Friday night had to be Diamond Tiara's favorite day, or rather, night of the week. There was no school the next day, so she could stay up for as long as she wanted, and sleep in the next day. She was free to do as she pleased. Nothing could stop her.
Not even curfew she thought with a smirk as she threw a long, thick rope out her window and tied the other end to her bed. Slowly and carefully she climbed down the rope, careful to not make a single noise. She couldn't afford to be caught, not now. There were only two days out of the entire week she could do this, the one thing that gave her fulfillment.
After what felt like hours, she finally made it to the bottom, and looked towards the sky. Cloudless, with a full moon. In other words it was the perfect night to do this. She quickly trotted away from her home, out of the residential district of Ponyville and into the business district. She took a whiff of the cool, brisk night air, and shuddered as she exhaled, delighted at the fresh air that nopony else even cared for. Oh well, not her fault they didn't know what they were missing.
She trotted over to a nearby alleyway, and sat down on the cold cobblestones that made up the sidewalk. She still had five minutes of waiting. Five agonizing minutes she thought bitterly to herself. Her only solace being that the one she was waiting for would be early for once. As if answering her prayers, she heard hoofsteps coming towards her from her left, eliciting a smile from the young foal's lips as she stood to meet her contractor.
"Hello, Miss Applejack," she greeted quietly with a nod, the farm pony smiling back happily.
"Howdy, Diamond, nice night we're a having, doncha think?" Applejack answered back. Diamond Tiara looked up into the sky, and took another whiff of the night air.
"Oh it's just lovely, but let's not stand on ceremony here, let's get down to business." She stood and handed Applejack a rather large, and heavy, bag of bits, causing her to whistle a little too loudly for Diamond's taste.
"Whoo wee Diamond, ya'll must really love-"
"Must I remind you, Miss Applejack, that the walls have ears?" Diamond Tiara whispered fiercely, causing Applejack to chuckle a bit with a smile.
"Sorry, slipped mah mind," she admitted as she started to walk away. "Alright, follow me Diamond, I'll git ya'll a really nice spot fer this," she said as she tucked the bag of bits under her hat, with Diamond Tiara in tow. Within twenty minutes the two had reached Sweet Apple Acres. Diamond Tiara couldn't help but stare in amazement.
"No matter how many times I see it, I still can't get over how beautiful it is," she said quietly as she continued walking beside Applejack, who nodded in appreciation.
"Ah know what ya'll mean sugarcube, believe me," she replied with a smile, "but ya'll can appreciate it later, fer now, let's git on over to the southern orchard," she said with a smile, eliciting a squeal from Diamond Tiara.
"Th-the southern orchard?" she muttered with a smile, causing Applejack to chuckle.
"Ah think you've proven yerself ready to handle that, though remember, you only git half," she added as an afterthought. She didn't want the poor thing to kill herself. They soon reached the southern orchard, the third largest, after the Western and Northern orchards respectfully. Diamond Tiara couldn't stop herself from giggling if she tried.
"It's everything I thought it would be," she sighed contently, as she walked up to one of the trees and rubbed her hoof against its trunk, the bark feeling rough against her perfectly manicured hoof. She had been stuck on the eastern orchard for the past year, and to finally graduate to the southern orchard, oh Celestia it was beyond comprehension!
"Welp, let me know when yer done, or ya'll git tired, the baskets are over there," Applejack pointed to her right, with Diamond Tiara nodding in acknowledgement, "just cover em like always and ah'll have Big McIntosh take care o' dem like usual," Applejack finished with a yawn, and laid down by a tree, covering her eyes with her stretson. She wanted to be close at hoof just in case something went wrong, though Diamond Tiara had already shown quite a bit of promise.
After another minute of caressing the apple tree, Diamond Tiara slowly walked away, a spring in her step as she went over to the baskets, and grabbed them one by one, piling them up on each other, and set them up around the tree, leaving only one space. She then turned towards her flank, staring at her cutie mark; a diamond tiara. Her namesake sprawled on her flank, a symbol of leadership, the kind that her father always wanted in a daughter, and growled. No, for this she wanted to be herself.
