“I can’t believe you’d do this! You know what she’s like!” Sweetie flumped on the bed.
“I do. And I also know that her father doesn’t want her to be that way.” Rarity sighed and sat next to Sweetie. “If anything, this is more about her than about you. He wants her to be able to act like a lady, and she hasn’t had a mother or an older sister to help her learn to socialize.”
“Make someone else be her pretend friend.”
“No one is trying to make you be her pretend friend, Sweetie Belle. We’re just hoping that if you all spend some time together, you’ll find you have some common ground you were unaware of. Nothing says you’re all going to be getting along swimmingly, but perhaps things will settle down a little. It’d be best for all involved.”
“Just about anyone else would get along with Diamond Tiara a lot easier than we will.” Sweetie pouted and looked at Rarity. It seemed like she was losing the argument but the nausea in her tummy wasn’t cooling down at all.
“Apple Bloom and Scootaloo will be there too.”
“So will Silver Spoon! Rarity, come on! This is a bad idea!”
She sighed and shook her head. “Look, it only has to happen one time, all right? If you tell me you never want to see them again, you don’t have to.” She paused. “Well, except at school, of course.”
“At school is bad enough,” Sweetie hmphed.
“Sweetie . . . “ Rarity sighed and shook her head. “Becoming friends isn’t always easy. Sometimes it takes effort. Remember what I told you about Applejack?”
Sweetie tilted her head. “Yes, but Diamond’s nothing like her.”
“Nopony is like anypony else, Sweetie Belle. We’re all individuals.” She smiled. “Thankfully enough, because that means I don’t have to be Applejack, nor does she have to be me.”
“Well, so what? Diamond Tiara’s awful.”
Rarity’s eyes opened wide. “Sweetie! I will not have you saying those things!”
“What? It’s true!”
“She has problems. Everypony has problems. Diamond Tiara is a deeply insecure young mare, just as you are and just as I was once. Her issues are different than yours, but she is not awful. When someone behaves badly, you must learn to be the bigger mare about it and not blame them for your own bad behavior!”
Sweetie’s brow furrowed. “Couldn’t you stay around, at least?”
Rarity sighed. “If I could, I would. But you know where adults are if anything gets out of hoof, and it’s not like you all need direct supervision all the time. There’s magicwave popcorn, plenty of cider and punch, and there’s a few special treats in the fridge. I even left you a pile of bits for breakfast tomorrow with the four of them. All right?”
Sweetie shifted on the bed, but finally nodded. “Fine. One night.”
Rarity smiled and played with Sweetie’s mane. “That’s my Sweetie Belle.”
* * *
A few hours later, Scootaloo and Apple Bloom knocked on the door.
“Hey, you guys!” Sweetie hugged them both tight.
“Hey, Sweetie.” Apple Bloom trotted in, and Scootaloo waved a wing at Sweetie as she followed.
“You got here a little early.” Sweetie followed behind.
“Well, we figured you might want to see us a little sooner than The Prissy Twins,” Scootaloo muttered.
“I can’t believe Rarity’s makin’ you do this,” Apple Bloom growled. “I don’t think there’s anything wrong with bein’ friendly but those two haven’t done anything to deserve it.”
“Hey, I’m with you, but Rarity says this is about being ‘the bigger mare’, and I guess I get that.”
AB sighed and shrugged. “I guess. No matter what, we’re here for you.”
Scootaloo nodded. “And I brought some rum for the punch, if you want. I know I’d want to be a little tipsy to deal with all this.” She paused. “I probably will be, even if you guys aren’t.”
AB hesitated, but Sweetie nodded emphatically. “Yeah, we just have to make sure we clean up. I don’t want Rarity to know. She might tell Mom and Dad.”
“Sure.” Scootaloo pulled a bottle out of her saddlebags and trotted over to the fridge.
Sweetie smiled. “I’ve been waiting to get my hooves on Rarity’s Cosmare. Get me a rum punch?”
* * *
AB and Scoot were flopped on Sweetie’s bed. All three were a few weak rum punches in, arguing about an article on hoof treatments, when the knock came downstairs.
“Maybe it’s someone else,” Scootaloo groused.
“Maybe someone to tell us they had an accident,” Apple Bloom chuckled.
“Can’t get that lucky.” Sweetie shrugged. “Come on in!” she yelled. “It’s open!”
Scootaloo shifted onto the bed, next to Sweetie and Apple Bloom. Sweetie shifted a little on the bed, then aimed a smile at each of them in turn.
Diamond Tiara sauntered in from the hall. “Hello, Sweetie,” Diamond announced, as if to the room. “Scootaloo, Apple Bloom.”
“Diamond,” Sweetie said, straining to keep her voice neutral.
Uncomfortable silence reigned for a few moments.
“So, um.” Silver Spoon piped up. “We kind of had an idea about this whole thing, one you guys might like more than the plan Rarity and Mr. Rich had in mind.”
Scootaloo tilted her head. “We’re listening.”
AB narrowed her eyes and flicked a glance at Scoot, but looked at the Prissy Twins.
“Well, nothing says we actually have to stay here tonight. Silvy and me could go do something we want to do, and you three can stay here with each other like you normally do.”
Sweetie looked between Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. Color was coming into AB’s cheeks and Scootaloo’s brow was knotting up. She had to say something to try to defuse it — or at least make it look like she wasn’t just putting her head down for Diamond and Silvy.
“Y’know, I think that sounds like a great plan. My sister says this sleepover was kind of about you anyway, but if you really don’t want to get better at not being a bitch, then it’s probably for the best.”
Diamond Tiara’s mouth fell open. “What did you call me?”
Sweetie felt a surge. “I called you a bitch, because you are one most of the time to us.”
“You’re living in the past, bla — ” Silver half spat out before she realized what she’d said.
“Really?” Sweetie turned to look. “Well, all five of us have cutie marks, so I guess I’m not the one living in the past, huh?”
Diamond took the opportunity to speak while Silver Spoon was sputtering. “She’s right, even if she slipped up. You three need to let it go and stop getting on our case about stuff we don’t even do any more.”
“Are you kidding me?!” Sweetie yelled. Her face felt hot now, and the look on AB’s face suggested she was worried. “You just came in here and talked to us like a horseapple on your hoof, and you’re telling me we get on your case?!”
Diamond’s brow was furrowed and her face was getting red. “You do! And I don’t care what you say to anyone. I’m getting out of here.”
