelection is coming up, and I will not brook any further screw-ups! Do I make myself clear, Miss Tiara?”

Miss Tiara. Yes, of course. No affection here. Diamond sighed as she thought about how to respond. There wasn’t a safe way to do so except for complete obedience. She didn’t want that though. She had, possibly, a new friend and that was important to her. She just didn’t know why that was so important to her.

“Y-” Diamond began, but was cut off by the chime of her phone. “Um…” Diamond swallowed as pulled out her phone, and then her eyes shrank and she blanched at what she saw on the screen.

Nonononononono! This can’t be happening! Please! Not now! Not when Mother is right here watching me! Diamond panicked, fumbling her phone until he fell on the floor and slid across to her mother. Shit!

“What have you got there?” Spoiled asked curtly with a sharply raised eyebrow before bending down to pick up the phone. After that, she proceeded to read it.

The phone displayed a photograph of Diamond Tiara in the girl’s room at the school, with her fingers in her mouth and vomit spewing into a toilet. It looked like Diamond didn’t even notice the photographer. The message attached said “Having a freak for a president doesn’t sound healthy! Maybe try a better choice in the next election!” It looked like the entire school received the message.

Spoiled Rich fumed at the image, then flipped it over towards her daughter as she demanded, “What is the meaning of this!? Explain yourself!”

“I-I-I…” Diamond stammered before breaking down. She thrust herself from her own seat and rushed the door, throwing it open and running past Randolph who had been assigned to make sure no one interrupted the meeting.

“Miss Tiara, are you alright?” Randolph called after Diamond in concern.

“I DIDN’T GIVE YOU PERMISSION TO BE EXCUSED!” Spoiled screeched after her daughter.

Diamond gasped for air as she sobbed and ran through the many corridors of her much too large home. Curse this place, she’d be out of breath before she found the door she was looking for. Why did they need so much house anyway?! They were a family of three! This place had at least forty bedrooms! It might as well have been a damn hotel!

Diamond finally crashed through the kitchen and out the back door, she dodged around a servant and toward the rear gate. The property was quite huge, but it really didn’t have anything on Sweet Apple Acres for pure acreage. She dashed quickly hit the button for the gate and, as soon as it opened enough for her to squeeze through, she did and slipped through. From there she ran down the road until she cut into the woods and started scrambling toward Canterville down the hill.

The woods cut into her arms and legs, her breath became ragged. She realized she wouldn’t be able to run any further. She looked around for a likely spot to camp out, and found a disused section of the forest floor where a circle of stones had been set up. She sat aside that circle of stones, gasping for breath, and trying to think. She ran all this way, and she didn’t know where anyone actually lived. She’d never had to go anywhere on her own. She always had a chauffeur.

I need to find Sweetie…

Diamond looked up, seeing the blue of the sky through the canopy of the forest. Scant though the view was. “How do I figure out where she lives?” she asked her aloud.

Diamond gasped again, her breathing wouldn’t stabilize. She scratched furiously at her arm, not realizing that blood had begun to trickle down it and stain her sleeve. A few minutes later, she had some semblance of stable breathing. She gasped much less now that she’d taken a moment to rest.

“Right… um…” Diamond stood up, looking left and right. “I… guess I should keep going the way I was?”

Diamond took one last deep breath before setting off in that direction while scratching at her arm. She was beginning to hum to herself as well, but she didn’t notice this.

After almost an hour of navigating through the woods, negotiating her way around huge bushes filled with thorns and unexpectedly wide, possibly deep, streams. She found herself exited onto a narrow road that seemed to lead the way between The Heights and Canterville.

“Oh, where am I?” she asked as the sound of a motorcycle engine filled the air. Diamond turned toward the noise, noticing a familiar cloud of hair billowing out behind the rider. Ms. Shimmer?

The rider slowed upon her approach. Once she was fifty feet away, she lifted the visor of her helmet and regarded Diamond in shock, then asked aloud, voice partially muffled by her own helmet, “Diamond? Is that really you?”

Diamond staggered up to Sunset, barely standing under her own strength. She breathed heavily as she approached. “Ms. Shimmer? Is that really you?”