Licking her hoof, she rubbed her cutie mark harshly, causing it to fade away slowly. After she was statisfied, she quickly went to work on her other flank, causing that cutie mark to fade as well. In their place, stood a very different cutie mark. It was a beautiful white flower, with five petals surrounding several yellow stamens. It was a flower from an apple tree in bloom. A blooming apple. She couldn't help but blush a bit, if Apple Bloom knew...she shook her head, ridding her of those embarrassing thoughts, and turned back towards the apple tree. Time to get to work.
Turning around and taking a deep breath, she raised her legs and bucked the tree as hard as she could, just like Applejack had taught her, electricity running down her spine as she felt her hooves dig into the rough bark of the tree, and smirked as she heard the apples fall into the baskets. After several seconds she could no longer hear the tumbling of apples, and looked up to see how many were left. None. She had gotten all of them in one strike. Feeling proud of herself, she went over and grabbed several more baskets and laid them against another tree. She then turned around and lifted her legs from the ground, preparing to strike at just the right-
"Diamond Tiara!?"
She slipped and fell on her face, gaping towards the direction of the new voice, finding Apple Bloom just a few feet away from Applejack.
"wha-why-ah-" her eyes were wide and gaping, unable to believe that Diamond Tiara was in her backyard bucking apples with a smile on her face.
"Wa-wait! I can explain!" Diamond Tiara ran towards Apple Bloom, trying her best not to panic.
"Why are ya'll bucking apples!?" she pointed to the apple tree, "why's Applejack taking a snooze!?" she yelled out as she pointed at her sister, "why's ya cutie mark a-" she stopped mid sentence when she took a good look at Diamond Tiara's cutie mark, completely different from what it was originally. She then looked up at Diamond Tiara, who was staring at the floor, face red and tears threatening to fall from her eyes. Apple Bloom sighed to herself, she didn't mean to scare her, she was just confused about what the hay was going on. "Can ya'll just please tell me what's going on?" she asked gently as she patted Diamond Tiara on the back. Sniffling a few times, Diamond Tiara nodded, taking a deep breath as she did so.
"I-I always envied you," she said, Apple Bloom's eyes widening in shock, her mouth gaping once more, "ever since I was small, I always wanted to be a farmer. To labor in the fields, fix broken equipment," at this point she stared lovingly at the tree she had previously bucked, "and to buck apples," she said with a sigh, "but daddy, he wanted me to follow in his hoofsteps, he wanted me to "make something of myself" or some crap like that," she said bitterly, once again looking downcast, tears once again threatening to pour down her face.
"...And ya'll didn't like that too much did ya?" Apple Bloom said sadly as she hugged Diamond Tiara from the side, stroking her mane to help calm her down.
"No, I didn't," Diamond Tiara replied as she gently unhooked herself from the hug, it was just a tad bit uncomfortable, "but I wanted to make him proud, so I did everything I could to get a cutie mark in business, from trying my own business in selling lemonade," she said as Apple Bloom licked her lips, lemonade sounded good right about now, "to blackmailing," Apple Bloom grunted at that, she was the one who was blackmailed.
"What does blackmailing have to do with business?" she grunted with a raised eyebrow, eliciting a smile from Diamond Tiara.
"A lot, trust me." The way she said it made Apple Bloom shiver. "Anyways, about a year ago daddy and me made a trip down here, some business thing or whatever, and Applejack offered to take me around the farm," she smiled fondly as she remembered that day, "she showed me so many amazing things, the pigsty, the barn, and even the southern orchard," she said fondly as she walked up to one of the apple trees, Apple Bloom following closely behind, "I...I asked her if she could show me how to apple buck, oh I still can't believe I asked that," she said as she rolled her eyes, "I mean seriously, that was sooooo embarrassing!" she gagged, causing Apple Bloom to roll her eyes.
"Uh, Diamond, the story?" she reminded, causing Diamond Tiara to groan loudly.