“You want to leave? Fine! Go!” Sweetie was growling by now but she didn’t care. Years of her school life had seemed to revolve around these two bitches and she was finally fed up enough with it.
“I will! And then I’m going to tell your sister about how you acted!”
“Oh yeah? Well, I’ll tell your dad about how you acted!”
“Fine with me!”
“It’s fine with me too!” Sweetie didn’t care any more. Rarity was just wrong about this, straight up.
Diamond turned and stalked towards the exit, and she yelped as the end of a scarf flopped out her rather well-packed saddlebag. A scroll slid out, apparently wrapped in the scarf.
Sweetie had seen that scarf before. Or, at least, she’d seen the same scarf, the same color and designer. Rarity had one.
Sweetie snatched the scroll right up and unrolled it, pulling it close with telekinesis.
“Hey! Give me that back! My father gave me that!”
Sweetie’s eyes cast over it, and her expression flipped a switch, going from fury to shock instantly. “It, uh . . . whoa.” She swallowed and shook her head. “You should read this, Diamond.”
“Just read it to me.” Diamond tilted her head. “You wanted to get your hooves on it, you have it. Go ahead. It’ll show you what good fathers say to their daughters.”
Sweetie shifted on her hooves and looked away. “You really want to read it yourself, DT.” Sweetie could only hope Diamond would take the hint, rather than dig the hole deeper. “Here.”
Diamond snorted slightly. “You can read, right?”
Sweetie lifted her eyes, and the expression she had was one Diamond Tiara hadn’t seen in years, one that made her feel like she ate something that was spoiled. “You need to read it, Diamond.”
Diamond realized it was pity, and anger flared again as she put her eyes on the paper.
Scootaloo poked Sweetie, asking what was in the letter, but she barely registered it. All she could look at was Diamond Tiara as her eyes moved over the words.
Several moments later, Diamond Tiara’s lip trembled, and her eyes searched the room, trying to find some rhyme or reason to explain what had just happened to her. She sat heavily down on the floor of the Boutique, her ears laying back.
Within moments, she was weeping.
Silver Spoon immediately came to try to comfort her and talk with her. Scootaloo and Apple Bloom wore vaguely pleased expressions.
Sweetie Belle stood, watching, horrified at the realization that she felt pity for, of all ponies, Diamond Tiara.
“We should get some snacks,” a voice said, and Sweetie realized it was her own. She kept trying to look at Diamond, sobbing, on the floor. Wasn’t that what she’d wanted? Wasn’t that what she’d dreamed about?
Somehow, now, here, with the knowledge of what set it off, she didn’t want to be in the same building. Her insides felt like the time she ate a rotten pear by mistake.
She moved down the stairs, into the kitchen, and to the fridge without realizing it, and somehow that made it a little worse. She could hear the crying now but it wasn’t Diamond Tiara’s, it was just the sound of a filly crying and it hurt.
“Sweetie Belle!”
Apple Bloom was up in her face with a smile. “This is goin’ great so far! The Prissy Twins are all wah wah wah!”
Sweetie nodded and opened the fridge, rummaging. Treats. Treats might help, right? Treats might help her stomach and maybe just make all this settle down into a general unpleasantness instead of this awful mess.
“Are you okay, Sweetie?” Scoots was right there too, but there was a question on her face that wasn’t coming out in words. “You look like you’re gonna hurl or something.”
“No, I’m good,” Sweetie breathed out. An easy lie versus a difficult, nebulous ball of snake-truth. “Just figured, uh, snacks. Snacks would be good.” She took a breath and found what she was looking for: Three dozen cupcakes from Sugarcube Corner. “Here, set this box on the table. We’ll save the other boxes for later.”
Sweetie made herself take a moment at the fridge to try to think. AB and Scootaloo were giggling on their way upstairs, and then she caught the faint sound of Silver Spoon barking something at them. Those three had never seemed quite so small and irrelevant in Sweetie’s entire life.
She felt pretty irrelevant herself.
“I can’t believe her dad wrote that to her,” she muttered, thinking. She couldn’t imagine what it’d be like if her father had said that to her, much less put it in a letter. Rarity must have been right. Diamond Tiara needed help.
Fresh wailing from upstairs reminded her that right now, Diamond Tiara needed something. Something kind, something sweet, something.
Sweetie’s eyes lit upon the other bag from Sugarcube Corner, the one marked ‘For Rarity, Do Not Touch’. She knew what was inside — crystal berry eclairs, the ones that Rarity picked up for indulgent sweets in the morning. The shell was just an eclair shell, but the cream inside was buttercream with extra cream and extra butter, paired up with vibrant sweet and tart berry filling. Rarity had gone on and on about it, how the flavors all complemented each other so well, and that the filling was not simply flavored with juices from the berries but also with crushed berry and pieces of berry. Words like decadent and exceptional had been used a lot, and with great emphasis.
The warnings not to eat them, too, had been with great emphasis. These eclairs were one of the costliest things at Sugarcube corner, between importing crystal berries and the labor involved.
They were delicious. They were special. That was the kind of thing Diamond Tiara liked, right?
Sweetie picked up the bag, opened it, and found two crystal berry eclairs inside. She slipped one out with her magic, then trotted up to her room.
“Diamond?”
“Sh-Shut up.” Diamond didn’t look up, she just whimpered the words out. “Just l-leave me alone.”
“Here.” Sweetie brought the crystal berry eclair in front of Diamond with magic. “If you want it.” She knew there were more things to say but she couldn’t figure out what the words were. “I’m . . . I’m sorry. I know you’re probably used to, uh, cupcakes all the time.” She swallowed. Even she wasn’t sure what she was doing, trying to be nice to Diamond, but it felt sort of right. “This is a crystal berry eclair. Maybe you’d like that better?”
Diamond lifted her eyes to look at it. They were red and raw already, in all of two minutes of crying, and her face was wet and flush.
Sweetie shifted on her feet, looking away. “If you don’t want it, I mean, it’s okay.”
Silver, Scoots, and AB were all staring at Sweetie with their mouth hanging open, and for a few seconds all was silent.
Diamond looked at Sweetie, and then all hell broke loose.
* * *
Once Scoots and AB had gotten Sweetie into the kitchen, the questions were more insistent than ever.
“What are you doin’?! It’s Diamond Tiara! We’ve got her where we want her now!”
