Diamond Tiara's New Diversion

by Yukito

Rating: everyone
Tags: Rarity, Diamond Tiara, Slice of Life, Sweetie Belle, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Comedy
Length: 15013

Diamond Tiara gets a part-time job working at Carousal Boutique

Cheerilee suggests to Filthy Rich that a distraction might be just the thing to keep Diamond Tiara from so often picking fights with Apple Bloom. Rarity is more than happy to take Diamond Tiara on as her new apprentice to help improve the filly's attitude.

But a certain little sister isn't quite so happy.

Published 2014-04-12 15:10:03 UTC
Last updated 2014-04-12 15:10:03 UTC

Diamond Tiara's New Diversion

Diamond Tiara was sitting outside in the hallway with a cross look on her face as she dangled her hooves over her chair, kicking them back-and-forth whilst she waited in silence. Her father was inside the classroom with her teacher, taking their time discussing Celestia-knows-what. Likely boring grown-up stuff, but that didn’t explain why she had to wait outside by herself. They hadn’t even allowed Silver Spoon to wait with her, either.

Inside the classroom, Filthy Rich and Cheerilee were sat facing each other at the teacher’s desk with worrisome frowns. “Up until now, I’ve been giving your daughter the benefit of the doubt,” Cheerilee said. “After all, I remember what it is like to be young. I’ve been keeping an eye on her behaviour with the belief that she will soon grow out of it, but I fear that she is causing far too big a disturbance in the classroom.”

“Please tell me she hasn’t been getting even worse,” Filthy Rich said in an almost-pleading tone. To his relief, Cheerilee shook her head.

“She has had her moments, as many of my students have, and I have punished her accordingly. The problem is her little feud with Apple Bloom and her friends. It’s growing more and more frequent and it’s even invading the classroom. I have tried to separate them, but somehow they still find ways to break into arguments.

“Now, I have spoken to Apple Bloom’s sister, and she tells me she has no idea why the two girls cannot get along. Do you have any ideas?”

Filthy Rich shook his head. “My family has always had good relations with theirs. It’s as much a mystery to me as it is to you. But what more can we do? I’ve already spoken to her about respecting her classmates and not teasing other ponies, but it just doesn’t seem to stick.”

“And at the same time, Apple Bloom and her friends are starting to retaliate to your daughter and Silver Spoon’s provocations.” Cheerilee sighed. “Time-outs and detentions don’t seem to be doing much good. In fact, it only seems to add fuel to the fire as each side blames the other when they are punished… I don’t want to be too hard on any of them. They’re good fillies when they’re not bickering with each other.”

“I tried to send Diamond Tiara to a summer camp last year,” Filthy Rich told the teacher, “In the hopes that she would learn the values of respecting your fellow pony and getting along with others.”

“Yes, I heard. She protested the entire time and threatened to run away… and then actually did.”

“She doesn’t usually misbehave when we’re at home, but when she does, she can be difficult to deal with,” Filthy Rich continued. “I want to discipline her, but I fear that if I go about it wrong, she may do something drastic…”

“What other forms of discipline have you tried?” Cheerilee asked.

“Giving her sprouts for dinner, which resulted in her simply not eating for the entire night; sending her to her room, which resulted in her banging on the floor; leaving her at Fluttershy’s without any of her toys, to which she screamed and kicked the entire time… Most recently, I attempted to work up a deal with the Apples whereby she and Apple Bloom would trade houses for the week, and Diamond would have to work chores at their farm in the meantime.”

“How did that work out?” Cheerilee asked.

“Diamond held her breath until I caved in,” Filthy Rich answered with a shamed look on his face. “Maybe I’m not suited to be a father if I can’t even control my own daughter…”

“Well, at least you care for her well-being,” Cheerilee said. “And you’re even making an effort to better her behaviour. There are parents out there who couldn’t care less how their children act in public. The problem is that her behaviour right now is still only bratty at best. If we approach this the wrong way, she could grow even worse.”

“I was thinking of taking a vacation,” Filthy Rich said. “Take my daughter somewhere where we can both relax and have fun. At the very least, she wouldn’t be fighting with the others until we return, but then I fear that I may just be spoiling her even further.”

Cheerilee rested her chin on her hooves. “True, but I think you’re on the right line there. Let’s review our situation for a second here: your daughter and Apple Boom are most certainly the centre of this whole ordeal. Separating them would be a start, but we can’t keep them apart forever.”

“If Diamond could just learn how to respect her classmates, even if just pretending…” Filthy Rich put a hoof to his chin as he thought.

“I don’t think it is a matter of respect,” Cheerilee said. “She has proven to be perfectly capable of getting along with the other students. One of them even drew this during our last Arts and Crafts session.” Cheerilee opened her drawer and pulled out a sheet of paper with a crude crayon drawing on it.

The drawing consisted of a pink blob with a smiling face standing next to a yellow blob with another smiling face. Below were the words ‘Alula + Diamond Tiara, Best Friends 4ever!’.

“I feel there’s some specific reason why Diamond Tiara goes after Apple Bloom in particular,” Cheerilee continued. “It doesn’t seem to be malicious or out of some deep-seated anger. Half the time I get the impression Diamond herself doesn’t even know why it is! It’s almost like an instinct she’s grown over the years.”

“Then what do you suggest?” Filthy Rich asked.

“We’ve tried many things to make them stop fighting, but nothing has worked. How about, instead of forcing the two to get along or reach a truce, we simply… introduce some sort of distraction that takes Diamond Tiara’s interests away from poking fun at Apple Bloom.”

“A distraction?” Filthy Rich asked. “You mean like a hobby? Because she already has some of those, though admittedly nothing she pursues seriously.”

“I was thinking… a part-time job.”

Filthy Rich shook his head. “I told you, I’ve already tried sending her to work at Sweet Apple Acres, but she very nearly asphyxiated herself!”

“What if it is a job she enjoys, though?” Filthy Rich went silent as his interest seemed to be piqued. “Your friend Rarity, Sweetie Belle’s older sister, owns a dressmaking shop, does she not? And Diamond Tiara is into fashion, from what I’ve gathered. My thinking is that, whilst she is working there, she would be separated from Apple Bloom.”

“That’s all well and good, but what about when she’s not working there?”

“We can ask Rarity to give her some extra work to do in her spare time,” Cheerilee continued. “With any luck, Diamond will enjoy learning under Rarity and working as her apprentice, so much so that she will want to continue working there even after her time has been served. Until then, she has no choice but to go, so it is still technically a punishment, but not one that she would object to.”

Filthy Rich considered the proposal for a moment. “It would be a good chance for her to gain real world experience and to appreciate the value of a hard day’s work… but what if it doesn’t go as we hope?”

“Then we’re back to where we are now,” Cheerilee said, “But there’s certainly no harm in trying, right?”

“I suppose not. It shouldn’t prove difficult convincing Rarity to agree to this.” Filthy Rich turned to the door leading to the hallway outside. “Shall we call her in, then?”

Cheerilee nodded. “First, we need to make sure she reacts well to it. If she’s going to throw a tantrum or attempt to run away, then we need to be prepared to be stern with her.”

Filthy Rich nodded. “I agree, but I’m stopping if her face turns blue again.”

“Diamond Tiara, can you come in here?!” Cheerilee called. Seconds later, the door opened and the pink filly waiting outside walked in. She approached the two with an annoyed expression on her face. “Diamond, your father and I have been talking about you and Apple Bloom-”

“Why just me?!” Diamond Tiara shouted. “Apple Bloom was fighting, too! Why am I the only one you talk to?!”

“Diamond Tiara,” Filthy Rich said in a stern tone. “Miss Cheerilee has already spoken to Applejack about the situation.”

Diamond turned her head away with a huff. “We’ve reached a decision about your punishment,” Cheerilee said. “Name-calling is one thing, but we cannot have fights breaking out in class. Apple Bloom has been given more chores by her family, and you…”

Cheerilee motioned to Filthy Rich, who nodded and continued from where she had left off. “Diamond Tiara, you will be working part-time for the next two weeks.”

“What?!” Diamond shouted. “But, Daaaaad, you know my hooves are too fragile for working! And I’m only nine years old!”

“Sorry, Diamond, but I feel that you need to learn the value of hard work.”

“Perhaps you forgot what happened the last time you tried to get me to work on that filthy farm?” Diamond took in a deep breath and then clenched her mouth shut, her cheeks puffed and her body trembling as she glared up at her father, daring him to continue.

“You won’t be working at the farm this time,” Filthy Rich said, his stern expression not leaving his face, though sweat did begin to form on his brow. “I was thinking… somewhere with more dresses and ribbons.”

Diamond released her breath and took a moment to recover. “… What?”

“Somewhere where you can design your own clothes and discuss fashion with somepony who shares your interests.”

“… Huh?”

Filthy Rich and Cheerilee exchanged grins at the filly’s confused reaction. “Diamond Tiara,” Filthy Rich said, “You will spend the next two weeks working at Carousel Boutique.”

