The Prima Donna and The Tailor

The last bell rang at twenty after four that afternoon. The strings of ponies pouring out of the school created such a din as to warrant noise pollution measures. Sweetie Belle, Apple Bloom, and Scootaloo were racing out into the still blustery afternoon. The temperature has warmed up some, but not by much.

"Can ya'll believe this is September? Ah swear, the Wendigo's have come back or somethin'!"

"That would explain the snow fall," Scoots exclaimed, "and this wind. Even with a winter coat growin' I can feel the wind seep through to my skin!"

Sweetie moaned, "I hate the cold! I can't wait to get home and get warm again. I could just drown in a vat of hot cocoa right about now."

Apple Bloom moaned in pleasure, "Mmm, hot cocoa…!"

"Now you guys are making me wanna visit Sugar Cube Corner."

"Hey, that sounds like a great idea!"

Scootaloo turns out the pockets of her sweatshirt, showing nothing was in them, "With what bits? I already spent my allowance for the week."

"On what? Another Rainbow Dash doll?" Bloom chides.

"It's not a doll, it's an action figure!" Scootaloo screams.

"Girls!" Sweetie Belle interjected, "Seriously, you two are a pair of honey badgers. I can't leave you two alone for a second…"

The two fillies made downcast faces. They argued more now than when they were in grade school. Sweetie Belle knew this and so did they; it was their thing. They would probably argue their way to the grave then argue some more about who was to be buried when and where.

"Don't worry about the bits, Scoots. Rarity just gave me an increase in my allowance so I can get us all something from The Sugarcube."

Scootaloo pumped her hoof in the air to celebrate. Apple Bloom was giddy a well. Sweet Apple Acres was still doing ample business, but with upkeep on the farm, it was a wonder sometimes how the Apple Family kept everything together.

"Come on, let's get going. I wanna beat the evening rush."

The trio galloped onward towards the center of town where the gingerbread roof of Sugar Cube Corner called to them.

Sugar Cube Corner was packed, just as Sweets predicted. The joint was standing room only, thanks to the chill. It was difficult for the three fillies to make their way through the crowd, but once they did, they main objective was accomplished rather easily. Once refreshment was acquired and bits were added to The Cakes quickly filling till, the Crusaders turned to leave for the Carousel Boutique. Standing in their way was Diamond Tiara. The stuck up filly was flanked by an older mare. Sweets wanted to assume that was DTs mother, but as a wise mare once said, Assumption is the mother of all buck ups.

"Well, well, well," Diamond snickered, "if isn't the Cutie Dumb Crusaders! Here to make Scootalong a proper filly, are we?"

"Go skate on thin ice, DeeTee," Apple Bloom snarled, "we don't have time for ya."

"Oh, please," the pampered filly scoffs, "as long as I'm here, you aren't going anywhere."

"Out of our way, DeeTee!" Scootaloo warns.

"And why should I?" Diamond demands, "I have every right to be here."

"Do you have the right to be a pompous ass?"

Diamond merely smiles and says, "We'll see how pompous I am when I snatch that tailor before anypony else. He may have rebuffed me before, but I swear by Celestia, he will be mine!"

"Sis," the older mare complains, "Imma cold. Can we just get inside and get some hot chocolate?"

"Stuff it, Pearl! The smart ponies are talking…"

"Wait-a-minute," Sweets wonders, "This mare is your sister?"

"T-that doesn't concern you, Broken Belle!"

"Diamond…" the mare whines, "I'm weally, weally cold! Let's just go inside, huh?"

"I said stuff it, Pearl!"

The mare begins to cry. The assembled crowd in the sweet shop has actually turned to rubberneck the scene as it unfolds. Sweetie Belle is appalled; Rarity at her worst never acted this way to her.

"Hold on, Dee Tee, why in the hay are treating your sister this way?"

Apple Bloom interjects, "Yeah! I can understand you being an ass to us, but yer sister? What is your major malfunction?"