“She’s made you cry herself! So what if her Dad decided she can’t do whatever? Screw that bitch.”
“I’m with Scoots. She can rot in Tartarus for all I care.”
Sweetie swallowed. “You guys, seriously, I know she’s terrible. I know she’s never been nice to us, and I know she kind of deserves it.” That last part didn’t feel true, not quite. “I mean, but . . . ”
“Are you losin’ your mind? It’s Diamond Tiara.” Apple Bloom seemed convinced that Sweetie would snap out of this somehow.
“I’m not losing my mind! It’s just — I don’t want to talk about it, okay?” She shook her head.
“What was in that letter, Sweetie?” Scoots had an inquisitive look.
“I get that she’s upset but c’mon, Sweetie, she deserves it!”
Sweetie shrugged and looked away. “Nobody deserved that.”
“What was in the letter?” Scootaloo’s brow was furrowed now.
AB ticked a dubious look at Scootaloo. “She’s a total bitch.”
“Apple Bloom, come on. Let it go for now, okay? When we were up there Diamond had a little puddle on the floor. She’s really broken up about whatever it is.”
AB’s upper lip curled a little and her brow shifted. “What was the letter?”
Sweetie hesitated. “Bad news. And other stuff, but, like . . . you saw how she reacted.”
Scootaloo shared a look with Sweetie, then trotted in front of AB. “Here’s what I think. If we play along, and you find out what’s in the letter and you decide it isn’t enough to justify being nice to her, tell her to fuck off then. If that letter’s as bad as Sweetie says, this might be one of the only times she actually kind of deserves someone being nice to her.”
Apple Bloom grumped, then shrugged. “Okay, fine. But if she starts somethin’, I’ll finish it.”
Sweetie mouthed thank you at Scootaloo, and got a furrowed brow and pursed lips in response. She trotted back upstairs, then towards Diamond and Silver Spoon, Scootaloo and AB following behind her.
“Diamond,” Sweetie said, stepping closer.
“What,” she breathed out, not looking up again. Sweetie was glad she didn’t look up; the last time they made eye contact Sweetie had wanted to cry herself for a moment. She’d never seen Diamond this broken before.
“Let’s go, DT,” Silver Spoon whined, tugging at Diamond. “You’ll feel better if you get away from them.”
“No,” Sweetie said, and realized Diamond had said it in unison with her.
More openmouthed stares from Silver, Scoot, and Apple Bloom. Diamond flicked a glance up.
Sweetie tried to find words. “My sister wants me to try to get along with you, so . . . I want to try to get along with you.” Sweetie swallowed and looked at AB (still shocked) and then Scootaloo (vague confusion). Sweetie pushed herself to keep going. “AB and Scootaloo are going to try too. So if we try, and you and Silver Spoon try, then maybe like . . . maybe the sleepover will go okay?”
And your dad will be happy, she silently added.
Diamond hesitated, staring at the floor for a long time. Silver Spoon prodded her very gently, and Diamond looked at Silver, then at Sweetie, and nodded. “Okay.”
Sweetie tried to think of what Rarity would do next. Snacks allow ponies to fill awkward silences with eating. There were only four of the twelve cupcakes left, the other eight already casualties of stress eating, it seemed. “Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, would you make some popcorn? And, uh, maybe get some punch for Silver and Diamond?”
“Wait, the rum punch?”
Scootaloo shot an exasperated look at AB, and AB’s ears flicked. Silver’s eyebrow went up, and Diamond just gave a little nod. They looked between each other, and seemed about to say something, when Diamond spoke up.
“Silvy, go with them?”
Silver Spoon looked at Diamond for a moment, and then nodded. She glared at Sweetie the whole way out.
Sweetie tilted her head. “I’m — “
“Why didn’t you tell your friends what was in the letter?” Diamond was trying to sound angry, but she really just sounded spent.
Sweetie blinked. “It was private. And, I’m sure your dad is a nice guy, but I can’t believe he gave you that.”
“The thing he wants to talk about? It . . . it’s all I have. I’ve looked forward to it virtually my whole life, ever since — ever since I was little.” Diamond swallowed and tried to summon soggy dignity, wiping her face. “Why did you ask them to stop making fun of me for crying?”
Sweetie shifted on her hooves; she wasn’t completely certain about that either. “It seemed mean,” she finally muttered. “And I didn’t know about how your mom passed away when you were little. None of us did.”
“You guys are mean to us all the time,” Diamond said, with a face that strongly suggested she meant it. There was that anger Sweetie had come to expect, but it was largely spent, a mask of the emotion she’d seen so often.
“You two started it. We just got sick of taking it.” The words came out flat, and Sweetie rubbed the back of her neck with a hoof. “Do you really want to do more of this? Isn’t this old to you?”
“We stopped,” Diamond muttered. “You guys kept going.”
“You still did it before.” Sweetie tilted her head. This felt weird.
“I know that doesn’t make it, like, okay, but you guys have friends and other ponies like you, and when you guys have a party other ponies want to go to it. You don’t need to pick on anybody to feel like you matter.”
“Your parties are always way bigger than anything us three do.”
“Yeah, but none of the ponies that come to my parties ever want to hang out with me, except Silver. And you three never let up whenever you’re around.”
“You and Silver give it right back every time.” Sweetie sighed and tilted her head. “What are you getting at?”
Diamond sighed. “I don’t really have any friends.” She hesitated. “Silver Spoon’s got some, but I’m just sort of . . . tolerated.”
Sweetie nodded and listened.
“So, I mean, we started to dread school because we knew you guys were going to give us shit. I guess we kind of deserve it but I don’t see why you can’t just leave us alone, at least. I can’t change what I used to do.”
There was a moment where Sweetie wanted to say something, spit out some what the fuck are you talking about, but then it passed.
“I mean, I always kept telling myself it’d be okay, because Rich Enterprises was there for me. Daddy would show me the ropes. Daddy would make sure I was going to — “ She choked for a moment and a tear rolled down her cheek. “Daddy would take care of me. He always has. I can’t really take care of myself.”
“I’m sorry, Diamond,” Sweetie murmured.
“I don’t know what I’m going to do now. I mean, literally. I don’t know how to make friends with anyone except Silver, and now even that’s getting weird because of, uh, other stuff.” Evasion registered on DT’s face, but it was soon replaced by fear. “I don’t know what I’m going to do. Daddy doesn’t want me, Silvy doesn’t want me, and . . . they’re my whole world.”