“… HUH?!”

“Thank you again for agreeing to do this,” Filthy Rich whispered to Rarity whilst his daughter carried her bag into the kitchen.

“Oh, do not mention it,” Rarity said, a warm smile on her face. “I was just like her at that age, always seeing myself as better than everypony and making more enemies than friends. I grew out of it eventually, of course, but I remember wishing I had grown out of it much sooner. Besides, my sister is one of the ponies she teases, so any possibility of sheathing their arguments, I am willing to chance.”

“If there is any trouble, let me know,” Filthy Rich said, producing a list and giving it to Rarity. “Here’s a list of her allergies, and she needs to take these eye drops at noon.” He gave the mare a small cardboard box before tilting his head to look past her shoulder. “Diamond Tiara! I’m leaving now! Make sure to stay on your best behaviour!”

“Of course I will, Daddy!” Diamond Tiara said as she ran out of the kitchen and towards her father. After hugging her goodbye, the stallion left, leaving Rarity to take care of his daughter for the day. “So, when do we start?”

“Eager, I see,” Rarity said as she closed her door. “Well then, perhaps you could help me put away some of the fabric I have lying around. I’m often so busy I can’t ever find the time to put everything away.”

Diamond Tiara looked around the room, noting the complete and utter mess that it was in. Like a tornado had struck… and then came back for a second go. “Uh, how about no?” Diamond said as she turned back to Rarity. “I came to make dresses, not be a housemaid.”

Rarity remained smiling as she looked down at the filly. “One does not simply ‘make dresses’, darling. The art of dressmaking is a long and arduous journey, and it starts with a clean and tidy workplace.”

“Yeah? Well Diamond Dazzle Tiara doesn’t clean,” Diamond Tiara said, sitting herself down and folding her forelegs.

“Then Diamond Dazzle Tiara will never make it to the stage where she can make dresses,” Rarity returned.

Diamond growled at the mare towering over her with a cocky grin. Suddenly, Diamond Tiara herself grinned. “Okay, if that’s the way you want it.” Taking in a deep breath, Diamond Tiara closed her mouth and gave Rarity a challenging look.

Rarity simply continued to smile as Diamond’s body trembled. Suddenly, she leaned down and placed a hoof to Diamond Tiara’s nose. The filly’s eyes widened with fear and she screamed into her closed mouth, before quickly falling backwards and releasing her breath. “ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME?!”

“I perfected that technique when I was still in diapers. It will have no effect on me,” Rarity said as she stood up straight again. “How about this? You clean all of my fabrics before lunchtime, and I will let you pick out any of the dresses in my backroom to take home for free. Save the specially commissioned ones, of course.”

That caught Diamond Tiara’s attention as she looked towards the filly-sized dresses on the window display. “Any dress?” Rarity nodded. “… Alright, fine. But just this once!”

“Thank you, dear. If you need any help, just let me know. You do know your fabrics, yes?”

“Of course I do,” Diamond Tiara said matter-of-factly.

“Well then, I’ll leave you to it.” With that, Rarity left the filly to her work whilst she herself wandered into the kitchen to prepare some tea and to read over the list she had been given. Occasionally, she would steal peeks at Diamond Tiara to ensure she was doing her job and wasn’t having any trouble. As time went on, the filly seemed to be getting more into it as she carried the fabrics around with a lot more energy and far less grumbling.

Rarity was working at her station, running a rainbow silk through her sewing machine, when suddenly she heard the door opening behind her. “I’m done!”

Switching off the machine and turning around, Rarity frowned and was about to scold Sweetie Belle for disrupting her, when what she saw instead was actually Diamond Tiara. “Oh! Diamond… Please do knock the next time you wish to enter like that. Wait, you’re done?”

“Uh, yeah? That’s what I just said, isn’t it?” Diamond Tiara stepped into the room and looked around at the mess scattered about. “Oh, except for in here, but you’re using this stuff so it doesn’t count.”

“Let me see,” Rarity said, walking away from her station and leaving the room with Diamond Tiara following behind her. ‘There’s no way that she could have finished so quickly unless she simply cut corners. I’ll catch her out and threaten to take away her reward. That should–’ Rarity stopped her train of thought as she reached the tidy shop that had recently been as big a mess as her bedroom. “So far so good…”

“So do I get to pick out my new dress now?” Diamond Tiara asked, drifting towards the door leading to the backroom.

“Patience, my dear,” Rarity said as she approached her drawers. “All arranged by colour… folding could use a little work.”

“You only said to clean the shop,” Diamond pointed out.

“Indeed I did. One step at a time, I suppose. Now what have you done with my ribbons?”

“I couldn’t find where they go so I just used that empty box beneath the desk.” Diamond Tiara pointed a hoof towards a desk behind Rarity, who turned around to approach it for inspection.

“Ah, yes. The ribbons should have gone in the box up here,” Rarity said as she levitated a box from a high shelf and lowered it onto the floor. “Next time you have a problem like this, don’t hesitate to ask me, though points for ingenuity and initiative. Now, one last thing… my equipment-”

“I put your tape on top of the desk and lined you rulers and scissors in order of size. I put your thread up there with the rest.” Diamond motioned her head towards a shelf where spools of thread were lined up.

Rarity examined her desk to find that the filly was indeed speaking the truth. “My, such a fine job you did.” Rarity reached her hoof towards Diamond Tiara, who took a cautious step back before receiving a gentle pet on the head from the unicorn mare. “And in such record time. I feel you have real potential in this business.”

Diamond Tiara smiled and held her head up high. “Well, of course I do. I’ve only been following fashion since, like, I’ve been in diapers.”

“And such diligent work deserves a reward,” Rarity said as she walked past Diamond Tiara and opened the door to her backroom. “Let’s go find you a nice dress that will show your father how hard you’ve been working, shall we?”

“Well it’s about time.” Diamond Tiara attempted to walk past the mare but found her way blocked by a white hoof.

“What do we say in a situation like this?” Rarity asked. “Begins with a ‘T’, ends with ‘you’?”

Diamond rolled her eyes. “Thank you,” she muttered and then walked into the room as Rarity’s hoof moved aside to grant her passage. Upon stepping inside Diamond Tiara browsed over the selection of dresses that the dressmaker had stashed away. There were all kinds of dresses, from formal to casual to fancy dress. There were some dresses behind a velvet rope that the filly assumed were Rarity’s special commissions.

Rarity left the filly to her selection as she made her way back towards her station.

Rarity took a deep breath and wiped the sweat from her brow as she looked upon her latest accomplishment with a look of adoration. As she turned her attention towards the clock to her right she noticed that it was time for lunch.

“I haven’t heard from Diamond Tiara since I let her into my back room,” she said to herself as the realisation suddenly hit her. “I wonder how she’s doing? I should think of some more chores for her to do after lunch.”

Rarity reached the bottom of the stairs in her boutique and looked around. She could find no sign of the pink filly in the room. “Diamond Tiara?”

“In here,” a voice answered from the back room. Rarity entered with a curious look and found Diamond Tiara standing before two dresses and a mirror. The dress to her left was pink, frilly and decorated with lace, the kind of dress that would make anypony tell you how cute you are. The other was blue and fancy, with a more sophisticated style that a pony attending a prestigious academy would be expected to wear.

“Are you okay, darling?” Rarity asked, receiving a nod from the filly concentrating hard on the two dresses.

“I can’t decide on these two dresses,” Diamond said. “I like the pink one because it’s, like, so totally me, you know? Cute and memorable. But the other one would make me fit in at one of Daddy’s parties…”

Rarity smiled. She remembered her own experiences with having to choose between two different, yet equally fabulous dresses when she was a filly. “Well, I think that the pink one would look just darling on you. You’re a little young to be thinking about ‘fitting in’ at a party of old business ponies.”

“You think so?” Diamond asked, looking to the pink dress with an uncertain look on her face.

“Oh yes. In fact…” Rarity levitated the dress off of the ponnequine it was on and held it in front of Diamond Tiara. “Why yes, it suits you just perfectly! I dare say you’ll be the focus of any party in this.”

Diamond Tiara smiled and admired herself in the mirror. “The colour’s not too similar to my coat?”

“Hmm… some parts do clash a little bit, but it’s not something I can’t take care of. I’m amazed you were able to find a dress that fits you so well.”

“Then I’ll take it!” Diamond Tiara said. “And I’ll wear it at my next birthday party!”

“Well then, I’ll fix it up a little bit and have it ready by the end of the day,” Rarity told the filly. “For now, it is time for lunch. You father packed you a salad, correct?” Diamond Tiara nodded. “Then I suppose I’ll just whip up something for myself. Oh, and I believe you are to take your eye drops around this time?”

Diamond Tiara groaned and trotted past Rarity and the older mare followed after her, thinking about what job she could give to the filly next.

