Something More

Diamond Tiara stood on her balcony, overlooking Ponyville as the sunset turned the sky a brilliant orange. From her clear vantage point, she could see almost everything that went on in the town below. She saw Twilight Sparkle and Pinkie Pie walking a little closer to each other than any friends had a right to. She saw the Cakes share a kiss when they thought no one was looking. From here, she could see the lives of Ponyville’s citizens when they thought nopony was looking.

It was where she came whenever she had thinking to do.

Ever since that Saturday in the park two days ago, Sweetie Belle had been occupying her thoughts more than she would care to admit. That stupid blank flank, with her adorable poofy mane and voice cracks. All of a sudden, Diamond wasn’t thinking about her in annoyance or detestation. Now, the thought of her was enough to make Diamond’s cheeks flame.

The thing that stuck out most in her mind was the way that blank flank could sing. The high, clear voice ringing out like a bell was forever imprinted in her mind from the moment she saw Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle sharing a picnic together.

Scootaloo. That insufferable orange filly. Seeing her and Sweetie Belle together in the park, or talking together at lunch made the pink filly irrationally upset, and she was having trouble figuring out why.

Another question that rang through her head was what had happened to Sweetie’s appearance earlier that day? It had been rather big change to see the filly who was usually so cute dressed up like her older sister, and definitely not in a good way. What had prompted the sudden makeover?

More than anything else, Diamond Tiara was confused. These feelings were something she had never experienced before, she had no doubt that she was thinking about Sweetie Belle romantically, which was a prospect that made her incredibly uncomfortable. No matter how uncomfortable she felt though, Diamond knew she was going to win Sweetie Belle. After all, she wanted the cute little unicorn, and she always got what she wanted.

In her short life, romance wasn’t something she had thought about often, and the few times she had, she had always assumed she would find some rich colt - probably a prince - and settle down in Manehattan or Canterlot. It had never occurred to her that she would fall for the sister of a small-town seamstress, or that she’d fall for a mare at all.

Sweetie Belle didn’t have class, she didn’t have good manners, or a lot of money, so Diamond couldn’t figure out just what had made her change her mind. She had hated Blanky Belle, or at least she had acted like it for the past two years, and all of a sudden she could picture the two of them sitting down to dinner together in a fancy restaurant.

What was it about Sweetie that made her so alluring? She was a nice, pretty, funny, intelligent, and slightly ditzy little unicorn. The only one of those things that Diamond herself valued was beauty, but she knew tons of beautiful ponies. Silver Spoon and several of the other fillies in her class were quite attractive, and that wasn’t even mentioning the stallions.

What was it about Sweetie Belle that made her different from all of those ponies?

Diamond shook her head. She had come out to the balcony to try and clear her head, and in the process she had only confused herself more.

She cast her gaze back over the town and saw two small ponies walking side-by-side towards the east side of town. Two little ponies, one white and one orange.

Oh no. It can’t be. But it could be, because right there on the street below her, Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were walking together. She looked closely, neither one of them was talking, but they didn’t look uncomfortable either.

As Diamond watched, Scootaloo turned towards Sweetie and gave her a silent smile. The unicorn smiled sweetly in return, and Diamond could feel a deep rage burning in the pit of her stomach. Scootaloo. That no-good cripple pegasus was walking alone beneath a beautiful sunset with Diamond Tiara’s crush? Who did she think she was?

The two of them continued down the street, thankfully unaware that they were being carefully watched, and proceeded to turn the corner. Even though they were out of sight, Diamond couldn’t get the image out of her head. That poor, ill-mannered pegasus was hanging out with her Sweetie Belle? Not that Sweetie was hers, but she certainly wouldn’t be if Scootaloo got her first.

Diamond fumed silently. I have to do something about this. The more she thought about it though, the more problematic winning Sweetie Belle became.

The biggest problem was that Sweetie Belle hated her.

Well, hated probably wasn’t the right word. Diamond doubted that the kind filly had the capacity to truly hate anyone, but regardless of what you called it, Diamond’s constant bullying of the crusaders meant that Sweetie definitely didn’t consider her a friend. As far as Sweetie Belle knew, all that Diamond was capable of was cruelness, she had never seen the rich filly’s nicer side.

She had to show Sweetie Belle that she could be a kind, caring pony. Not that these were traits she usually associated herself with, but that’s what it was going to take.

I could… compliment her looks? Walk her home after school? Invite her to my house? Give her money? No, all of these are bad. I need to talk to someone who knows what being nice is all about. Hmmm, the nicest fillies I know are probably the Crusaders, those worthless blank flanks. I obviously can’t talk to Sweetie Belle about this, and I can’t talk to Scootaloo, she’s the competition here.

