“Now, my little ponies, you know what to do. If you need any help, put up your hoof.”
The Cutie Mark Crusaders looked at each other with scheming grins. Cheerilee had put them all together in a group to work on a craft project; the aim was to allow everypony to create something important to them. Thankfully, all three of them were on the same wavelength and knew exactly what to create.
“A dress!” Sweetie Belle declared.
“A workbench!” Apple Bloom demanded.
“A turbo booster!” Scootaloo yelled.
The three fillies looked at each other.
“Come on, a workbench is the perfect thing!” Apple Bloom continued, exasperated. “It’s fun to make, and it’s useful!”
“So is a turbo booster! Scootaloo countered, thumping a hoof on the desk.
Sweetie Belle was puzzled. “What even is a turbo booster?”
Before Scootaloo could launch into an explanation, Apple Bloom interrupted.
“Come on, we can’t argue about this! It’s supposed to be a team project and if we all want to do something different, it’ll never get done.”
The three crusaders paused in thought for a moment, rubbing their chins while they tried to come up with a solution.
“I know! How about we don’t do any of those things, and we pick something that includes all of our talents,” Sweetie suggested.
“That’s perfect!” Apple Bloom and Scootaloo replied simultaneously, before looking at each other strangely. They weren’t sure when they’d started talking in unison.
“I know it is,” Sweetie replied smugly, kicking back in her chair. “I came up with it.”
“So, we just need to find our talents, and combine them. My talent is karate,” Apple Bloom said, aiming a chop at thin air.
“Mine is awesomeness,” Scootaloo said, but faced with a round of disapproving looks from the others, she added, “Well, that and extreme stunts.”
“I’m a great designer,” Sweetie said, “So we just need a project that combines karate, extreme stunts and fabrics…”
The three fillies only had to think for a moment.
“Ninja kite fighters!”
As soon as they’d said it, a mocking laugh rang out from behind them. A laugh they only knew too well.
“Ninja kite fighters? Puh-lease, how old are you ponies? Sounds like you’ve read too many Tween Monster Kung Fu Lizard books,” Diamond Tiara said scathingly. Beside her, Silver Spoon tittered.
“Hey! Our project isn’t decided on yet!” Scootaloo countered angrily.
“Yeah! Leave us alone!” Sweetie Belle added, stomping a hoof on the ground.
This only made Diamond Tiara laugh more. “You Cutie Mark Crybabies are never going to get your cutie marks. Blank flanks forever!” She grinned and turned to Silver Spoon, and the two exchanged their super-cool hoofshake. “Bump, bump, sugar lump rump!” Bursting into cruel laughter, they turned to go.
“Well, if you’re so cool, what’s your project?” Apple Bloom said, leaping to her hooves. “I bet you don’t have anything either!”
Irritated, the twosome turned around.
“If you must know, we’re making a decorative blanket,” Diamond Tiara sneered. “It’s going to be the best out of everypony’s. And it’s already half-done.”
“Yeah,” Silver Spoon added, imitating Diamond Tiara’s tone.
All three of the Cutie Mark Crusaders burst out laughing.
“A blanket! A foal could make a blanket!” Apple Bloom said between snorts.
“How original,” Sweetie grinned. “I’m sure nopony has done that before!”
Silver Spoon just put on a bored face, but Diamond Tiara’s featured hardened into an angry snarl. “You shut up or I’ll make you!”
“What are you gonna do, give it to your mommy?” Scootaloo mocked before giggling again.
Silver Spoon put a hoof on her companion’s shoulder, but Diamond Tiara was beyond restraint.
“I- You- The- I HATE YOU!” she screamed, stomping her hooves and giving them a murderous look.
“Diamond Tiara! Go and stand outside so you can calm down!” Cheerilee said indignantly. “I will not have shouting in my classroom.”
The pink pony shrugged off Silver Spoon’s hoof and stormed out, slamming the schoolhouse door behind her. Everypony watched in shock as she didn’t stop there and walked down the path, heading back into Ponyville.
“I’m going to have to contact her father,” Cheerilee said, her previous sternness replaced with a note of concern. “She can’t be wandering around by herself. Back to your seats, everypony.”
Sitting back at their desks, the Cutie Mark Crusaders exchanged secret smiles. They knew that Diamond Tiara had picked the wrong day to make a scene; it was parents’ evening later that day, and they couldn’t wait to hear Diamond Tiara getting told off.
***
“I’m home, darling,” Filthy Rich said, setting his briefcase down on the hallway table, as per his ritual. He paused, waiting for a reply, but got none. “Darling?”
Surprised that he wasn’t answered, he trotted up the stairs and knocked on his daughter’s door. “Are you in there, Tiara?”
“Go away,” the reply came, muffled.
Filthy Rich opened the door slowly, peering round it. His daughter was sitting on the floor next to her bed, buried under a mountain of duvets and blankets. “Come on Tiara, you shouldn’t sulk.”