The weekend passed surprisingly quickly for Diamond Tiara. Leading up to that weekend, Diamond Tiara had spent days resenting the punishment awaiting her, and during her time working at Carousel Boutique she resented the idea of being expected to clean, or to talk to lower-class ponies like they were her equals. It also didn’t please the filly that her usual efforts of getting her way had no effect on Rarity. In spite of all of that… she didn’t completely hate her time at Carousel Boutique.

She liked the free dress she received on her first day, of course, but it was more than that. Rarity actually provided intelligent, interesting conversation. Her chores actually weren’t so bad, especially not when the later halves of the day involved free dressmaking tutorials. Nopony can argue with that price, and Rarity was a great teacher.

That said, Diamond Tiara couldn’t wait until this punishment was lifted, since it also meant in-part that she could not go out with her friends. Even during school days, her father had arranged for Rarity to give her some hours that extended to her assigned curfew.

“I heard you were grounded,” Silver Spoon said as she walked beside Diamond Tiara.

“Not ‘grounded’,” Diamond told her. “I have a part-time job.”

“Why would you want a job when we already have school wasting our precious time?”

“It wasn’t my idea. It’s because of that bumpkin and her loser friends.”

“My father just gives me extra chores to do whenever those three tattle on us,” Silver Spoon said. “So what’s the job?”

“It’s actually not that bad. I’m working at Carousel Boutique.”

“That shop owned by Miss Rarity?” Diamond Tiara nodded. “Well, at least you’re not stuck working at a dirty farm or some boring old library.”

“We like libraries now, remember?”

Silver Spoon stopped and thought for a moment, recalling that Princess Twilight Sparkle lived in, and worked at, a library. “Oh yeah. Libraries are totally neat. I just meant that you would probably be bored having to work there. No offence. But wait, isn’t Rarity Sweetie Belle’s older sister?”

“Yeah, but they don’t live together, so it’s not like I have to spend time with her.”

“But does she not mind that you and Sweetie Belle get into fights?”

Diamond Tiara thought for a second and then shrugged. “Never really occurred to me. I’m either working or talking to her about fashion, shopping, music… You know, fun stuff.”

“Somehow I can’t picture you doing any kind of work seriously,” Silver Spoon giggled.

Diamond Tiara frowned. “For your information, from my two days spent there so far I’ve learned how to tidy a room, use a vacuum cleaner, greet and direct customers and how to turn on a washing machine!”

“You didn’t know how to turn on a washing machine?”

“I never had to know. Daddy does all the washing for me.”

“Well, at least you seem to be having fun there.”

Diamond Tiara nodded. “Some punishment, huh? I’m acting like I hate it to Daddy, but actually, Rarity’s a lot of fun! So far she’s taught me how to sew, and tomorrow we’re moving up to measuring out fabric sizes!”

“That explains your hooves,” Silver Spoon said, eyeing the multiple plasters on Diamond Tiara’s forehooves. “She’s still that blank flank’s sister, though? Can she really be that fun?”

“She’s so much better than that Dumb Belle!”

“Hey!” Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon stopped and saw the three blank flanks in question standing before them. “We haven’t even started school yet, and you’re insulting me!” Sweetie Belle shouted.

“What’d ya mean by ‘she’s so much better’?” Apple Bloom asked. “Who’s better than Sweetie Belle?”

“Like, a lot of ponies,” Silver Spoon said, giggling with Diamond Tiara.

“I actually meant her sister, Rarity,” Diamond Tiara explained. “I’ve been working part-time at her boutique, and let me tell you, she’s way too good of a sister to be wasted on the likes of you.”

“I know she’s a great sister! I don’t need you to tell me that!” Sweetie Belle said. “But why are you working at her store? You’re still a filly.”

“That’s none of your business,” Diamond Tiara said as she and Silver Spoon passed by the three fillies. “School’s starting. You’d better get to class before Miss Cheerilee marks you late… again.”

The three Crusaders waited and watched for a few seconds for Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon to vanish from their sights. “I can’t believe she’s working at Rarity’s shop,” Sweetie Belle moaned. “I was going to go over there today after school, but I don’t want to if she’s there.”

“Don’t let her keep you outta yer own sister’s place!” Apple Bloom said.

“That’s right!” Scootaloo agreed. “If she starts giving you trouble, you’ll have your sister to back you up!”

“Hey, yeah. You’re right!” The school bell rang and the three fillies jumped on the spot. “Oh no, we’d better get to class, quickly!”

Later that day, Diamond Tiara entered Rarity’s store, releasing an audible bell ring throughout the boutique.

“Diamond Tiara?” Rarity called out as she entered the front room of the store.

“I’m here. What should I do first?” Diamond asked, trying her best to sound as upset as possible. She couldn’t let Rarity think she was actually anxious to get started, or her father might catch on and change her punishment to something worse.

“You came at an excellent time! I was about to start making some cupcakes for a dear friend of mine and I could use a hoof in the kitchen.”

“I don’t cook,” Diamond said suddenly. “Daddy and my butler do that for me.”

“That may be the case at home, but this is your part-time position,” Rarity said, but only managed to earn a disinterested look from the filly. “Well, you don’t have to. It’s just a shame because I was going to let you lick the bowl, maybe even share one of the cupcakes with you, fresh from the oven.”

Diamond’s ear twitched and suddenly she looked interested. “Well, I guess it’s better than cleaning…”

“It will be fun, trust me,” Rarity assured her.

“That’s what Daddy said about school,” Diamond Tiara retorted as she followed Rarity into the kitchen. On the counter were various implements she had seen her father and her butler use before, and also ponies on TV, but she had never once used them herself. She didn’t have any idea where to start.

“Let’s begin then, shall we?” Rarity asked as she levitated a small, pink and frilly apron to Diamond Tiara with a small heart on the front. As Diamond put the apron on, Rarity placed a hoofstool in front of the counter for the filly to use. “Would you like to begin mixing the ingredients whilst I prepare the oven?”

“What do I mix?” Diamond asked, hopping up onto the stool and looking at all of the ingredients before her.

“There’s a recipe book with simple instructions next to the eggs,” Rarity said as she grabbed a matchbox and approached her oven.

Diamond Tiara found the book and followed the instructions to below ‘preheat oven’. “Flour… sugar and butter…” Diamond Tiara found the plastic bag containing flour and turned to Rarity. “How much should I add?”

“I’ve already weighed it out. The other ingredients, too.”

Diamond turned back to the flour and picked it up, examining it carefully as though it were a potentially dangerous object. She removed the clip keeping it closed and poured the flour into the bowl, coughing as some of it came back up into her face.

“Gently now. There’s no need to rush anything.”

Diamond grumbled as she next grabbed the bag of sugar on the counter and added it to the bowl, followed by the stick of soft butter. She looked down at the mix with a raised eyebrow. “This makes cupcakes? Somehow it doesn’t look very appetising…”

“Trust me, you’re doing it right,” Rarity said as she pushed down on the bellows. “Goodness, I forgot how difficult this was without Spike.”

“Who?”

“Oh, never mind. Anyway, keep at it! You’re doing great!”

Diamond Tiara nodded and turned back to the recipe book with a smile. “Next is the eggs.”

“Ah, perhaps I should handle this one,” Rarity suggest. “Eggs can be rather tricky. You don’t want any of the shells falling into the bowl.”

“I can handle it,” Diamond Tiara said as she lifted one of the eggs and raised it up. She remembered what Rarity had said about not rushing things, and the consequences of adding the flour too quickly to the bowl. She brought the egg down gently, tapping it against the side… Nothing. “Why won’t it break?”

The egg was lifted out of Diamond’s hoof by Rarity, who knocked it against the side of the bowl and allowed the yolk and the egg white inside to fall into the bowl. She discarded the shell to the side and turned to the displeased filly to her side. “Don’t worry about it. You’ll get the hang of it. Would you like to try with the second one?”

Diamond Tiara looked down at the mixture in the bowl, remembering what had just come out of the egg Rarity had cracked. “Er, I think I’m good… I don’t want any of that on my hoof.”

“Oh come now, it’s not filthy,” Rarity assured as she guided Diamond’s hoof towards the second egg, and then towards the edge of the bowl.

Diamond wanted to pull her hoof away, but she didn’t. She just clamped her mouth tightly shut as she stared at Rarity’s hoof holding her own.

“Now, gently, but not too gently,” Rarity said softly as she raised Diamond’s hoof and brought it down, cracking the egg against the side of the bowl. “Now pull it back and open it above the bowl.” Rarity guided Diamond’s hoof above the bowl and then let it go, allowing the filly to open the shell herself and release the yolk and egg white into the bowl. “And that’s all there is to it!”

“Wow… That was easy,” Diamond said, an amazed look on her face as she stared at the empty shell.

“Now it’s time for the fun part: mixing!” Rarity grabbed the whisk and the bowl with her magic and began gently stirring the contents of the bowl together. “Don’t go too fast or the contents will fly out of the bowl. Make sure you mix it thoroughly, changing directions occasionally and getting the middle as well as the outside.”

