Forever Classic

With relief, they dumped the bags down on the four-poster bed and let out a sigh each. Tiara recovered first, running past her father to admire the drapes along the wall.

"This place is amazing," she said. "I wish my room was like this."

"I'll have to see to it when we get back home." Filthy caught his breath. He wasn't surprised that the room looked as overdecorated as the streets outside. It had been like that the last time he was here. "Don't get comfortable just yet. We'll be leaving for the performance soon."

Tiara didn't hear him. She rushed into the adjoining chamber, and her form landed with a soft thump on the quilt of the smaller bed.

"Ah." She spread out on her back. The fresco on the ceiling caught her eye, and she picked out individual scenes from the Equestrian Fairy Tales in it. "This is the life. Now this is how somepony like me should be living." Noticing what she was still wearing, Tiara fiddled with the gown and threw it aside. "I don't have any need for that anymore."

"Did you hear me? We'll be going in a short while."

"But we've just arrived! I haven't had time to adjust yet. Besides, it's so nice here. I bet the Princess totally feels like this all the time."

He didn't bother to reply. Sooner or later, she'd get the hint. He heard a lot of muttering from the next chamber over the rustle of a dress. Hinges creaked.

"You understand why I'm doing this, don't you?" he said, when she came through the door.

"To try and get me talking to the Canterlot elite," she recited dully.

"So you do listen to me sometimes."

"I don't need to meet a bunch of stuck-ups. Er... I mean I... I'm already well behaved. I know my manners, I know what etiquette is. Aren't I already an angel?"

He hummed with suspicion.

Tiara made a big show of yawning. "Besides, I'm so very tired after such a long travel. I don't think I'll be able to come. I think I'll just stay here and sleep in. We can, like, try again another time." She eyed up the chamber door and made to approach it.

"Diamond Tiara."

"What? What's the big deal?"

"Aren't you excited about going to the opera theatre? I paid good money for exclusive tickets in the top box, just for you. The Royal Canterlot Orchestra will be playing tonight. You don't want to miss that."

"Um... er... Opera is bor-ing."

"You've never seen opera before."

"I can just tell. It's going to be boring."

"Your Diamond senses told you that, did they?"

"Dad, please!" Tiara's voice had the whine of a filly who knew she couldn't win and was very upset about it. "It sounds dreamy, but I really am tired."

"Oh no. You're not wriggling out of this one. You need to see how the elite practise stuff like etiquette and saying their pleases and thank-yous, and most of all you need a lesson in pony courtesy, young lady. If it helps, think of this as a punishment for bad public relations."

"Just for one incident with Sweetie Belle?" she said petulantly.

"From what Miss Cheerilee's been telling me, there's been a lot more going on at that school than you getting irate over spelling mistakes. It's got to stop." In the mirror overlooking the chest of drawers, Tiara's cheeks burned. "I thought I'd heard the last of it after that Family Appreciation Day."

"Kooky old lady," Tiara muttered under her breath.

"You're just lucky I didn't tell your grandpa what you said about Granny Smith that time. And I suppose there's a reason you keep calling her grandfilly a 'half-pint'?"

Tiara wisely kept her mouth shut. Unfortunately, it didn't last long. "Silver Spoon does it too -"

"Don't try to fool me, Diamond Tiara! Silver Spoon gets it off you, not the other way around. And even if that was the case, if she went around with a jar of zap apple jam on top of her head, would you put one on and do the same as her?"

"No."

"No. And while we're on that subject, I notice you don't talk to Silver Spoon anymore. Or anypony else in your class. You've practically alienated yourself from the rest of the fillies, and when you do speak, it always seems to end with Ms Cheerilee hearing about it. I knew you could be difficult, but this has gone on long enough."

By now, Tiara had shut her lips so tightly they were bulging. Her glare was scorching a burn mark on the floor. Filthy heard a sniff, as though his daughter was trying to preserve some dignity.

He sighed. There you go again, Filthy, he thought. You're no disciplinarian. You either let her go too easily or lay it on too thick, but you never get the dosage just right and heaven knows she needs this kind of medicine. The sooner we get to the theatre and get her seeing the refined Canterlot crowd, the better.

"You're going out in that dress?" he said, trying to inject some kindness into his voice.

"Yeah! This is Canterlot, Dad. You have to make a statement here." She was still avoiding his gaze.

"In your case, I'd call it a full sales pitch. You don't think it's a little much, honey?"

"I don't think it's enough. I've got to look special. Especially here!"

Filthy tried a small chuckle. Anything to ease the tension a little. "You always liked being the centre of attention, didn't you, Tiara? Grandpa used to have this exact same conversation with me when I was a young colt. I kept dressing up in fancy suits and ties wherever I went."

"I know," she said, still sulking. "I've seen the pictures."

"It's all right to make a statement. In business, you get judged the instant you walk through the door. What you wear, how you walk -"

"How you talk and look and move," completed Tiara. "Yeah, yeah. You've told me."

"And you always followed through with it." He licked his hoof and ran it along his mane, trying to tame any rogue hairs. "Not always how I'd like you to, but you're mighty good at it otherwise. Just like at your cuteceaneara. You wanted to make a 'big statement' then too. Though I'm sure we got the dresses mixed up; you said you wanted one that showed off your cutie mark."

"I made the best with what I got." In fact, she'd had very little choice - the party had been minutes away by the time she'd unwrapped the box and pulled out the contents.

"See? That's resourcefulness. A good quality in a business mare. And you remember that other time when you and Silver Spoon set up that lemonade stall on the front yard?"

"Dad," she said, blushing harder. "That was ages ago!"

"When you still had no cutie mark. I remember."

"You promised you'd forget about all that!"

He chuckled, completely oblivious to Tiara as she hid her face behind a hoof. "You were an enterprising little filly back then. Trying your darndest to get a cutie mark on your own. Not like now. Now, you just lounge around the house, doing nothing."

"If I go to this dumb opera," she said, "will you please stop talking about my fillyhood?"

"Wide awake now, huh? Come on, then. Before we miss the Overture."

As they pushed through the door and walked out onto the landing, Tiara pressed close against his legs. He noticed she was shaking, which caught him by surprise.

"Promise you won't ever tell anypony ever, ever again about all that stuff?" she said. "Nopony at school can ever know about it. Not ever!"

"But Tiara, that time you showed real initiative and an entrepreneur's spirit. You should be proud of that." He looked misty-eyed for a moment. "Just like your old grandpa."

"Never ever ever ever ever -"

"OK, OK, I promise."