As Diamond Tiara approached, Sunset noticed the state of her arms, legs, and attire. Her eyes widened impossibly further as she exclaimed, “OH MY CELESTIA!” After that, she parked her bike and quickly got off of it. She ran over to Diamond until she embraced the girl in a hug. “Diamond, are you okay? What happened?”

“T-Text message,” said Diamond, collapsing into Sunset’s embrace. “Gotta… gotta find Sweetie… don’t wanna lose her…,” Diamond said faintly as she began to fade from consciousness.

“But, Honey, you are hurt! You need to be taken to the hospital!” Sunset urged.

“H-Hospital? No! No hospital, please,” Diamond begged, almost mumbling.

“But why? Why don’t you wish to go to the hospi-” Sunset cuts herself off in shock when she notices the many cuts on Diamond’s arm. The startling thing about it is, some of these cuts appeared old. This greatly alarmed Sunset. After that, she thinks on the situation very hard, then decides to do something she vowed she would not do to a student, especially one on the verge of passing out.

Reaching to her neck, Sunset grasped her magic geode crystal, concentrated on it, then focused on Diamond Tiara.

---

Diamond sobbed as she sat on the bathroom floor, leaning against the wall with her eyes squeezed shut, her blood drooling to the floor from her arm.

Spoiled berates Diamond in the study, callously treating her like some of the help rather than her own daughter.

Diamond stared into the toilet of the bathroom connected to her room, marveling at the way her vomit moved slowly around the water before she flushed it. She pulled a towel from the rod and wiped her mouth.

Spoiled berates Diamond in the study again. Any imperfection was targeted. Any weakness was ordered to be dealt with hastily so that Diamond would be a better representation of the Rich family. She was cruel and unfeeling as well as demanding and unreasonable. Diamond cringed with each new word. Spoiled punctuated her statement with a violent slap, adding another when she spills a drop of her liquor.

Diamond looked in the mirror, at herself in her underwear, contemplating everything she’d thought of.

“I can’t do this anymore… It’s all too much… I have to end this…,” she said quietly as she drew the razor blade up in her left hand, only to hear the sound of a motorcycle revving come from behind her. She turned to see Sweetie staring at her wide-eyed, and ran into her bathroom, closing and locking the door.

Sweetie begs and pleads with Diamond to come to the meeting in Sunset’s office, promising she won’t tell anyone anything Diamond doesn’t want her to, assuring her she has a friend. Diamond was truly perplexed. There was no reason for Sweetie to befriend her at all. Was it a trap? She even asked Sweetie, but Sweetie’s honesty couldn’t really be ignored.

Diamond sat in her room, staring at the wall. She thought about Scootaloo’s attack, hating herself for egging it on and getting Sweetie hurt after how much Sweetie had helped her. She considered texting Silver, but then she might have to explain something she didn’t want to explain. She decided against it.

A knock on the door.

A sigh. “Enter,” Diamond said crisply.

The door creaked open and Randolph poked his head in, “Young Miss Rich? I apologize for the intrusion into your personal time, but Mrs. Rich has demanded an audience with you in the study. She will not brook any tardiness,” he said with a sigh.

Diamond sat in the study, terrified of what her mother would say. She hated herself so much. She wanted to contact Sweetie and see if she was okay as well as apologize because she was at fault. She actually wanted to know how Scootaloo was doing, even though she was afraid to face her. She even thought of calling Silver up again, but none of that could happen in the time before her mother showed up. When she did, she poured herself a glass of liquor then began to talk.

Diamond sat in her chair, about to speak when her phone dinged to notify her of a message that had been received. She checked it to see herself bent over the toilet in the girls’ room at school, purging her recently consumed lunch. It was the only meal she ever ate in full. Because there were so many observers, it was difficult to just play with the food.

Diamond cut and ran. She left her mother screaming in her wake and Randolph concerned as she charged through the kitchen and then the back gate, into the woods where she became a bit lost and kept getting cut up by the brush until she found her way to the little road where she met Sunset.

---

Sunset paused for a long moment in shock as she mentally processed what she had just learned, then released a long breath she did not know she was holding before looking down at the scratched up and broken woman in her arms.

“Sweet Celestia, what am I going to do with you troublesome kids these days!?” Sunset wondered to herself.

Comments

[hmaf43]

fucking infodump!