“I said go away,” Diamond Tiara replied, but this time the tone was softer.
Her father carefully removed the blankets until he got to her. “Your teacher told me what happened.”
“Did she?” the pink filly replied angrily. “I bet she didn’t tell you what those stupid other ponies said.”
“Well, no, she didn’t. But darling, you just can’t shout at ponies like that.”
“She said… she…” Tiara replied, starting angrily but ending in a sob.
Filthy Rich picked up his daughter and pulled her into a hug, stroking her mane sympathetically. “Now, cheer up. You’ve got to go to parents’ evening with me later, remember?”
“Don’t want to go,” Diamond Tiara replied unhappily, her hooved unfolding and wrapping around her father’s neck.
“I know, but you have to. Don’t worry, it’ll only be short and then we can go home. Okay?”
“Okay.”
The stallion gently put his daughter down on the bed and piled the blankets back onto the foot of the bed. “I’ll give you ten minutes to get ready, okay? I’ll be waiting downstairs.”
Sniffing, Diamond Tiara nodded and wiped her eyes with a hoof. “Okay.”
“Love you Tiara.”
“Love you Daddy.”
***
“Now, Mr Rich, I told you about the… incident earlier today,” Cheerilee said, sitting behind her desk with Diamond Tiara’s report in front of her.
“Yes. I spoke to her this afternoon when I got home from work,” Filthy replied, looking at his daughter with what he hoped was a stern expression.
“I’m afraid it’s more than that. Your daughter is known for being an antagonist in the classroom,” the teacher said, running her hoof down a list of incidents written in red ink.
“It’s not my fault! You should’ve heard-” Diamond Tiara exclaimed, but her father silenced her with an angry look.
“Don’t interrupt like that, it’s rude,” the stallion said firmly before turning back to Cheerilee. “However, she did tell me that in this case, the outburst was because of something another pony was saying.”
Cheerilee sighed. “Look, Mr Rich, I know that sometimes ponies in the classroom can be less than friendly to one another, but that doesn’t excuse this kind of behaviour.” She turned to address Diamond Tiara. “If somepony is being mean to you, you should count to ten and ignore them.”
The filly just gave Cheerilee a moody look and said nothing.
“Well, I think I’ve said all I can. If this kind of thing continues to happen, I’ll have no choice but to remove your daughter from the classroom for being disruptive. Hopefully it won’t,” the mare said ominously. “Thank you for coming to see me.”
“Oh no, my pleasure,” Filthy Rich said, rising from his chair and smiling at the teacher. “Thank you for your patience.” Once he was sure Diamond Tiara was with him, the two left the classroom without another word.
Outside, Apple Bloom was waiting with her sister, staring at the ceiling and looking as if she’d rather be anywhere else. When the door opened, she looked up, but when she saw Diamond Tiara she just scowled.
Applejack leapt to her hooves when she saw Filthy Rich. “Here now, I want a word with you and your daughter.”
Taken aback, Filthy came to a halt. “Oh?”
The orange mare continued. “Now, mah sis here says that she’s been downright nasty to her and her friends about this class presentation”
Apple Bloom rolled her eyes. “It’s a group project, not a class presentation.”
“Not now Apple Bloom. Now look here, ah won’t stand fer ma sis being bullied, y’hear?”
“It was her stupid friend who started it!” Diamond Tiara said, pointing a hoof at Apple Bloom. “She was mean about Mom!”
Applejack interrupted. “I don’t care who started who where what now. Ah want an apology and ah want it now.”
Filthy Rich paused for a moment. “Well, I’d like to apologise on behalf of my daughter. Whatever was said, she didn’t need to react as she did. I will be talking to her as soon as we get home, trust me.”
The orange mare was placated a little by this, so she just trotted past with Apple Bloom in tow and disappeared into the classroom.
When the stallion looked down at his daughter, she gave him a look that could have cracked stone.
“Come on Tiara, let’s go home.”
She gave no reply.
***
They ended up sitting in Filthy’s office, the stallion in his executive chair and the filly in the straight-backed dining chair opposite.
“Listen to me, darling. You absolutely can’t go about yelling and shouting at ponies, and interrupting them. It’s rude, and you’ll only get into more trouble.”
Diamond Tiara refused to look at her father. “She was mean about Mom!” she repeated.
Filthy sighed. “I know it’s hard to ignore, but you have to. You have to be the bigger pony and keep your dignity-” he raised a hoof to silence her protests, “-even in this situation. Otherwise you’re just as bad as they are.”
The filly said nothing and just scowled at the floor.
“Why did you get so angry? It’s not like you to be like that,” Filthy said, trying a different approach.
“They were being mean about Mom and the blanket I’m making,” Diamond Tiara muttered, not changing her expression.