Rarity lowered the bowl and whisk to Diamond Tiara, who took one in each hoof and looked up at Rarity quizzically. “How do I know when I’m done?”

“I’ll let you know,” Rarity said as she trotted to the side. “I’ll get things ready for the next step.” Diamond Tiara nodded and mixed away, her eyebrows furrowed as she focussed on getting it just right. “Let’s add a little music while we work. Do you know any good songs?”

“Uh, I do, but uh… you probably won’t know it. It’s kinda new-age.”

“I’ll have you know that I’m still a young mare,” Rarity said with a huff. She noticed Diamond Tiara shifting her eyes to the side and hummed. “Very well then. I’ll start off and you follow my lead.” Clearing her throat, Rarity began to sing.

“Trot outside and you see the sunshine,
Something’s in the air today.
Sky is clear and you’re feelin’ so fine,”

Rarity gave an expectant look to Diamond Tiara, who remained silent for a few seconds.

“Uh… Everything’s gonna be a-okay.”

Rarity nodded and continued.

“If you listen carefully,
On every corner there’s a rhythm playing.”

Diamond Tiara smiled and took a deep breath to join in.

“Then it happens suddenly,
The music takes you over and you’ll FIND
You’ve got the music, got the music in you!”

“Hm, hmm hm the music, got the music in you…” Diamond Tiara stopped as she spotted two mares walking down the road ahead of her and cleared her throat. Holding her head high, she trotted past them casually. Once she was certain that they were far enough away from her, she resumed her humming.

Before too long she had reached the path leading up to Fluttershy’s cottage. Still carrying the basket of cupcakes on her back, Diamond Tiara followed the path. A cold wind blew by. Diamond was thankful for the red hooded cloak that Rarity had leant her.

Once she reached the cottage, Diamond Tiara knocked on the door. When it opened with nopony standing at the doorway, Diamond stuck a head inside and found a silhouette lying on the couch inside. “Fluttershy?”

“Oh yes. Do come in, dear.”

Whoever that was, it wasn’t Fluttershy. The voice was too male. Regardless, Diamond Tiara took a step further inside, assuming it was simply one of Fluttershy’s friends, or maybe even a coltfriend. As she approached the figure, she found something that was neither beast nor pony.

She found… Discord. The unmistakable form of Discord, lying on Fluttershy’s couch in a pink nightgown and wearing a nightcap over his horned head.

“W-What are you doing here?” Diamond Tiara asked, backing away slowly from the chimera.

“Why, isn’t it obvious?” Discord asked with a grin. “Nice dress. Can I get it in my size?”

Diamond Tiara looked down at the red cloak she was wearing when a sudden realisation came to her. She looked at the basket of cupcakes on her back, then back to the fiend dressed as an elderly mare lying on a couch, waving a claw with an innocent grin on his face.

With no other course of action to turn to, Diamond Tiara screamed and ran away as fast as she could. She only made it to the doorway before bumping into something and falling onto her flank. As she rubbed her nose and looked up, she found… “Fluttershy!” The filly quickly hid behind the older mare. “Help! He wants to eat me!”

“Eat you?” Discord asked.

“Eat you?” Fluttershy echoed before delivering a hard glare at her friend.

“‘Tis a lie! I am a vegetarian,” Discord proclaimed, reaching down and opening his waist to show his internal organs. “Cow’s digestive system and all. Also comes with a cow’s dietary instincts.”

“EWWW!” Diamond Tiara screamed as she averted her eyes.

“DISCORD!” Fluttershy scolded. Discord simply shrugged and closed himself back up. “What have I told you about frightening our guests?”

“Well I can hardly help it if ponies choose to fear me before they even know me,” Discord said with a pout and a whimper. “In fact, I’m so hurt, I think I need another one of Twilight’s famous psychiatry sessions to help me recover.”

Fluttershy raised a hoof to stop him but was unable to prevent the chimera from snapping his finger and teleporting away. She turned to the shaken filly behind her and knelt down with a gentle smile. “I’m sorry about that. He’s really very sweet.”

“I doubt it,” Diamond Tiara said angrily. “I still remember what he did to me before…”

“Does this bug you? Does this bug you? Does this bug you?”

“GIVE IT BACK!” Diamond Tiara screamed as she continued to jump up in a vain attempt to grab her tiara, which was tied to a fishing line that Discord would pull up whenever the filly got close.

“He’s a changed draconequus now,” Fluttershy assured the filly. “Anyway, did you come here for my help with something?”

Diamond Tiara gasped and looked at the basket laying on the floor behind Fluttershy. She pushed past the mare to check on the baked goods and was relieved to find that there was only a little bit of minor frosting transfer between the cupcakes.

“Oh, isn’t that Rarity’s basket?” Fluttershy asked, noticing the intricate pattern on the cloth lining the basket that resembled the gems on Rarity’s flanks.

“Uh, yeah. She asked me to bring these here as thanks for taking care of her cat.”

Fluttershy smiled and picked up the basket. “Oh, that really wasn’t necessary. But thank you, Diamond Tiara.”

“She also asked me to pick Opal up.”

Fluttershy placed the basket down and gave the filly an uneasy look. “Of course. Let me just see if she’s ready to leave yet.”

Sometime after Diamond Tiara had left the boutique to fulfil Rarity’s task, Sweetie Belle stopped by with a request for her sister. A request that was accompanied by a gaping hole in one of their mother’s dresses, and an innocent grin that wasn’t fooling anypony.

When asked how it happened, Sweetie Belle’s answer that it was a combination of magic, a toy aeroplane and an automatic buzzsaw sailed right over Rarity’s head. She was certain that whatever had transpired, she should just be happy that Sweetie Belle was okay.

After her sister made quick work of the dress, repairing it beyond any noticeable damage, Sweetie Belle decided to ask Rarity about her new employee.

“Why she’s been an absolute dear!” is not what Sweetie Belle was expecting, but is what she heard. “I know that the two of you don’t have the best history together–”

“Understatement of the year,” Sweetie Belle muttered.

“–But for these past few days, she has been a delight to work with, admittedly after working through a few rough patches. It seems Mr. Rich’s idea of keeping her distracted was right on the money, after all.”

“Huh?” Sweetie Belle titled her head in confusion.

“Well, you see–” Rarity stopped as she heard the door open. “Oh, she must be back.”

“What? She’s working this late?”

Rarity removed her glasses and walked towards the door. “I asked her to run a little errand for me, but I didn’t think it would take so long. Would you mind waiting here?”

“Uh, sure…” Sweetie Belle watched her sister leave the room and waited. She heard hoofsteps moving downstairs, then voices for a short while, followed by laughter. Curious, Sweetie Belle approached the door and extended an ear to try to hear what the two were talking about.

She couldn’t hear them clearly. She picked up ‘cupcakes’, ‘opal’, ‘Discord’, ‘doormat’, more laughter, and then the voices grew quieter. She figured they must have moved into another room. With a shrug, Sweetie Belle simply sat down and waited. Waited. Waited…

With a groan, Sweetie Belle looked up to see how much time had passed. Thirty minutes. Thirty whole minutes had passed! “What are they doing down there?”

Sweetie Belle left the room and slowly crept down the stairs. The sounds of their voices started to come back to her as she slowly made her descent down into the boutique’s main room. She could see Rarity standing at the back of the room, with Diamond Tiara surrounded by mirrors, and a pile of dresses beside the two.

“I don’t know. I think I liked the last one better,” Diamond said as she admired herself in the mirror.

“Oh, most certainly. The colours on this one just don’t match your mane at all.”

Sweetie Belle groaned. They were trying on dresses and talking about things like ‘what’s in’, or ‘who’s who’. Boring stuff that her sister liked to spend hours reading in those magazines of hers, and Sweetie Belle knew there was no breaking her away from those magazines when she started to read them, so breaking her out of an actual conversation was hopeless.

Sweetie Belle went back up the stairs, grabbed the dress that had been repaired and moved back down, leaving the boutique so that she could return home before her parents did and place her mother’s dress back where it belonged.

Whilst Diamond Tiara’s punishment involved her being unable to spend much time with her friend outside of school, Filthy Rich decided that, as a reward for not having received any seriously negative comments from Rarity about the filly’s behaviour, he would allow Silver Spoon to sleepover that night after Diamond Tiara got back from work.

Silver Spoon arrived at the manor just a few minutes after Diamond did, and the two fillies rushed up to Diamond’s room together to catch up on three days of missed gossip.

As Diamond Tiara brushed Silver Spoon’s mane, the grey filly was slowly tiring of current subject matter and was beginning to wish that Diamond would move onto something else. Something that didn’t involved Rarity.

“I didn’t get to heat the oven or anything, but I practically did everything else by myself.” Silver Spoon nodded as she listened. “And we sang together as we worked. Rarity has, like, the best voice.” Silver Spoon nodded again. “And then when I got back, she said I did such a good job that she let me try on some of her dresses!”