"I don't need to-" Diamond starts, but Pearl interrupts.

"Dee Dee thinks I'm stupid! Everyone says I'm stupid!! I can't do ennything right…!"

The Crusaders share a look as a flush of guilt sweeps Diamond Tiara.

"I can't believe this…" the filly grumbles, and then she says, "This is my sister, Pearl Tiara. She's- well-"

Pearl seethes, "Retarded!"

The Crusaders share a sympathetic look as Diamond's patience ends.

"Fuck it, Pearl, we're going home. As for you three," she threatens, "This. Never. Happened."

Pearl, still crying but now a little more coherent, says, "Oh, Dee Dee, Momma is gonna mad when she hears you were cursin'."

"And who's gonna tell, RETARD!"

"Maybe nopony will need to, Diamond Tiara." says a mare entering the Sugarcube.

"M-mom?!"

The mare nods, her anger reducing her eyes to mere slits.

"Now I did not just hear you harassing these fine fillies, revile your older sister and you issue a profanity?"

Pearl whispers, "She did, Momma, she did."

"Pearl…"

"You, young filly, are going to get seen to once we get home. As it stands, you'll be grounded for two weeks. I will not tolerate you vilifying your sister, who you know has special needs."

The pampered filly scuffs a spot on the floor with her hoof.

"As for your companions," the austere mare says, "I feel I should apologize for you my younger daughter. She has been- coddled by her father too much. I warned him… I do hope this hasn't been too traumatic an experience?"

"No, no," Sweetie says, "but is rather revealing."

"Would you girls care if I paid for your refreshments?"

"That's okay, Mrs. Di- Diamond Tiara's mom. We're good here." Scootlaoo stammers.

"Please, you may call me Embellishment. And I would be most appreciative if you would inform me of my daughters- improprieties. She has always been my greatest disappointment…"

Silently nodding, the three Crusaders sidle for the exit upon hearing such an admission from Diamond Tiara's Mother. They sidle quickly out of the Sugar Cube, chancing a fleet glance at Diamond and Pearl before rushing off to the Boutique. In their rush, Sweetie feels colder than she ever did this whole day. She can't figure out why…

At home, DT is fuming. She has already torn her room to pieces and still her anger hasn't subsided. She can't understand why Stitchen isn't attracted to her. It makes her blood boil that he sits with the Cutie Mark Crybabies and not with her. She can't conceive why Stitches hangs out with them. It only makes her angrier. DIAMOND TIARA SMASH!

"Dee Dee?" comes a quavering voice from the shadows of Diamond's doorway.

"PEARL…"

"Dee Dee, what's wrong? You're all- you look mean…"

"It's your fault… I could have him, but NO, you gotta mess everything up!"

*SMACK!* Diamonds hoof comes down hard on Pearls muzzle. The older Tiara's lip is split; a trickle of scarlet starts running down her face.

"OWWIE! Dee Dee…?!"

"Stupid-!"

*SMACK!* Another strike, opening the split in Pearls lip much wider. The claret is really beginning to flow now.

"NoooOOOO! Dee Dee-!"

"Why Mom ever foaled you is beyond me…!"

*SMACK!* *SMACK!* Two more hooves rain down on Pearl; the second connects with her right eye. A waxy bruise begins to form there.

"I used to be popular before my friends found out about you!"

*SMACK!*

"DEE DEE, STOP!"

*SMACK!* "Stupid-" *THWACK!* "fucking-" *SPRACK!* "HINNY!"

"What is going on here?!" Embellishment roars.

Bawling loudly, Pearl declaims, "Momma, Dee Dee is hitting me again!"

"No, wait, Mother-!"

"Enough," Embellishment says, her voice icy, "this has been a long time coming, Diamond. It is past time you receive some discipline. It will hurt me more than it will hurt you."

"Wait, wait, MOTHER…!"