"Hey, I'm trying to make it interesting!" she shouted out as she poked Apple Bloom's chest who grunted from the impact, "ANYWAYS like I was saying," she sighed to herself as she remembered that day.
"I don't know sugarcube," Applejack replied as she rubbed the back of her neck with her hoof, "I don't want ya'll ta git hurt or nothing," she said, causing Diamond Tiara to groan out of frustration.
"Oh come on, just this once?" she begged with eyes wide, "oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh please oh-"
"Alright alright I git it!" Applejack yelled out as she covered her ears, muttering about annoying obnoxious ponies, "alright, all ya'll have to do is stand in front of the tree, kick at just the right angle, and boom!" she yelled out as she demonstrated on a nearby tree, causing its apples to fall all over the place, "uh...oops," she blushed a little bit at her hindsight, eliciting a giggle from the young filly, "alright alright I git it, I messed up," she said with a smile as she positioned Diamond Tiara in front of a tree, "now how's about you give it a shot?" she doubted she could do it, she was only a filly after all.
"Alright, my turn," Diamond Tiara grumbled to herself. She locked her forehooves into the dirt, lifted her legs and bucked as hard as she could, only causing a quarter of the tree's apples to fall.
"Whoo wee yer a natural!" Applejack praised as she slapped Diamond on the back, "Gotta say that's purty amazing seeing as how that's yer first time!" Applejack smiled at Diamond Tiara, causing her to smile back.
"That was so much fun!" she couldn't help but squeal out. Bucking that tree felt amazing, like nothing she had experienced before! It was as if this was her calling, this was her destiny! It was then that she was engulfed in a bright light, blinding both her and Applejack for a split second. As the light faded, she looked and gaped as the most wonderful cutie mark adorned her flank. It was a blooming apple tree's flower.
"I was so happy that I finally got my cutie mark," she sighed with content as she caressed her cutie mark lovingly, "it's what I always wanted, but I knew daddy wouldn't approve, and so did Applejack," she grunted with disdain, "so we decided to hide it from him, and everypony else. Applejack agreed to let me buck apples at night, and I pay her to keep quiet about this,"
"That's...wow," Apple Bloom grunted, rubbing her temples in an attempt to help her think, "well, ah guess ah'll just leave ya'll to yer work," she tried to smile as she walked away, still unable to believe that Diamond Tiara wanted to be an apple farmer.
"Wait!" Apple Bloom swerved around towards Diamond Tiara, "I...I can't ask Applejack to do this, she's already done so much for me, but..." she sighed to herself as she kicked at the dirt, "can you...boss me around?" she asked with a chuckle, causing Apple Bloom to blanch.
"Ya'll want me ta...boss ya around?" she repeated the question, unable to really grasp the simple meaning.
"Y-yeah," Diamond Tiara continued to play with the dirt, unintentionally ruining her manicure. At first Apple Bloom considered just walking away, seeing as how she was getting a bit of a creepy vibe from Diamond Tiara, but then again, this could be her one chance to get back at DT for all the times she picked on her. Smiling at that thought, Apple Bloom walked up to Diamond Tiara and put a hoof to her shoulder.
"Diamond, ah'd love to," she said gently, causing Diamond Tiara to smile.
"Great!" she said as she hugged Apple Bloom, causing her to blush. Realizing her mistake Diamond Tiara quickly let go, and coughed a little bit, "sorry, boss," she said with a giggle, "what do you want me to do first?" she asked excitedly, waiting for her orders.
"Enough dilly dallying!" Apple Bloom yelled out, causing Diamond Tiara to jump back in surprise, "git back ta work 'fore I flay ya'll!" she threatened, receiving a salute from Diamond Tiara before she rushed off, gathering the baskets with a smile. She quickly made her way to another tree, and after setting up the baskets she quickly bucked the tree, however, due to her haste a few apples fell to the ground instead of their intended targets, "dang it Tiara ya'll trying to ruin the harvest!?" Apple Bloom yelled out with a glare, sending shivers down Diamond Tiara's spine.