Sweetie stepped forward, hesitant, and then wrapped forelegs around Diamond Tiara. DT, after a moment, hugged back.
“You’ll learn, Diamond,” Sweetie murmured. She hoped it was true. “You can learn to make friends, and you’ll do it. Maybe — ”
There was the unmistakable sound at the door of three fillies arguing on a stairwell. Sweetie and Diamond took a step back each, and for a moment, their eyes met.
Sweetie found herself looking away, and realized that Diamond Tiara smelled really nice. She was fresh and showered, and warm, and there was some sort of lavender shampoo, but she also had that vague scent of having cried. Or, well, that was probably in Sweetie’s imagination.
But she definitely smelled really nice.
* * *
Popcorn had been made, in two large bowls that Silver and AB trotted in with. Scootaloo had a tray with the punch pitcher and glasses.
Diamond seemed unwilling to try to talk out loud, but nodded at Silver, and then Scootaloo and Apple Bloom.
There was a silence broken only by munching and sipping for a time roughly equivalent to a couple cups.
“So, um . . . how’s school been going, Silver?” Sweetie figured Diamond would be less self-conscious if she wasn’t immediately being pulled into conversation.
“All right.” Silver’s tone was cautious. “The report I wrote with Featherweight came out okay.”
“Is he smart? I heard he was smart,” Scootaloo mumbled, making eye contact for a moment, then shifting her gaze back to Apple Bloom. Apple Bloom looked away.
“Featherweight’s pretty smart,” Silver said, shrugging. “He knew all about how pegasi magic works, so his half of the report was pretty informative.”
“Um, I’m . . . I’m sure your half was too?” Sweetie ventured.
“Sorta. I’m not smart like that.” Silver looked away.
“Hey, me neither,” Apple Bloom piped up. Her eyes widened, and then seemed to search the floor for a moment. “I mean, like, I know what I’m doin’ when I buck an apple tree, but it’s not like I know any of the stuff underneath. It just . . . it just kinda works.”
“Yeah,” Silver said, blinking at Apple Bloom. “That’s kind of how it is with me too. I just know what I’m doing with the metal.”
Silence settled in again. Diamond sniffled, and Sweetie felt a troubling urge to put a foreleg around her. She’d had no idea Diamond had become lonely, nor had she really wondered in the first place. She had always been that bitch Diamond Tiara, and that was all she was to Sweetie and the other Crusaders.
“Uh, so — you kind of spent a lot of time around him, and all. Do you think he’s cute?” Scoots murmured.
Silver’s brow furrowed, and Apple Bloom found the floor interesting again.
“Kinda? Yeah, I mean . . . he’s thin and stuff, but it looks right on him. And he’s not as thin as he was back in grade school.” She half-smiled. “If you’ve seen his older brother, then you know Feather’s going to be like, wiry muscle when he grows up more. He asked me if I wanted to hang out sometime after we worked on the report. I think I might.”
“He’s a dork,” Diamond muttered, but the words were hollow. “But I guess he’s cute.”
“Yeah, sorta,” Silver said, seeming oblivious. “But like, he stumbled the other day and just giggled and got back up. His face was so red, but he didn’t pretend it didn’t happen or something. He just . . . let it go.”
Diamond bit her lip. Sweetie ventured a little giggle.
Silver tilted her head at Scoots. Hesitation. “Do you think he’s cute?”
“Me?! Uh, no! Nope.” Apple Bloom’s eyes took a circuit around their sockets and she chewed her lip. “I don’t even know what he looks like, really. Just another pegasus, wings and all.”
Scootaloo giggled. “She was asking me, AB.”
“Oh. Uh, sorry.” Apple Bloom’s ears twitched.
Scootaloo made eye contact with Silver, then flicked a knowing glance at AB. “So, AB, who do you think is cute?”
“Well, that, uh, I don’t really know. I don’t really look. When I’m at school I’m doin’ school stuff.”
“I’ve seen you look at Featherweight’s butt,” Sweetie giggled.
“That’s — that’s not true! Not even a little! He — I — “ Apple Bloom’s sentence broke into sputters for a few moments. “That is not true,” she finally said.
“It’s okay if you do, geez. Calm down, AB.” Scootaloo smiled.
Silver shrugged. “He thinks you’re cute.”
Apple Bloom’s eyes swelled and her ears twitched. “Now, why did you ask him somethin’ like that?!”
“I actually didn’t. I’ve just seen him look at you sometimes when you’re not watching.” Silver smiled, hesitated, then looked at Diamond. Her brow furrowed. “Well, and he kind of talks about every filly in the class except you. He’s weird, though.”
“But that doesn’t mean he thinks I’m cute, necessarily,” Apple Bloom hedged. “Besides, he asked you to hang out! He probably thinks you’re cute!”
“No, he doesn’t. He just asked because I’m the only filly he talks to.”
“That doesn’t make any sense,” Apple Bloom pouted. “Why would he ask you to hang out if he doesn’t like you?”
“I just don’t think he like likes me, that’s all. You’re the one he keeps avoiding the topic of. You’re the one he looks at when he thinks nobody’s looking.”
Apple Bloom’s cheeks had caught some flush, and Scootaloo decided to save her from herself. “AB, it’s cool. I mean, you like what you like, right? Nothing wrong with that.”
“What about you?” AB countered, brow furrowed. “Which colt do you look at?”
Scootaloo hesitated. “Rumble.”
AB blinked. “Really? But he’s got that weird hair!”
“He makes it work.”
Silver giggled and looked away. “What about you, Sweetie?”
Sweetie hesitated, looking at four sets of eyes on her. “Uh, well, I guess Rumble’s okay.” Pause. “Snips kind of has a pudgy thing, but I dunno if he’s cute.”
Scootaloo’s brow furrowed. “Yeah, he’s not,” she snickered, and shook her head. “You could do way better than that.”
Diamond hoofed at the floor. “I need to use the bathroom,” she murmured, her voice absent.
“DT, are you sure you’re okay?”
Diamond didn’t speak, but nodded. “Yeah, I’m cool. I just wanna wash up, after . . . ” She waved a hoof at her face. “You know.”
Sweetie caught movement out of the corner of her eye. DT, just before going up the stairs, had drooped her tail, and her ears laid back.
Uh oh. “I, uh, I should show her where everything is.” Sweetie smiled and got up, chewing her lip. “I’ll bring up more cupcakes after.”