For the next ten minutes, Embellishment "disciplines" her daughter; by discipline, Embellishment means striking her middle daughter repeatedly. Sometimes with a hoof, sometimes using a crop, Embellishment rails against Diamond Tiara. Between hits, Diamond weeps, the wounds inflicted on her making her weak and muddling with her thought process. When it is done, she is little more than a sobbing mess of bruises and lacerations. Embellishment is not moved; she grabs a towel from the adjacent bathroom.

"Here," she says coldly, "clean yourself up. You need to be decent before your Father's Yacht Club meeting tomorrow. Pearl, come with me; we'll make you all better."

Pearl follows her mother obediently, hardly aware of the brutality of the scene that just played out. Alone and bloodied, Diamond sobs feebly. Her only pleasant thought about all of this is that it is Friday evening; she has plenty of time to get pretty for Stitchen Time. He won't see her with bruises and welts…

Back at Carousel Boutique, the Cutie Mark Crusaders rested in Sweetie Belle's room. Her mother has bounced into the room earlier offering some peanut butter cookies. The fillies took up the proffered confections and eat them slowly while sipping on their warm beverages. Scootaloo was slaking her caffeine addiction with a double espresso; Bloom opted for a regular hot cocoa. Sweetie went for a mochaccino because she wanted the sugar rush. They were all enjoying their beverages when Magnum, Sweetie's father, knocks at the door.

"Darling, there's a colt at the door who says he knows you from school. He says he has something of yours."

"Be right down, Daddy!"

"Who could that be?" Apple Bloom asks.

Sweetie shrugs. She has no idea why a colt would be here at her home. (Unless it was one of the throng of admirers she so deftly tries to avoid.)

"Hold tight, girls. Be back in two shakes."

She heads downstairs, where she can hear the furious tear of Rarity's sewing machine plugging away. Her mother is sweeping up in the living room, doing dressage and humming to herself. Sweetie can't help but think that her family is strange. Then she reassures herself that every teenager feels their family is weird. She gets downstairs and is given quite a shock. Stitchen Time is out on the front porch. She opens the door and is grateful the wind has died down.

"Stitchen! What are you doing here?"

Stitches is shivering in the cold of the day, but he looks positively delighted that Sweetie has answered the door. On his back is something that she instantly recognizes.

"My cloak!"

"I was at Sugar Cube Corner a few minutes ago and I saw this on one of the chairs. I remembered you were wearing this earlier today. I came to return it to you."

“♫Oh, thank you!♪” Sweets says, "I totally forgot about this. I was so warm from my mochaccino that I forgot that I took this off! That, and Diamond Tiara kinda made me lose my train of thought…"

"You're welcome."

"Would you like to come inside for a bit?"

"I'd like to, but I have to get home. Mama worries when I stay out to late."

"Oh, okay. I'll see you in school tomorrow."

Stitchen bids Sweetie goodbye. She closes the door, nestling her cloak to her face.

"So, who's the colt?" inquires Rarity.

Sweetie is startled by her sister's sudden appearance. She stammers with an answer for a bit before running upstairs. The elder sibling is left confused and unsatisfied. Sweetie sweeps into her room, slamming the door behind her shut. She braces herself against it, a blush forming on her cheeks. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom are surprised by their friends behavior.

"Who was that?"

It takes Sweets a few moments to reply and when she does, she realizes she is flustered.

"It was Stitchen Time, Bloom. He came to return my cloak."

"Your cloak?" Scootlaoo comments, "Wow. Somebody has themselves a stalker."

"I do not!"

"Maybe not, Sweets, but ya gotta admit, he is kinda cute."

Sweetie stares at Bloom. She never thought Apple Bloom would talk this way.

"Well, he is!"

"I agree. I mean, he may be a little nervous for me, but he has a nice face. Did you see that costume of his? So damn adorable! If Silver Spoon wasn't there, I woulda kissed him."

"Hey, Scoots, Ah've been meanin' to ask, what is yer problem with Silver Spoon?"