“Sounds like you had fun,” Silver Spoon said dryly. Rarity this, Rarity that… Rarity topics certainly weren’t a rarity themselves anymore. “Hey, you think we can talk about something else?”

“Huh?” Diamond stopped her brushing.

“It’s just that you’ve been talking about Rarity for a while now.” Silver Spoon turned to face her friend. “What’s the deal? You got a crush on her?”

Diamond’s face heated up faster than she could process that remark. “W-W-What?! Of course not!” she answered with a glare.

Silver Spoon’s eyes widened. She was only joking when she asked, but this reaction was… “Oh em gee! You totally do have a crush on her!”

“I do not!” Diamond Tiara repeated, sweat dripping down her face.

“Oh my gosh! Now it all makes sense!” Silver Spoon exclaimed cheerfully as she clapped her hooves together. “You never want to talk about colts unless they’re teenagers or older, and you always spend so much time after school with Miss Cheerilee… You have a thing for older ponies!”

Diamond Tiara slapped Silver Spoon’s face with a pillow. “Don’t twist facts here to sound like you’re right! I don’t like talking about the colts in our class because they’re all losers, and I spend time with Cheerilee after school because that Apple Bloom keeps getting me in detention!”

“And isn’t that just rather convenient?” Silver Spoon teased as she grabbed the pillow and lowered it. “Uh-oh, I’m a few months older. I’d better watch myself, to make sure you don’t fall for me.”

“Oh, you are so dead!” Diamond Tiara yelled as she grabbed another pillow and threw it at the grey filly, who quickly dodged to the side and countered with the pillow she had taken from Diamond Tiara. “Hold still!” Diamond ordered, her scowl now replaced with a smile and a hearty laughter as she chased Silver Spoon around the room.

Silver Spoon made her retreat towards the door, stopping and taunting Diamond Tiara by blowing a raspberry. The other filly’s response was to grab another pillow and throw it at her friend, who quickly ducked just as the door behind her opened.

“Girls, I brought some-” The pillow met Filthy Rich’s face, catching him entirely off guard and blinding him as he stumbled forward, tripping over Silver Spoon’s crouched body and crashing to the floor, along with the tray of orange juice and potato chips he was carrying.

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon both fell silent and watched with fear on their faces as Filthy Rich simply lay there on the floor, completely unmoving. “Uh… time for bed?” Diamond asked with an innocent grin.

“Y-Yeah, I think so,” Silver Spoon said as she slowly backed out of the room. “We’d better brush our teeth first though.”

“Right. Let’s go… do that then.” The two fillies rushed out of the room as quickly as they could, leaving the disgruntled stallion where he lay, sighing as he regarded the stain in the expensive carpet directly before his eyes.

The following morning, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon walked to school together from the Rich manor. They were happily chatting as they followed the dirt path leading towards the schoolhouse until a familiar voice entered their ears.

“There she is!” The voice belonged to none other than Sweetie Belle, who was approaching the two with a look of intense anger pointed at Diamond Tiara. “You did something to my sister, didn’t you?!”

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon exchanged quick glances, with Diamond simply shrugging before turning back to Sweetie Belle. “Uh, no? What’s your problem?”

“Don’t play innocent with me! You used some evil mind control on my sister, admit it!”

“Sweetie Belle, ah told ya ta jus’ drop it,” Apple Bloom pleaded as she tried to pull the filly away.

“Rarity wouldn’t even pay attention to me as soon as Diamond Tiara showed up! She must have done something! She’s planning to pry Rarity and me apart!”

Diamond Tiara grinned. “Or maybe your sister just realises how lame you are.”

Silver Spoon nodded her head and took a step forward. “It’s obvious she would choose Diamond over you. There’s really no competition.”

“That’s going too far,” Scootaloo said, stepping forward to confront Silver Spoon.

“Rarity’d never choose a spoiled brat like that over family,” Apple Bloom told them.

“Oh? Then maybe she doesn’t see her as family,” Diamond Tiara suggested. “Maybe she’s embarrassed to have a sister who can’t clean, can’t cook, can’t sew, doesn’t know a thing about fashion, and just spends all of her time playing in the mud and causing big messes.”

“Aside that last part, the same goes fer you, too,” Apple Bloom said. “You can’t do any of that stuff ‘cause yer butler jus’ does it all fer ya.”

“I can now,” Diamond declared with a look of pride. “I have to do all that stuff when I’m working at Rarity’s boutique, and when we’re finished she teaches me about dressmaking.”

“Di,” Silver Spoon whispered as she nudged her friend and pointed towards the schoolhouse, where Cheerilee was watching over the playground, particularly at the spot where the five fillies were gathered.

“Let’s go, Silver Spoon,” Diamond said as she led the way past the Crusaders. “I have better things to do than talk with these losers all day. Like decide what kind of dress I’ll be making when I meet up with Rarity later!”

Silver Spoon giggled and followed after her friend, leaving Scootaloo and Apple Bloom to calm a fuming Sweetie Belle.

“Rarity doesn’t see me as a sister anymore?”

“Don’t listen to them, Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo said.

“Yeah. They don’t even have sisters, so they wouldn’t know,” Apple Bloom said before averting her eyes in thought. “Well, Diamond doesn’t, but Silver Spoon… probably doesn’t, but ah don’t know fer sure…”

“What Apple Bloom’s saying,” Scootaloo said as Apple Bloom trailed off into self-muttering, “Is that those two jerks don’t know a thing! They’re just making stuff up to get inside your head.”

“Ah mean, she has that cousin, ah suppose,” Apple Bloom continued to herself.

“BAH! I know that already!” Sweetie Belle shouted, waving her hooves about to make her friends back away. “… I’ll show them! I can cook, clean, and sew plenty good enough to win back my title of little sister!”

“… Wait, that’s not what we–” Scootaloo couldn’t finish before Sweetie Belle stormed off towards the schoolhouse. Scootaloo followed after her friend.

“And ah guess ah stopped carin’ ‘bout Diamond’s family long ago, so she may have got a lil’ sister since then… Hey, where’d Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle go to?”

“Rarrrrrrityyyyyyyyy,” Sweetie Belle called out in a whiney tone as she entered her sister’s bedroom. Rarity raised her eyebrow as she lifted her head from a fashion magazine and watched the filly flop down onto her bed. “Rarrrrrr-”

“Yes, Sweetie Belle?” Rarity asked, marking her page and setting her reading material down. “Is something wrong? You didn’t step on another bug, did you?”

“No,” Sweetie Belle mumbled into the mattress beneath her. “I’m just so bored. I wish there was something I could do around here.”

“Well why don’t you go and visit your little friends Apple Bloom and Scootaloo?”

“Or!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, bouncing to her hooves on Rarity’s bed with her face beaming. “I could spend time with you!”

Rarity gave an uncertain smile. “Well, I suppose I could spare sometime to-”

“Oh! What was I thinking?!” Sweetie Belle flopped back down onto the bed, causing Rarity to cringe at the mess the filly was making. “Of course, you don’t have the time! You’re always so busy, busy, busy!”

“Well, I’m not really-”

“I know! I could help you!” Sweetie Belle jumped off of the bed and ran towards her sister. “I could become your apprentice and help you run the store, and you can teach me all sorts of cool things about dressmaking! It’ll be so much fun!”

“Oh, Sweetie Belle, I-I don’t know if-”

Sweetie Belle’s smile changed quickly into a pout. “So, what, you’ll teach Diamond Tiara, but you won’t teach your own sister?”

Rarity bit her lip. ‘Ah. So that’s what’s going on.’ “Sweetie Belle, are you perhaps… jealous, of Diamond Tiara?”

Sweetie Belle’s ears drooped. “N-No?” Rarity’s eyes told her she wasn’t buying. “Well, maybe a little bit… I know you said jealously is ugly and all, but I…”

“Oh, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity laughed as she leaned down to gently hug her sister. “There’s no need to feel jealous. Diamond may be my apprentice, and we may be having fun together, but you’re my little sister. Nopony comes as close as you do in my heart.”

“Oooookay, a little too much ‘sisterly love’ there,” Sweetie Belle said as she squirmed out of the hug. “Anyway, you say that now, but for long? I saw you with Diamond last night and you it was like I’d become invisible to you.”

“What?! Of course you hadn’t!”

“Then when did you notice I left?” No answer came, which in itself was Sweetie Belle’s answer. “There, you see?! You just keep having more and more fun with Diamond while I become less and less your sister!” Sweetie Belle turned around and lay down on the floor, reaching a hoof out to tap a small ball of wool before her.

Rarity sighed and approached her sister. “I assure you, that’s not true.” Sweetie Belle simply huffed and refused to face the older mare. “… Very well then,” Rarity said, finally drawing her sister’s attention. “If it means that much to you, I would be delighted to pass on the fine art of dressmaking to you, my sister.”