Sweetie trotted out and found her way to the bathroom in Rarity’s room. The door was locked, and a faint sobbing was inside.
“Diamond?”
The sobbing stopped. “Go away, Silvy. I’m fine.”
“It’s Sweetie, Diamond.” Hesitation. “Let me in?”
There were a few seconds of quiet, and then the door unlocked.
* * *
Scootaloo looked at Apple Bloom. “So, uh, I’m going to get the other box of cupcakes. Apple Bloom, didn’t you want to ask Silver a few more questions about the earth pony thing?”
Apple Bloom’s nose scrunched up. “Huh? Oh, uh . . . yeah, sure. You do metalworking, huh?”
Scootaloo trotted towards the door, and once Silver started talking she turned left and stopped at the saddlebags. She’d only need a second or two to find Diamond’s, and snatch out the letter, and —
“Hey!” Silver yelled. “What are you doing?”
There it was! Scootaloo yanked it out in her mouth as Silver charged up to her, and flung it over Silvy’s head. “AB! Catch!”
Silver turned, and Scootaloo took that opportunity to stick a hoof in front of Silver’s rear right hoof.
“You can’t do that! It’s Diamond’s, give me — “ Silver stumbled on the hoof and managed to fall down.
Scootaloo could see that Apple Bloom was already reading, but the look on her face was like the look Sweetie had earlier, when she read it — only worse somehow. “What is it? What’s in it?”
“Scoots, you gotta read this for yourself.” AB wouldn’t make eye contact with her now. “I, uh, I gotta get the cupcakes. For real.”
Scoots trotted over to the table to read as Silver got up on her hooves.
Diamond, my dearest little gem, I want you to know this hurts me more than I can say.
Ever since your mother died, I promised myself I’d raise you as well as I could. I strove to make sure you had everything you could ever want.
My cutie mark means I’ve got a good mind for making sure resources are available, especially financial ones. Unfortunately, I’ve made much larger mistakes. I told myself you were lashing out because you hurt, but I never helped you not hurt. You only have one friend, and that’s not enough for a filly to grow up knowing how to interact with other ponies.
I know Silver Spoon is a good young mare at heart, but she doesn’t tell you when you’re mean, and she doesn’t show you how to be nice. She’s not a bad pony. She’s not even a bad friend. She just shouldn’t be your only friend.
You need to learn to get along with other ponies, and I failed you by not teaching you sooner, or finding some way to convince you it was important. I asked Miss Rarity to cast a whereabouts spell on the Carousel Boutique, so I’ll know if you leave it early. Please understand that you need to learn to get along with ponies even when you think they’re beneath you, or when they’re ponies you don’t like.
You’ve refused going to therapy. You’ve refused to talk to me, any more. Even Silver Spoon knows you’re getting worse.
If we can’t find some way for you to get along better with other ponies, I think we’re going to have to have a talk about the place you’re going to have in Rich Enterprises. I’m sorry, but nothing else I’ve tried has worked.
I love you, and I always will, Diamond.
“Holy shit.”
“Yeah.” Silver shrugged. “He’s right. I wasn’t really a good friend to her, and I shouldn’t have helped her be mean to you guys. I . . . I figured you guys would make fun of her.”
Scootaloo let out a sigh. “Apple Bloom’s parents passed away.”
“I’m sorry.” Silver shifted on her hooves, her mouth opening and closing a few times. “Look, maybe we should just . . . sit on this for a while? And if her dad asks, we tell him that we’re kind of friends now?”
“Yeah. Let’s do that.” Scootaloo sighed. “And I think AB is going to need a stronger drink.”
“Me too.” Silver shook her head.
“Plus, of all the things, I think I gotta pee,” Scootaloo muttered. She plunked her butt down and tried to keep still. “Otherwise I’m going to make a puddle too, and not like Diamond did earlier.”
* * *
Sweetie entered the bathroom.
The sight was a sorry one. Diamond’s eyes had grown more red, and her face was newly wet with trails of tears. She wouldn’t meet Sweetie’s gaze. “Thanks for not talking about the letter. This is kind of . . . not about the letter, though. If you give me a little while I’ll be cleaned up.”
“Well, what’s it about?” Sweetie murmured. She took a few steps towards Diamond.
“Nothing,” she whispered, but it was the sound of a breath across skin.
“C’mon, I . . . I can listen. And it didn’t seem like you wanted to talk to Silvy about it.”
“I don’t need to. I know what she’d say, and it wouldn’t be nice.”
Sweetie tilted her head. “Please talk to me? It’s okay. I won’t tell anyone. You know you can trust me.”
Diamond hesitated, then flicked a look at Sweetie. “I don’t like colts,” she muttered. “I like fillies. I’m a fillyfooler.”
Sweetie’s throat tightened up hard, and the vague nausea in her stomach bubbled. The thought came to her that maybe she’d had too much to drink, but Scoots didn’t put that much rum in the punch, did she? “How did you know?”
Diamond blinked, then shrugged. “I . . . I mean, I just knew. Like, I don’t really look at colts, and I don’t think they’re cute or anything. I mean I know that Snips isn’t as cute as Rumble, but I don’t feel like I want to do anything with them, or have them do anything with me.”
Sweetie realized her breathing was faster now. “But it’s different with fillies?”
“Yeah.” Diamond shifted on her hooves. “Silver Spoon’s kind of, like . . . she talks about fillyfoolers and how it’s ‘weird’. She says she doesn’t care, but like, I can tell she doesn’t think it’s exactly okay.”
“Right,” Sweetie murmured. “You can kind of tell, usually.”
“Yeah.” Diamond tilted her head. “Uh, Sweetie, are you okay?”
Sweetie tried to find words but couldn’t push them out.
Diamond trotted a little closer to Sweetie, blinking. For one of the first times ever, Sweetie saw something she could interpret as concern on Diamond Tiara’s face.
Somehow, some way, that seemed actually beautiful.
“Sweetie?”
“I, yeah. Yeah, I think I’m okay,” Sweetie whispered, blinking.
Diamond’s brow furrowed, then relaxed, but her gaze stayed on Sweetie’s, and she took a half step forward. The thinnest touch of breath washed past Sweetie’s chin.
“You don’t look okay. You look like you’re scared,” Diamond murmured.