That just leaves… Apple Bloom.

Apple Bloom snored quietly as she slept soundly in bed, her belly full of apple pie, her head full of sweet dreams.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

She twitched, and one eye cracked open. What was that?

Tap. Tap. Tap.

She was fully awake now, and actively trying to figure out the source of the mysterious tapping noise. Her ears perked up. It sounded like it was coming from her window.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Apple Bloom rolled over and stuffed her head into her pillow. Is it a tree branch or somethin’? Ah’m so tired. Maybe if Ah ignore it, it’ll just stop.

Tap. Tap Tap.

It didn’t stop. Apple Bloom cringed and prepared herself for the cold outside of her warm bed as she lifted her blanket off. She got up, walked over to the window, and looked outside.

There’s no way. She rubbed her eyes, sure she was seeing things. Yet when she looked again, nothing had changed. What in Equestria is Diamond Tiara doing outside of my window in the middle of the night?

Tap. Tap. Tap.

Diamond Tiara stood below her window throwing pebbles at her window in what appeared to be an attempt to get her attention. Oh Celestia, please tell me this is a dream. Diamond seemed to be mouthing something at her. Apple Bloom looked closely. She could vaguely make out Diamond’s lips spelling out ‘come outside’.

Apple Bloom looked at the clock on her bedside. It read 1:24 AM. There was not a single thing in the world that she wanted more than to return to the warmth and security of her bed.

Tap. Tap. Tap.

She frowned, it wasn’t likely that she would get any sleep with that incessant tapping on her window. Besides, she might have been just a little curious as to what Diamond Tiara was doing outside her window at this ridiculous time of night.

She turned towards her door, and proceeded to leave her room, walk down the stairs, and through the kitchen to the door. Tiptoeing carefully to avoid waking her family, she left her house and stepped onto the creaky slats of her wooden porch.

“There you are, Apple Bloom, I was wondering when you’d come out,” Diamond Tiara approached her from the shadows. “Keeping a pony waiting like that is impolite, you know.”

Apple Bloom groaned. “What are you doing outside of my house in the middle of the night? Ah was trying to sleep!”

“Look, blank flank, I’ll be brief. I really need your help with something.”

“You need mah help?” Apple Bloom looked at her incredulously.

“That’s what I just said. Try to keep up, Apple Bloom.”

Apple Bloom yawned. “Alright look. Ah’ll try and help you if I can just go back to bed. What is it you need?”

“Ummm, well….” Diamond Tiara looked down and pawed the ground with her hoof. Apple Bloom couldn’t be sure in the dark, but it almost looked like she was blushing. What is going on with her?

“Come on now, spit it out.”

“I just, I wantyoutoteachmehowtobenice!”

“Come again?”

Diamond Tiara refused to look at her, instead focusing all of her attention on the gravel beneath her feet. “I want you to teach me how to be nice.”

“Really?” Apple Bloom couldn’t believe it. She pinched herself herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. It was just so unexpected. The filly who had tormented her for almost her entire life was outside her house asking for tips on how to be nice.

“Yes, really. Now teach me already!” Diamond Tiara grabbed her by the hoof and dragged her towards a big couch on the front porch. She reached into her bag and pulled out a pencil and paper. “I brought these to take notes.”

Apple Bloom gave up. There was really no way to fight somepony as willful as Diamond Tiara. If she wanted lessons on niceness at half past one in the morning, then she was gonna get them. “Notes? What exactly did you want me to teach you?”

“You know, just how to be a nice pony. How to make ponies like me.” Diamond reached up and pulled the chain above her head to turn on the overhead light, then opened up her notebook to a blank page and wrote her name in the top right corner.

“No offense, Diamond, but when have you ever cared what other ponies thought of you?”

Now that the light was on, Apple Bloom could definitely see a blush light up Diamond Tiara’s cheeks. “What are you talking about, blank flank? I always care what others think, a sophisticated filly must have great manners.”

“That’s never seemed to stop you before,” Apple Bloom whispered under her breath.

“What was that?”

“Nothing. So, what exactly was it that you wanted to learn about being nice?”

“I guess… everything.”

“Everything?” Apple Bloom deadpanned.

“Yep. I think I’ll need everything you can teach me. Is that gonna be a problem, blank flank?”

“It will be if you keep calling me blank flank.”

“Fine, Apple Bloom. Is that gonna be a problem?”

Apple Bloom knew there was no way she could get out of this. “Nope. Let’s get on with it.”

This is gonna be a long night.