"I don't have a problem with her. I'm- kinda ambivalent. I mean, yeah, grade school was forever ago, but some of the things she did then hurt. I dunno if I worked out enough of my hurt to forgive her."

"Well, shoot, if Ah knew that, Ah would've asked her to sit at another table."

"I still don't get how you can be friends with her."

"Is it because of that one time you saved her life?" Sweetie Belle remarks.

Apple Bloom nods.

"You're kidding?!" the Pegasus exclaims.

"Nnope." Bloom says, inflecting her brother, Big Mac.

"Do you wanna tell the story, Bloom? Or should I?" Sweeite Belle inquires.

"It's best Ah tell it. Might make more sense that way."

So Apple Bloom regales Scootaloo about her adventure saving Silver Spoon: Several years ago, when Silver, Diamond Tiara and the CMC were in junior high, Diamond and Silver challenged Apple Bloom to walk deep into the Everfree Forest. It was supposed to be a test of courage. Bloom counter challenged the two rich snobs to follow with and they accepted. All three were to walk into the deepest part of the Everfree as anypony had ever gotten to. On the way there, the trio heard a wolf howl. Nopony would admit how scared they were; they wanted the win the challenge. They were approaching an empty glen well away from the Forest's edge when a pack of timber wolves descended on them.

The fillies ran and ran hard. The wolves chased them far into the Everfree, never giving up. Soon, the three ponies were caught between a literal rock and a hard place. They wound up at the bottom of a cliff that ascended into a sheer rock wall. The wolves were closing in, blocking any route of escape by their sheer numbers. The imminent threat of death was too much for Diamond Tiara, who promptly fainted. Silver Spoon and Apple Bloom remained upright as the predators bore down on them. Silver panicked; her mind went numb and she was nothing more than a target for the wolves. Apple Bloom, seeing as her two unwitting companions were unable to defend themselves, attacked the wolves.

Nominally, a pony Apple Bloom's age would not have the size or strength to fight against a pack the size as they encountered. Somehow, owing either to her Apple Family heritage or just sheer dumb luck, she did. It was one Hell of a fight. Bloom could not have imagined where she got the gumption for such a ferocious tumble. When it ended, only three of the eleven timber wolves were left standing. They fled, having lost their leader in combat to a juvenile filly. Silver Spoon was witness to the battle and was immensely relieved that she wasn't a timber wolf chew toy. She wasn't too enthused by Diamond's fainting spell, though.

The two fillies worked up a litter to carry Diamond through the forest. Once they were out, they found themselves at Fluttershy's cottage. She saw them emerge and asked what happened. Silver told the golden Pegasus the whole story. Fluttershy was not amused; in point of fact, she was livid. During her lecture about staying out of the forest, Silver expressed her gratitude to Bloom for saving her. Two weeks afterward, Silver and Diamond were no longer friends; according to Silver, they had a falling out over something, but no details were given. The silvery Earth pony started hanging out with Bloom over the course of two months and that was where their friendship began.

"So THAT'S how you and Ess Ess became friends!"

Bloom nods, adding, "Eyup! Diamond hasn't forgiven me for takin' all her gory, but Ah don' mind. She showed she can unreliable in a pinch. It's no wonder Silver Spoon dropped her."

"But why does she hate Sweetie Belle when she's friends with you?" Scoots asked.

"She doesn't hate me. She and I have a- professional rivalry going on." Sweets answers, "It doesn't help I beat her out of the choir finals last year. She's never really forgiven me for that."

"Well, that's good to know," Scootaloo commented, "Still doesn't address the stalker in the room."

"For the last time, I do not have a stalker!"

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom can't hold back the laughter they have. The two fillies roar with merriment. Sweetie is at first exasperated with their mirth, but after a while, she joins in. Out of all the colts in Ponyville, she gets one that is sweet, talented, and an excellent singer chasing after her. Oh, Dear Celestia, what a day this has been…