“I think I might, um, like fillies too,” Sweetie breathed out. She felt warm, stretched, like she was going to split open at the seams. Thick fear plus thick confusion plus something warm and uncomfortable but comfortable at the same time, a feeling that seemed to spread through her body. The bubbling nausea in her tummy turned into something else, something less awful than nausea but more troubling in its strangeness.
Diamond’s mouth opened and closed, one ear twitching.
Sweetie bit her lip and shut her eyes. It’s probably just Diamond trying to fuck with my head, or get me to say something that I’ll regret that she can hold over my head to keep me quiet about the letter. I shouldn’t have said it! I don’t even know it for sure. Fuck, she smells good. Why isn’t she saying anything? Just —
A moment later, she felt a muzzle against her own, lips against her own. The sweet smell of lavender and soap and brine filled Sweetie’s brain, and she felt a whimper open her mouth.
The barest touch of Diamond’s tongue came, warm and strange along Sweetie’s lips, and she let her tongue take a single poke at Diamond’s. Suddenly it was over, and panic rose in Sweetie’s throat.
Diamond was blinking at her, mouth open, vague confusion or fear or something in her eyes, some sort of uncertainty. “I, uh . . . sorry?” Her eyes shifted, uneasy, somehow looking trapped.
Sweetie didn’t want her uncertain. She took a breath, then shut her eyes again and leaned in to press her lips against Diamond’s for a few moments. She didn’t have the same bold tongue, but it felt right to reciprocate.
After another moment or two, Sweetie broke the kiss and stepped back, panting, feeling as if steam were rising from her face somehow. She found one of Rarity’s curlers with her rear hoof and her butt hit the floor.
Diamond blinked, then giggled a little. “That good, huh?”
Sweetie’s mouth tried to find words, then gave up in laughter. “I guess so!”
Silence, for a few moments, save for breathing. “This is a little weird, isn’t it?”
“Kinda.” Sweetie shrugged and bit her lip. It was still moist, seemingly. “But, like, good weird.” Moist and warm and sort of tingling.
“Yeah.” Diamond smacked her lips. “You taste like punch.” Her eyes seemed to try to make contact with Sweetie’s, then avoid, then try to make contact again, in a weird cycle. “Well, I guess we taste like punch. I didn’t really expect my first kiss to be with you. Or, uh, in a bathroom. No offense.”
Sweetie blinked. “Me neither.” She didn’t really expect her first kiss, period. For the past few years, Sweetie had just kind of slowly wondered if there was something wrong with her, and alone was just how it was going to be. “But I liked it.”
The doorknob turned, and panic flared on both their faces for a moment, but then Sweetie just stepped away from the door and tried to look normal.
“Hey.” Silver Spoon’s head squeezed in between the door and the jamb. “I couldn’t find either of you. Are you sure you’re okay, DT?” She ticked a look at Sweetie for a moment.
“Yeah, I’m all right. I was just talking with Sweetie.”
Sweetie nodded but didn’t look. “It’s cool. We’ll be out in a minute.”
Silver hesitated, then vanished, and the door shut.
Sweetie’s eyes met Diamond, and for an awful moment, there was a question in Sweetie’s head. Did that really just happen? So I’m into fillies?
Then Diamond giggled, and Sweetie snickered, and they were both laughing.
“Why — why are we laughing?”
“I don’t know,” Sweetie said, shaking her head. “I guess it was just the tension?”
“Yeah.” Diamond nudged the floor with a hoof. “I liked it.”
Sweetie bit her lip. “I did too, Diamond.”
Diamond hesitated. “How are we gonna tell anybody about it?”
Shrug. “I don’t think Scoots and AB will have a problem with it. And maybe, like . . . maybe if you tell them, and Silver has a problem with it, they’ll tell Silver where to stick it.”
“She’s my only friend,” Diamond whispered.
“Not any more. You have me.” Sweetie hugged Diamond again. “I think you could have AB and Scootaloo for friends too, if we all keep trying.”
There was a long quiet before Diamond sniffled again. “Thanks. I’m sorry, y’know. About the ‘blank flank’ thing.”
“I am too.” Sweetie sighed. “I guess at some point we kind of just decided you were, well, evil. But I wish none of it had happened.”
“I kinda was.” Diamond shrugged and looked away. “Sorry.”
“I’m not the one you need to apologize to, but thank you.” Sweetie hesitated, then pressed a little peck on Diamond’s cheek, and suddenly Diamond’s face was flush again. Sweetie grinned at her, and got a weak little smile in response. Somehow, knowing she could make Diamond all flush felt really good.
“I guess I need to say sorry to Scootaloo and Apple Bloom, huh?”
“It’d probably help.”
There was a bang on the door, and they both jumped an inch in the air.
“Oh my gosh! Are you two ever coming out?!” Scootaloo yelled. “I’ve only been doing the gotta-pee dance for like fifteen minutes! I know you’re talking but talk out here or something, or I’m gonna pee on the floor! Yeesh!”
“Although, uh, maybe not right this second,” Sweetie whispered.
Diamond looked at her, and they both started laughing again.
* * *
Sweetie wasn’t sure why, but she didn’t bring anything up with the other three. Maybe it was that terrified look on Diamond’s face, maybe she just didn’t want to test anything so fragile as the current truce, maybe — well, she didn’t know.
Regardless, Diamond sat between Scoots and Silver, and flicked little smiles Sweetie’s way now and then. Sweetie couldn’t help but respond with her own in kind, even as she tried to bite her lips and keep them pressed together.
The talking had continued, and veered well past the topic of colts, while Sweetie and Diamond were in the bathroom. Now the discussion was manestyles. Sweetie made a few noncommittal noises at the right time, and AB and Scoots were okay with assuming she was just being quiet.
More punch was had. Scootaloo had put half a fifth of rum in the pitcher, which split up amongst the five of them meant warm tipsy relaxing, and it maintained from halfway through the pitcher until it was drained to the last cup. Conversation flowed, with some fits and starts here and there, but overall the river was moving along. Sweetie’s boldness, too, grew as the drink and talk flowed. When she was sure nopony else was looking, Sweetie would occasionally aim a smile, or even a kissyface, at Diamond.
Evening, and then late evening, came. Talk was subdued at times, excited others, and occasionally they'd stumble over some old topic, but AB didn't seem nearly as ready to take a swipe at Diamond or Silver, and neither did Scoots.