“So, I can be your apprentice?!” Sweetie Belle asked, grinning from ear-to-ear.

“Y-Yes! Of course you can!” Rarity confirmed with a nod.

“WOOHOO!” Sweetie Belle cheered as she hugged her sister. “Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“You’re… most welcome,” Rarity replied as she pushed her sister back. “Now, stop by tomorrow for your first lesson and-”

“Tomorrow? Why not start now?” Sweetie Belle asked.

“Oh, well, that’s a tad sudden…”

“You’re giving Diamond Tiara lessons today, right? Why can’t I sit in with that?”

“Well, I suppose you could, but it’s at an advanced level so- Where are you going?” Rarity asked as her sister ran out of the room.

Sweetie Belle popped her back in and replied: “I’m gonna go grab my things from home and tell Mum and Dad I’ll be having dinner here!”

“What? But I never said-” Sweetie Belle’s head disappeared before Rarity could finish. The older mare sighed and held her own head as she wondered just what trials awaited her that day. It was at that moment that a familiar voice alerted her to yet another filly’s presence.

“I finished hanging up the washing!” Diamond Tiara announced as she entered the room, smiling proudly at her feat. “It’s all arranged according to size, just like you instructed. You want to see?”

“No thanks. I’ll just take your word for it,” Rarity said as she lowered her hooves and gave her employee a smile. “You’re in top form today, Diamond Tiara. I think you deserve a break. Milk tea?”

“Can I make it?” Diamond asked.

“Of course.” Rarity left her room with the filly following behind her, still smiling as the two made their way downstairs. “Diamond, I know that you were excited for your lessons tonight–”

“Excited? This will be more fun than when Daddy took me to that cheese guy’s party!”

“Eheheh… Well, you see, I’m afraid I have some bad news… I’m going to have to reschedule.” Rarity stopped, anticipating Diamond Tiara stopping behind her… which of course she did. ‘Three, two, one…’

“What?!” Diamond shouted in a mixture of anger and disbelief. “Why?!”

“I’m sorry, Diamond,” Rarity said as she turned around and offered the filly a sympathetic look.

“This isn’t fair! I did all my stupid chores and you said you’d teach me today!”

“It’s just for today, Diamond. I have another filly coming by to learn but I have to start her off at the basics.”

“This is so unfair!” Diamond complained as she stomped a hoof.

“I’m sorry, Diamond Tiara, but in life you cannot always have things your way,” Rarity said in a stern tone. “I will make it up to you tomorrow.” Diamond Tiara grumbled as she walked past Rarity. “For now, how about we just enjoy a nice hot tea together and–”

“I don’t want any tea,” Diamond spat as she walked past the kitchen and opened the door to the backroom. “I’m gonna clean up back here now.” Diamond slammed the door behind her.

Rarity sighed and held a forehoof to her head. “Well, I suppose it could have been worse,” she admitted to herself as she walked towards the kitchen. “Still, Sweetie Belle is family, so she takes priority here. I shall make sure Sweetie Belle is satisfied and then make it up to Diamond Tiara tomorrow.”

Later that day, Diamond Tiara was busy washing dishes when a loud bang suddenly came from the direction of the shop’s front door. She didn’t even have time to turn around before the cause of the bang made itself known.

“RARITYYYYYYY!” Sweetie Belle called out as she ran into the store, entering Diamond Tiara’s field of vision as she passed by the kitchen.

“Sweetie Belle! How many times must I remind you to close the door behind you whenever you enter my shop?” Rarity asked as she approached the filly, also entering Diamond’s field of view. Diamond Tiara quickly turned back to her task, but kept her ears perked up.

“Eheh… sorry,” Sweetie Belle said. She walked back towards the door and closed it, and then made her way back to Rarity. “I’m ready to learn now! Mum even said I could stay over, so we can pull an all-nighter!”

Diamond Tiara gasped. ‘So that Dumb Belle is the one who’s replacing me?!’

Sweetie Belle glanced towards Diamond Tiara. “Oh, but first, you want me to help with any chores you got lying around?” she asked, giving her sister a determined look.

“That’s quite alright, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said. “The chores are for Diamond Tiara. This is her punishment, after all.”

Diamond Tiara stopped scrubbing the glass in her hoof and stared down into the water in silence. ‘What? But that never stopped her from helping me before.’ The pink filly pondered something for a moment. ‘Suddenly, she’s not teaching me how to make dresses anymore, and instead I have to do all of these chores, by myself… No way! Could Daddy have told her to do all this?! It has to be! He’s trying to make it more like a real punishment! But how did he–’

“Now, let’s go sit ourselves down over there, shall we?” Rarity asked her sister as she walked away.

“Okay!” Sweetie Belle responded before following. Diamond Tiara spared a second to glance at the filly. She could have sworn that marshmallow filly gave her a wicked smirk…

‘That’s it!’ Diamond Tiara thought to herself as the answer came to her. ‘That little tattletale told Daddy what I said to Silver Spoon before! That’s the only possible explanation! She heard what I said and she’s jealous that Rarity likes me more than her!’ Diamond Tiara bared her teeth as she glared at the dishes below her. ‘Well, she’s not gonna get away with that!’

“That’s it, Sweetie Belle. Careful now!” Rarity instructed as her sister hovered a needle next to a sheet of fabric. Sweetie Belle’s hoof was shaking and sweat was running down Rarity’s forehead. “Easy now, Sweetie Belle. You don’t want to hurt yourself.”

“I’ll be fine,” Sweetie Belle said. “Could you just stop staring at me like that? It’s making it hard to concentrate.”

“Oh, of course…” Rarity turned away and hesitated for a moment before deciding to focus on her own design for a moment. It didn’t last long as a yelp from Sweetie Belle immediately caught her attention and she stuck her gaze on her sister once more. “Are you okay?!”

“I’m fine,” Sweetie Belle said in a shaky voice as she held her hoof outwards. A small trickle of blood leaked from the tiny hole near the end.

“Oh, you poor filly,” Rarity said in a comforting tone as she reached out and held her sister. “Don’t you worry. I prepared for just such an occasion!” The elder sister used her magic to open up a small first aid box beside her, only to find that the packet she was looking for inside of it was missing. “Where have all of my adhesive plasters gone?”

Sweetie Belle grinned sheepishly under Rarity’s gaze. “Um… Cutie Mark Crusader nurses?”

Rarity sighed and rose to her hooves. “Well, not to worry. I should have more up in my bedroom. I’ll be but a moment.” She gave her sister one final hug of courage before leaving the room.

Sweetie Belle sighed as she looked at the needle, thread and fabric on the floor before her. “This is harder than I thought…”

“Then you should quit,” a voice called out to the filly from behind.

Sweetie Belle turned and glared as Diamond Tiara drew near. “Were you eavesdropping?”

“No, I was listening in,” Diamond Tiara said.

“Aren’t you supposed to be doing chores?”

Diamond scoffed. “Oh, you’d like that, wouldn’t you? I knew you were a baby, but to go tattling to my dad like that? You’re pathetic!”

“Tattling? I didn’t tattle on you!” Sweetie Belle argued. “I don’t even know what I supposedly tattled about.”

“Don’t act innocent. Why else would your sister suddenly call off my lessons and give me more chores?”

“Maybe she just prefers her sister over a spoiled brat.”

“For that matter, why are you even here? Why suddenly decide now that you want your sister to teach you how to make dresses?”

Because she’s my sister!” Sweetie Belle said, pointing a hoof at herself. She turned her hoof to Diamond Tiara and jabbed the other filly’s chest. “And I won’t let somepony like you take that away!”

Diamond Tiara batted the hoof away and scowled. “Oh please, you are such a pain! Rarity and I were having a great time before you and your stupid jealousy came waltzing on in! Why not just accept the fact that your sister thinks you’re a loser?”

“She does not!” Sweetie Belle screeched.

“Oh no? Then why doesn’t she trust you to even do something as simple as threading a needle through some cloth?” Diamond asked, pointing to the bleeding spot on Sweetie Belle’s forehoof. “Face it, she’s only taking pity on your because you’d probably just go crying to your parents otherwise.”

“That’s not true!”

“It totally is!”

“No it isn’t!” Sweetie Belle shouted, pushing Diamond Tiara backwards and onto her flanks. The white filly gasped and covered her mouth with her hooves. “I-I didn’t mean to-”

“See?! You’re also violent!” Diamond said as she rose to her hooves, surpressing some tears and staying low so as to put less pressure on her hind legs.

“Well you started it!” Sweetie Belle retorted.

“No, you did by showing up here!”

“You’re the one who tried to steal my sister and rubbed it in my face!”

“You’re the one who got all jealous!”

“You’re the one who-”

“Thank you, girls,” Rarity said as she approached the two fillies, startling them into silence. “That will be quite enough of that. Honestly, I expected better from both of you.”