The stallion sighed. “Okay, well, that’s hard to deal with. I’m not saying what you did was right, or excusable, but the other pony was out of line.”
This got her attention. “Then why didn’t you say something earlier! To Cheerilee or those stupid Apples!”
“Now, Tiara, don’t call people names. I didn’t say anything because I’m not making excuses for you. You should report the other pony in that kind of situation, and you didn’t.”
“I’m not a tattle-tale!” With that, Diamond Tiara growled in frustration and stormed out of the room, leaving Filthy grinding his hoof into his forehead.
***
“Darling? Are you coming down for food?” Filthy said, knocking gently on his daughter’s bedroom door. “I made your favourite, fried carrots.”
“No, I’m not ever coming out!” Diamond Tiara yelled back. “Leave me alone!”
“I’ll put it in the oven to keep warm,” her father replied wearily. “I’m going to visit Mom later, though, will you come out for that?”
There was no reply from Diamond Tiara, but she appeared at the door a few seconds later.
“Can I take her the blanket?” she asked, her eyes puffy and red.
“Of course. Is it finished?”
“No.”
“Well, maybe after you’ve eaten you can finish it?”
“Okay.”
As his daughter trotted down the stairs towards the carroty smell, Filthy was relieved. He’d scored a minor parental victory in getting her to come downstairs and eat.
“Do you need any help finishing the blanket?”
“It’s supposed to be a group project, so we’re not meant to get our parents to help,” Tiara replied, sitting at the table while her father placed a plate of fried carrots (plus some token greens) in front of her.
“Well, okay then.”
He watched his daughter tuck into her food before starting his own. His cooking skills weren’t really very sophisticated, but he was slowly improving.
***
“Ready to go?” Filthy asked, putting a scarf on and waiting by the front door.
“Nearly… one minute.”
“Hurry, otherwise visiting hours will be finished.”
“One minute!”
He waited for the minute as instructed, then opened his mouth to ask again.
“Done!” she exclaimed before he could say anything, appearing from nowhere. She was carrying saddlebags. “Let’s go.”
“Can I see it?”
“Later.”
The two set off through Ponyville. Filthy occasionally nodded to ponies he recognised from work or from his business dealings. The sun was setting and it was starting to get cold, and he realised he’d forgotten to make Diamond Tiara wear a coat. He’d probably have to give her his scarf and carry her home on his back. There were all kinds of bits of parenting he hadn’t quite mastered yet.
The hospital was only a ten minute walk, and once they were through the front doors it was nice and warm inside.
“Filthy Rich and Diamond Tiara?” the stallion said to the receptionist mare.
“Very good.”
“Is there a nurse on duty?”
“Redheart should be around somewhere.”
“Thank you. Come on Tiara, let’s go.”
They followed the corridors confidently, navigating around numerous corners and staircases until they reached the long-term section. It was quiet in the corridor, and most of the ponies in the rooms were sleeping.
“Come on. Keep it quiet otherwise you’ll wake everypony,” Filthy said, opening the door to the middle room on the right.
“Okay Daddy.”
A single blue pony was sleeping in the bed in the room, bathed only in the low light of a desk lamp. On the bedside table was a family photo; Filthy with his hoof around his wife, and a younger Diamond Tiara in her hooves. The stallion looked at his wife in the bed and then to his daughter; the filly had a look that suggested she might cry.
“Tiara darling, do you want to put your blanket on?” he asked, holding her hoof for support.
He assisted by removing the hospital-issue blanket and then the two of them replaced it with Diamond Tiara’s creation. She’d carefully drawn a picture of the three of them standing in the garden of their house, all smiling. Underneath were some swirls and bits of simple embroidery that Diamond had managed to do, making the shape of a dog.
“Should we wake her?” Diamond Tiara asked her father, a sniff betraying her emotion.
Filthy Rich shook his head. “No, let her sleep.”
Nurse Redheart appeared at the door and took away the hospital blanket, a sympathetic look on her face.
“Could you go with the nurse for a minute?” the stallion said, letting go of his daughter’s hoof. “I’ll be out in a moment.”
“Come on Diamond. I’ll get you some tissues,” Nurse Redheart said, taking the filly by the hoof and leading her away, her noisy sobs echoing in the corridor until the door was shut.
Only then did Filthy Rich take his wife’s hoof in his and begin to cry.
***
“Daddy?”
“Yes, darling?”
“I’m sorry about today.”
“That’s okay.”
Diamond Tiara let out a loud yawn and snuggled up closer to her father. He was stretched out in the king-size bed in the master bedroom, Diamond Tiara’s tear-stained sheets and used tissues scattered around. Once his daughter was asleep, he would carry her to her room and tuck her in, but for now it was nice having her to cuddle with. Parenting a filly was hard work, and he wasn’t sure if he was doing a very good job, but it was worth it.
“Goodnight Tiara.”
“Night Daddy.”