Sleeping bags were laid out on Sweetie’s floor, and a lantern set in the middle between the five of them. The layout on the floor put Sweetie and Diamond as sleeping bag neighbors, and then AB on the other side of Sweetie and (of course) Silver Spoon on the other side of Diamond.
Sweetie and Silver giggled when the snoring started, but soon Scoots wasn’t the only one asleep. Silver, AB, and Diamond were soon a chorus, and only Sweetie was left awake in the end, wondering.
What did it mean?
Now that she didn’t have the distractions of talk about hoof treatments or manes or school or colts, she had some time to herself, just to think about fillies.
She watched Diamond snore for a bit, her ears flicking in her sleep. Diamond couldn’t be right — right? Scootaloo and Apple Bloom wouldn’t care one way or the other, would they?
Sweetie’s eyes strayed to Silver Spoon, and she hesitated, then let her gaze fall back to Diamond.
soft warm lips rum punch scent of lavender
Sweetie caught her breath and realized she felt warmer than she did a minute ago.
She snuggled up with her pillow, pretending it smelled like lavender, and let herself sleep.
* * *
A nudge woke her the next morning, and Sweetie blinked up at Diamond Tiara.
“You talk in your sleep.” DT’s lips tightened. “You, uh, probably want to wake up before everyone else.”
Sweetie rubbed her eyes and yawned. “What was I saying?”
“Crazy stuff,” Diamond said, then lowered her voice to a bare whisper. “My name. You can’t tell anyone I’m into fillies, okay?”
“But — “
“Sweetie, please. I can't lose Silvy.”
Sweetie shifted in her sleeping bag. Somepony else stirred, the sound of fabric on floor, but Sweetie couldn’t see who it was.
“Please?” DT swallowed.
Sweetie hesitated. “I won’t tell anyone about you. But like, what about, y’know . . . “
Diamond’s brow furrowed. “It . . . it was really nice, but we can’t tell them that either.”
“I don’t mean I want to tell them it!” Sweetie hissed. “I mean I — “ Sweetie cut off.
For a moment, she could see it. The worst thing possible loomed: Diamond didn’t want to do it again. Familiar, awful panic rose in her, knotting and twisting.
“You want to . . . like, make out again sometime?” Diamond blinked.
“Yeah,” Sweetie whispered back. “I really do. It felt really nice and you smell good, and . . . “ Sweetie couldn’t figure out anything to say that didn’t sound kind of dumb.
Diamond giggled and blushed, then shrugged a little. “Me too.”
Instantly the knots and twists and anticipated ache fled. “Cool.”
“Just don’t tell them about me, okay?” Diamond leaned in and pressed her lips against Sweetie’s, a simple little peck.
“Sure. But I want to talk to them about me,” Sweetie said.
“What?!” Diamond’s ears laid back. “But — “
“Just agree with Silver if you want. I’ll still be your friend, secretly, even if you don’t want to tell anybody, okay?” Sweetie shrugged. “I just . . . I need to talk to Scootaloo about this. And maybe if Silver Spoon gets to know me a little better she won’t have a problem with fillyfoolers.”
Diamond’s mouth opened to say something, but it was cut off by a grunt.
“Uuuugh.” Scoots lifted her head, eyes slitted. “I didn’t sleep good.”
Apple Bloom yawned, then stuck her tongue out. “Think I need breakfast. Are there any muffins?”
Sweetie gave Diamond a hopefully reassuring smile, then squirmed out of her sleeping bag. “Nope. But I have some bits so we can all go to Sugarcube Corner in a while.”
Silver Spoon groaned, pulled herself out of her sleeping bag, and picked up a silverware-themed toiletries bag. She trotted to the bathroom, speaking around the grip. “Just need to brush and wash.”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes, then looked at Sweetie, and gave a little smile. “Well, she’s not as prissy as Rarity is, right?”
Diamond snickered.
Sweetie got on her hooves and trotted towards Scootaloo and Apple Bloom. “Hey, you two. Wake up. I need to tell you something.”
Apple Bloom scrunched her nose up for a moment. “Is it that you’ve got a couple apple fritters somewhere?”
“No.” Sweetie took a breath. “Remember last night? We were all talking about colts?”
They shrugged, and Diamond shifted on her hooves, looking anywhere but at the fillies in the room with her.
“Well, I like fillies. I’m not into colts. I’ve been thinking about it for a while, and I figured it out.” Sweetie swallowed. “So, if that’s a problem or something, then you guys should tell me now.”
Apple Bloom yawned. “Okay. It’s not.”
Scootaloo tilted her head. “Why would that be a problem?”
Sweetie shrugged. “Some people don’t like fillyfoolers. I just . . . felt like I should get that out of the way.”
Scootaloo rolled her eyes. “You are such a drama queen sometimes. I swear you’ve dethroned your sister.”
“Hey, shut up!” Sweetie poked Scoot in the side. “I am not.”
Scootaloo laughed. “Besides, Rainbow Dash is a fillyfooler and she’s more awesome than all of us put together and made of awesome with awesome-colored trim. It doesn’t matter.”
Diamond blinked. “Seriously?”
Mild chagrin crossed Scootaloo’s face for a moment, but then she nodded. “Yeah, she is. She doesn’t advertise it, but if someone asks she’ll tell them.”
“Huh.” Diamond chewed her lip.
Sweetie realized she was watching that, and made eye contact with Diamond. “See? I told you they wouldn’t freak out about me.”
“Freak out about what?” Silver trotted back in, fresh-faced.
“Oh, Sweetie’s a fillyfooler.” Scootaloo shrugged.
“Oh. Okay.” Silver yawned. “So, when are we doing breakfast?”
Diamond gaped. “Silver, what the hell? You were saying all that stupid shit the other day about fillyfoolers!”
Silver blinked. “What? What are . . . “ She trailed off, tilting her head. “Wait, when I said Bon Bon and Lyra were weird? That’s because they’re so codependent. I don’t think they can do anything alone at all. You thought I have a problem with lesbians?”
“Well, uh, yeah.”
“My aunt’s a lesbian. I mean, I kind of used to say some dumb stuff like that, but my aunt’s pretty cool. I was wrong. That was years ago.” Silver sighed.
Apple Bloom was already at the door of Sweetie’s bedroom. “Listen, whatever else is going on, either we need to get eatin’, or I’m going to start havin’ cupcakes for breakfast. I don’t really want to do that. I can’t eat like a foal no more, especially after last night. I need some real food.”