“R-Rarity! She-”

“Yes, yes. I have been listening to your little squabble,” Rarity told Sweetie Belle, before casting her gaze on the other filly in the room, who cowered under her gaze. “Diamond Tiara, this is not the sort of behaviour I have come to expect from you.”

“B-But she… I… It’s–”

“I am very disappointed in you,” Rarity said as she shook her head. “I think that you should leave now.”

“B-But my chores–”

“Can wait until tomorrow. Right now, I think that you should go home and reflect on your behaviour.” The filly made no signs of moving. “Now.”

Rarity’s stern tone of voice seemed to have an effect as Diamond Tiara flinched and took a step back. With one angry look at Sweetie Belle, the pink filly turned around and walked away. She opened the front door and left the boutique, closing it behind her and keeping her back to it in complete silence.

“That takes care of that,” she heard Rarity say from inside. Her voice sounded cold and angry. Diamond’s breath caught itself and she felt the floodgates in her eyes starting to burst. Before anypony could see her, Diamond Tiara made a dash in the direction leading to her home, not stopping even to catch her breath.

“Rarity, I-” Sweetie Belle began, but Rarity cut her off.

“We’ll talk about this in a second, Sweetie Belle,” Rarity said. She pointed a hoof to the filly’s leg. “First of all, let’s take care of that.”

A gasp came from the doorway, followed by the sounds of hoofsteps quickly moving away from the shop. Rarity frowned, whilst Sweetie Belle simply kept an angry face locked in the direction of the front door. “Good riddance.”

“Sweetie Belle!” Rarity scolded, causing the filly to flinch. “Honestly now. I would expect this kind of behaviour from Scootaloo – and don’t tell her I said that – but from you? You’re supposed to be the dear, sweet one, like Fluttershy.”

“But it’s Diamond Tiara! She’s so mean, and she picks on me, and she’s-”

“A pony?” Rarity asked. “With feelings, just like you?”

Sweetie Belle folded her forelegs, only Rarity to separate them and apply a plaster with a smiling face over the wound. “Well she sure doesn’t care about my feelings.”

“And I’ll be sure to let her father know what happened so that he can have a proper word with her,” Rarity said. “Now, if you had just let me know that she was bothering you, we could have sorted this whole thing out more peacefully, without it escalating into such a mess. But what did you do?”

Sweetie Belle frowned. “I… pushed her?”

“That’s right,” Rarity said. “You retaliated, and not just through words.”

“But she just made me so angry!” Sweetie Belle cried. “She said things like how you don’t want a loser sister, and how I’m a nuisance being here and- and-”

“I know,” Rarity said in a gentle tone as she took her hyperventilating sister in her hooves and gently patted her mane. The younger sister started to calm down as she returned the hug. “I know that you were angry, Sweetie Belle, but that’s still no reason to retaliate the way that you did.”

“Rarity?” Sweetie Belle asked in a quiet squeak.

“Yes?”

“It’s not true, is it?” Sweetie Belle gripped onto her sister more tightly. “You aren’t… ashamed of a sister like me, are you?”

Rarity leaned down and nuzzled her sister. “Of course not,” she whispered. “You’re one of the kindest, sweetest ponies I know, and you’re always so full of energy. Anypony would be lucky to have a sister like you.”

“… I’m glad,” Sweetie Belle said. “I thought you wanted a sister more like Diamond Tiara. S-She can cook, and clean, and she’s into all this stuff you are… I-I’m not really that good with fashion. In fact, I only asked you to teach me because-”

“I know why you asked,” Rarity said. “I… knew what was going on. You were jealous of all the attention I was giving to Diamond, weren’t you?” Sweetie Belle reluctantly nodded. “I’m sorry, Sweetie Belle. I should have said something earlier, but… I was happy with the idea of spending some time to bond with my little sister.”

“You were?”

“Yes. I may enjoy Diamond Tiara’s company. She’s rather resourceful for a filly her age, and as you said, we share many similar interests. But Sweetie Belle, you’re my sister. Nothing will ever change that.”

Sweetie Belle sniffed. “I-I’m sorry,” she said.

“Is it me you should be apologising to?”

“… No…”

“Don’t you worry about a thing,” Rarity told her sister. “I know that Diamond Tiara can be rough around the edges, but she’s by no means a bad filly. I’ll have a talk with her when she comes by tomorrow.”

“Um… can I… maybe have the day off from school tomorrow?”

Rarity frowned and pulled away to give her sister a disapproving look. “Now, Sweetie Belle, I hardly think that running away and hiding is–”

“No, not that,” the filly said. “I… I want to make something to apologise for pushing her over…”

Diamond Tiara walked into Carousal Boutique the next morning, stopping briefly at the front door as she composed herself and took a deep breath. Pushing the door open, she found Rarity sitting inside, humming cheerfully as she ran fabric through her sewing machine.

“Good afternoon, Miss Rarity,” Diamond Tiara said as she walked inside, removing her saddlebag and placing it by the door. “School was so boring today. Can you believe we had a full day of nothing but tests? Dull.”

As Diamond Tiara turned around, she found Rarity looking back to her, a flat look on the mare’s face that sent a shiver down Diamond’s spine. “What are you doing here?”

Diamond Tiara took a step back. “I-I work here?”

“Not anymore you don’t,” Sweetie Belle said after suddenly appearing beside Rarity. “I’m Rarity’s new apprentice!”

Diamond glared at the filly. “You?! Don’t make me laugh! You can’t do anything, so why would she chose you?!”

“Did you really think that you were still welcome here?” Rarity asked, startling Diamond Tiara as she got up and approached the filly. “You thought I would just forget you giving my sister a hard time yesterday?”

“B-But she hitme!”

“And now you’re trying to push blame onto her?” Rarity picked up Diamond Tiara with her magic and levitated her outside of her door. “Never come back here ever again. You are no longer my apprentice, and I do not wish to even see your face.”

“N-No!” Diamond pleaded as she squirmed in the air. The magic holding her vanished and the filly dropped to the ground. As she turned to face Rarity, she found a door slamming shut in her face. “Please! Give me another chance! I want to be your apprentice!”

“You just don’t get it, do you?” Rarity’s voice asked, though Diamond wasn’t sure where exactly it was coming from. She looked in all directions for the source, but instead only found her world distorting around her. “You never were my apprentice. You were being punished. You weren’t supposed to be happy at any point.”

“B-But–” Diamond tried to take a step forward, when suddenly she found herself falling through the ground, screaming at the top of her lungs.

“AH!” Diamond Tiara bolted upright in her bed, panting heavily as she took some time to gather herself and deduce what had just happened. A bright beam of light pierced the gap in-between her curtains and shone on the filly’s eyes, causing her to wince and raise a foreleg to shield her sensitive eyes to the sudden light. “A dream…”

Diamond Tiara looked towards the clock hanging on her wall and found that it was still too early to get out of bed. She fell onto her back and placed a forehoof on her forehead, now breathing at a steady rate as she simply stared up at the ceiling above her.

‘Rarity hates me,’ Diamond thought to herself. A tear rolled down her cheek and she rolled onto her side. ‘She hates me now… She doesn’t want to see me ever again…’

Moreso than usual, Diamond Tiara did not want to climb out of bed that morning. She just wanted to lie there all day, content with the idea of simply staring at her wall until she fell back to sleep. Unfortunately, two hours passed and the family’s butler arrived to ensure the filly got up and was ready for school.

Diamond Tiara didn’t say anything as she ate her cereal, as she prepared her bag, or as she left the house. She simply wished that she didn’t have to visit Carousal Boutique that day.

“Have a good day, class,” Cheerilee addressed her pupils as they filed out of the classroom at the end of the day. All but one, who was still sitting at her desk with her head down, her face buried in her forelegs. Silver Spoon was the last to leave after telling Diamond Tiara to cheer up, which was the final clue that Cheerilee needed to confirm her theory.

Earlier that day, Diamond Tiara had caused a disruption by sabotaging Apple Bloom’s art project and then making a point of not apologising. When threatened with detention, she didn’t moan, or pout, or utilise her crocodile tears. She had actually challenged Cheerilee, almost as if she wanted the detention.

It was clear to the teacher that something was wrong with her student. She hadn’t been acting like her usual self the entire day. She had entered the classroom silently, spent most of the lessons either staring forward with a blank look on her face or with her head down, and even her lashing out towards Apple Bloom had seemed uncharacteristic. She didn’t seem to enjoy messing with her ‘nemesis’ like she usually would, and there was nothing subtle about it.

Cheerilee had decided she would wait until after school was over before confronting the pupil directly. After closing the door, Cheerilee pulled up a chair to Diamond’s desk and sat opposite to the filly. “Diamond Tiara, is there anything you would like to tell me?”

“I’m not going to apologise,” Diamond said in a flat tone. It sounded like she had the line prepared for a while.

“We can get to that later. I was actually referring to your bad mood today.” Cheerilee took a moment to think. “Is everything alright at home?”