"I-I'm sorry," she apologized, cowering before Apple Bloom as if she were truly frightened, though in truth she was actually excited. What would Apple Bloom do? Threaten to deduct her pay? Flay her? Or maybe, oh sweet Celestia maybe she would force her to work overtime! The possibilities were endless!
"Ya'll better git yer act together, or else," she let the threat stand, as she pointed to another tree, "now git back to work!" she smirked as Diamond Tiara ran off. This was exhilarating! She had never felt so, powerful before. She loved it, Oh ah could git used to this she thought to herself with a smirk.
As Diamond Tiara quickly bucked tree after tree, she was soon growing exhausted, and she was starting to tire. But even then the smile never left her face. She felt like a farmer, a real farmer doing real work. She had never felt so, complete before. She was fulfilling her destiny, and she loved every minute of it. But her body couldn't handle it. She soon collapsed as exhaustion came to her, panting uncontrollably.
"Apple Bloom, can I take a break?" she asked her boss, who thought this was just another part of their "game". She walked up to Diamond Tiara and glared as she stuck her face uncomfortably (or comfortably, Diamond Tiara felt rather mixed on it) and poked her in the chest.
"Ya'll git yer break when ah say ya'll git yer break!" she yelled out as she forced Diamond to her hooves, "now quit being lazy, we gotta harvest all dem apples and yer not being quick enough!"
"I-I'm sorry-"
"Sorry's not good enough!" Apple Bloom interrupted, pushing Diamond Tiara down on her rump. Diamond Tiara started trembling, somewhat out of fear, but mostly out of excitement, "it looks like ah'm gonna have to punish you," Apple Bloom calmly said as she started walking away, as if punishing Diamond Tiara was as insignificant as choosing what to eat for breakfast.
"P-punish?" Diamond asked bewildered, but couldn't stop the large smile that was slowly forming on her face. Was this it? What would she do? The questions continued pouring through Diamond Tiara's mind as she stared expectantly at Apple Bloom, who chose this time to turn around.
"Ah'm sorry to have to do this Tiara, but ya'll leave me no choice," she finished her pacing as she glared at Diamond Tiara, a sadistic smile on her face, "yer gonna have to work overtime!" she declared loudly, almost waking up Applejack.
"Overtime!?" Diamond Tiara yelled out with glee. She never had to work overtime before! "Oh please, boss, anything but that!" she begged, though Apple Bloom could tell she was lying by the rather large, creepy, and somewhat cute smile that was adorning her face.
"Instead of complaining maybe ya'll should git back to work 'fore I deduct yer pay too!" she yelled out as she jabbed Diamond Tiara once again in the chest. She was in control. She gave the orders. She. Was. The boss. At that moment a bright light engulfed the area, blinding both fillies for a split second, and just as quickly died down.
"W-what was that?" Diamond Tiara panicked as she looked around frantically, quickly looking over Apple Bloom to see if she was okay.
"A-ah don't know, it's just that..." she trailed off as she saw Diamond Tiara gaping at her flank, "w-what?" however Diamond Tiara continued gaping, and pointed her hoof at Apple Bloom's flank. Turning around and looking for herself, her once blank flank was now adorned a symbol. Her destiny.
"Y-you got your cutie mark!" Diamond Tiara smiled at Apple Bloom, who continued to stare at her flank in amazement.
"Y-ya'll can't be serious!" she panicked as she tried to rub off the cutie mark, "I mean, what?" she stared questionably at Diamond Tiara, who only smirked with a shrug.
"Hey, I don't know, maybe it's a sign," she said with a giggle, causing Apple Bloom to groan. This could not be happening.
Her cutie mark was a symbol of management.
A symbol of control.
A symbol of leadership.
Her cutie mark was a diamond tiara.
Author's Note
Here is my second one shot. Just something I wanted to write before going back to working on ABDHAHD and Ooh Mama. Probably going to get back to this one and edit it out a bit in the future once I finish with my other stories.