Diamond’s mouth hung open, and Sweetie took that as a cue. “Here’s my bits. You guys go ahead. I think I wanna get a shower.”
Diamond’s brain re-engaged. “Uh, yeah. Me too. Sweetie and I will catch up, okay?”
Once the other three were gone, Sweetie gave Diamond a hug. “So I guess that means Silver’s going to be okay with you?”
“Yeah, I suppose,” she murmured, absently.
“Well, I still won’t tell them, Diamond.” Sweetie shrugged. “Rarity always says a lady never kisses and tells.”
Diamond hesitated, then looked at Sweetie. “Why are you being nice to me?”
Sweetie considered for a few moments. “You deserve it. Nobody’s entirely bad, and you’re just kind of . . . hurt.”
Diamond looked away, and there was a noise that sounded like a sniffle.
Sweetie took a deep breath and trotted over to the towels folded in the hall closet. “So, um, maybe you should get a shower anyway? You’ll probably feel better.”
“Yeah, I think so.” Diamond looked down the hall, then followed Sweetie and tilted her head. “Sweetie?”
Sweetie turned, holding a towel up in her telekinesis. “Yes?”
Diamond leaned close and pressed a warm kiss on Sweetie’s cheek. “Thank you. I’m sorry. I’m so sorry and I just didn’t know any better. I’m sorry I did all those things. You guys were better than me and Silvy any day of the week, and I always knew it. All I had was a cutie mark, so I just tried to . . . ” Diamond choked on the last of it, her lips tightening.
Sweetie hugged, then sighed. “Shhh. C’mon. Get a shower, and you’ll feel better. Then we’ll go meet up with them for breakfast.”
Diamond nodded, taking the towel in her mouth, a thin flush on her face.
Sweetie headed downstairs and sat herself at the table, trying to figure out how Diamond-now could possibly be Diamond-then at the same time. Thoughts got sidetracked, of course, into how she could have missed Diamond’s lips being so soft-looking, but mostly she stayed on the main topic.
Mostly.
* * *
Sweetie sat up with a start when the front door shut. Apparently she hadn’t slept as well as she’d thought.
“Sweetieeeee!” Rarity singsonged, trotting in. “Oh! There you are. How were things? Did civility reign?”
Civility as measured by tongue interactions, maybe. “Sort of. It’s . . . things are okay.” Sweetie shrugged, trying to play by the rule Rarity had given — ladies don’t kiss and tell, or even kiss and insinuate. “Diamond’s getting a shower upstairs. AB and Scoots and Silver Spoon went off to Sugarcube Corner to get breakfast, and me and DT are going to catch up to them once she comes downstairs.”
“Well, I’m glad it went well. Hopefully things can stay at least moderately friendly.” Rarity smiled a curious smile.
“I’d say it’s not impossible.” Sweetie yawned. “So how was your business trip?”
“Um, about that. Hm.” Rarity paused and opened her mouth, then closed it. “Sweetie, it’s a good thing you’re sitting down. We need to have a little talk.”
“If you’re about to tell me I have to start getting along with someone else, we’ll have more than a talk,” Sweetie grumbled.
“Oh, shush.” Rarity waved a hoof vaguely. “These little business trips have become a bit more than business trips, Sweetie. I didn’t want to say anything until I knew it was actually something serious, but I think it’s heading that way now.”
“More than business?” Sweetie yawned, and rubbed her face. Hoofsteps sounded on the stairs. “What are you trying to say, Rarity?”
“Well, ah — I suppose it’s best to just say it.” Rarity took a breath. “I have been dating Mr. Rich for several months now. It’s part of why I was hoping you and Diamond Tiara could put your past behind you and find a way to be a little more, um, friendly.”
There was a thin squeak behind Rarity, and when she turned, Sweetie could see that Diamond Tiara had apparently managed to catch the last part of that.
“Diamond! I see you heard the good news?” Hesitation flared on Rarity’s face. “At least, I hope it’s good news. I know no one can replace a lost parent, and it’ll be a big adjustment for all of us, but — “
Diamond blinked. “Dating?” she said as if inhaling.
“Y’know, Rarity, I think we should head to breakfast right now! Scoots and AB and Silvy are going to be wondering where we are!” Sweetie made a rapid stride towards Diamond and then pushed her gently towards the door. “But we’ll be back later, and we can talk all about, uh, adjustments and friendliness and things!”
Diamond took a breath a few seconds later, standing on the path outside the Carousel Boutique.
“They’re dating,” she whispered, blinking.
“Yes,” Sweetie murmured, watching Diamond.
“My dad. Your sister. They were trying to get us friendly because they’re dating,” Diamond said, eyes starting to move like they were watching for predators.
“Well, it, uh . . . it kinda worked, right?” Sweetie produced a smile, but it felt weak.
“Yeah.” Diamond took a deep breath, then lifted her eyes to meet Sweetie’s.
Sweetie swallowed, blinking. Diamond was her friend now, right? So that meant — what did that mean? What would it mean if Rarity and Filthy Rich got along?
What would any of it mean if she wanted to kiss Diamond more?
“Like, if my dad marries your sister, then . . . then you’re going to be my aunt.”
“I know.” Sweetie chewed her lip. “And if I’m your aunt, then it’ll be weird if — “ Sweetie stopped herself. Don’t say it. Don’t say it, you’ll sound like you’re some dumb little filly, not like a mare. Don’t say it.
“ — if we do other stuff,” Diamond mumbled, eyes cast to the dirt again.
Sweetie tasted warm blood, and only realized she was biting her lip that hard a moment later. She leaned over and pressed a kiss on Diamond’s cheek, just the way Diamond had done with hers earlier, and found to her relief that there was a little spot of blood in the shape of her lower lip left behind.
Diamond half-smiled and looked at Sweetie.
“That’s why we’re going to stop them,” Sweetie said, hoping against hope Diamond’s real smile could come back, that smile she’d seen just after she opened her eyes back in the bathroom, a shaky little happy smile with no malice or pain.
She got her wish. Diamond’s real smile came back. “Right.”
A wail, easily the sound of despair and pain, sounded behind them at the Boutique. “My eclairs!”
Sweetie looked at Diamond, who gave a sheepish shrug.
“I kind of woke up last night and ate the other one?”
“Run. We’ll bring her some back from breakfast, if AB hasn’t spent all the bits yet.” Sweetie started at a jog. “C’mon!”
They took off in the direction of Sugarcube Corner.