“Yeah.”

Cheerilee hummed. “You haven’t got into a fight with your friend Silver Spoon?”

“No.”

“Is there an issue with your part-time job?” Cheerilee caught it. Diamond Tiara tensed up for a moment and hesitated to answer. “I see. I know that you think we’re letting Apple Bloom off easier by giving her chores at her own farm, but I assure you that you are both being punished equally and–”

“She hates me,” Diamond Tiara whispered, cutting off her teacher’s lecture.

“I’m sorry?” Cheerilee asked, but received no response. “Diamond, I’m really worried about you. Please, if there is something bothering you, I would like to know. I promise that nothing you say will leave this classroom.”

“… Rarity. She hates me.”

Cheerilee frowned and extended a forehoof to hold Diamond’s. “Now I’m sure that’s not true. Rarity is one of the kindest ponies I know. Why would you think that she hates you?”

“Because she does,” Diamond Tiara said. “I got into a fight with her sister last night and she kicked me out of her boutique.”

“A fight?” Cheerilee asked. ‘I guess that explains why Sweetie Belle didn’t come in today…’ “What did you get into a fight about?”

Diamond’s hoof shook a little. “She… She ruined the lessons I was supposed to have with Rarity yesterday. She didn’t want anypony else to have fun with her sister so she decided to butt in!”

Cheerilee nodded her head as she took a moment to put two and two together. “I see… and this fight you say that you had, did anypony get hurt?”

“Sweetie Belle pushed me.”

“And is that it?” Diamond Tiara nodded. “Well then, why do you think Rarity would hate you if nopony got seriously hurt?”

“Because it’s her sister. She’d obviously take her side!”

“But from what I’ve been told, you and Rarity have become something of good friends lately?” Diamond Tiara didn’t answer. “In fact, Rarity herself told me what a delight you had been.”

“To do her chores, maybe,” Diamond scoffed. “That’s all she wanted me around for. She was only punishing me, after all.”

“That’s not true,” Cheerilee assured the filly. “In fact, quite the opposite, if anything. When we – your father and I – proposed the idea to Rarity, do you know what she said? ‘Of course. I would be happy to have Diamond Tiara helping me out, even if it wasn’t a punishment.’ She didn’t accept our proposal to punish you; she genuinely felt that you would be the right pony to work there.”

Diamond Tiara shifted her head slightly, revealing an eye staring at her teacher. “Really?”

“Really. I don’t know much about fashion, but if what Rarity has told me is true, you were certainly ‘in your zone’ during these past few days, and Rarity thinks so too. She had even told me that she would be happy to continue having you even after your punishment was lifted.” Cheerilee gave her student a warm smile. “Now, would somepony who hates you say a thing like that?”

“… Maybe?”

Cheerilee almost lost her smile, but she knew that she just had to give one final push. “Then, do you think that Rarity is the kind of pony who would hate another pony because of one small mistake? You must have some idea of what she is like by now. Can you honestly see her holding a grudge over a little mishap?”

Diamond Tiara slowly sat up in her chair. “N-No… but–”

“No buts,” Cheerilee interrupted. “You and I both know that Rarity is kind and forgiving, but just remember that she is like anypony else. She gets angry, but that doesn’t mean you can’t make it up to her. In fact, I’d wager she’s probably waiting for you right now so that she can make amends and so that the two of you can put the whole affair behind you.”

“You really think she doesn’t hate me?”

“I know she would never hate you. She’s just not capable of that.” Cheerilee pushed her hair back and stood up. “Now, what are you going to do?”

“… Go see Rarity?”

“And?”

“Um… apologise?”

“That’s the ticket,” Cheerilee said with an encouraging smile. “Very well. But first, I would like you to write a quick apology letter to Apple Bloom.”

“What–”

“Even if you were upset, that’s no reason to lash out at another pony, especially one who hadn’t even done anything to you.” Cheerilee retrieved a paper and a pencil from her desk and placed them on Diamond Tiara’s. “Just a paragraph should suffice. I’ll deliver it after you’re done and then you’re free to go.”

Diamond Tiara groaned, but reluctantly picked up the pencil anyway and began writing.

The letter took a little longer than the filly had anticipated. Mostly due to issues with spelling, in that she couldn’t very well. But she had finally managed to complete the letter and left the classroom quickly. Perhaps a little too quickly, as she arrived at Carousal Boutique ragged and out of breath.

The filly took a moment to compose herself and catch her breath before entering. As she waited outside the boutique’s door, Diamond couldn’t help but wonder if things would really go as well as Cheerilee said they would. Even if she is kind-hearted, it was an undeniable fact that Sweetie Belle was her little sister.

Diamond Tiara wondered if a particular entrance would improve her chances of winning over the dressmaker. Maybe entering with a guilty look and puppy dog eyes? But that hadn’t worked when she tried it before. Entering with a limp, as if she had hurt herself? But then she would have to continue the charade all day.

The thought reminded Diamond of a talk she had had one day with Rarity. Rarity had asked her what the most important thing about fashion was. Diamond Tiara had answered that keeping up with the times was the most important thing, but Rarity had a different answer.

‘It is important to follow trends, but above all else, fashion is a way of expressing oneself. Therefore, the most important thing is to simply be yourself.’

Diamond reached a hoof up to her tiara and gulped. “Be myself,” she whispered as she approached the door. She hesitated as she reached for the door handle. “Be myself…” Diamond Tiara opened the door and pushed it open. The bell rang above her head and she heard hoofsteps approaching from upstairs.

A white mare appeared from the top of the stairs and smiled in Diamond’s direction. “Diamond Tiara! I was beginning to think you were not going to show up!”

“Um… I…”

“Diamond, I would like to apologise for yesterday,” Rarity said, confusing the filly and stunning her into silence. “When I lost my temper and ordered you to leave. I didn’t even ask if your back was alright after that fall.”

“Huh? Oh! I-It’s fine. It doesn’t hurt…”

“Well that’s good to hear,” Rarity continued.

“What? But… weren’t you angry at me?”

“Admittedly, yes,” Rarity said, “But I had some time to regain myself last night and I felt just awful simply shooing you out of the door like that.”

“Then, you don’t hate me?” Diamond Tiara asked. “I’m allowed to keep working here?”

“Why of course I don’t hate you,” Rarity laughed. “We all make mistakes, Diamond. Why in Equestria would I hold just this one against you?”

“But–”

“I had a talk with Sweetie Belle last night, and there’s something she would like to say.” Rarity turned towards the stairs and called out, “Darling, you can come down now!”

Hoofsteps echoed through the store before a white filly came charging down the stairs, coming to a sudden halt beside Rarity and facing Diamond Tiara with a mixture of fear and guilt. Sweetie Belle turned to her sister, who gave a reassuring nod, and then approached Diamond Tiara. “Um… here.”

A card was presented to Diamond Tiara. From the looks of it, a homemade one. It was purple and the maker clearly didn’t hold back on the glitter and sparkles. “For me?” Diamond asked. Sweetie Belle nodded and Diamond took the card in her hooves, cringing slightly at she felt the dried glue on the sides. She opened it up. Inside on the right was a crude drawing of a white unicorn resembling Sweetie Belle crying, with the words ‘I’m sorry!’ written above it.

On the left side was a picture of the same unicorn and a pink filly with a blue tiara on her head holding hooves in a field of flowers, and a smiling sun above them. The words ‘Forgive me?’ were written above that.

“I really am sorry about yesterday,” Sweetie Belle said. “I didn’t mean to push you like that…”

“Sweetie Belle stubbornly spent the day here so that she could make something for you to show that she’s sorry,” Rarity told Diamond Tiara. She turned to Sweetie Belle with a grin. “She tried to make some cupcakes earlier, but there was a slight mishap…”

Sweetie Belle blushed and glanced to the side. Diamond followed her glance and found a charred pile of something poking out of the top of a nearby trashcan.

“So, um… you forgive me?” Sweetie Belle asked, scuffing a hoof against the floor and giving Diamond Tiara her patented puppy dog look.

The look of course had no effect on the filly who was a master of it herself, but the sincerity of Sweetie Belle’s apology did. “But I’m the one who said all those things last night, and I’m the outsider here. Why are you the one apologising?”

“Well, I didn’t like all those things you said. It was really uncalled for,” Sweetie Belle admitted. “But, I guess I was out of line, too… I shouldn’t have got so jealous just ‘cause you were spending time with my sister, and I shouldn’t have tried to cut in on your time with her…”

“And just so you know, Sweetie Belle being my sister doesn’t earn her any extra points when she does something wrong,” Rarity told Diamond. “That being said, neither does being my apprentice. I value the two of you equally, and when the two of you both step out of line, I won’t be taking sides.”

Diamond almost couldn’t believe what she was hearing. “I… I don’t…”

“Now, I believe Sweetie Belle is still waiting on your answer?”

Diamond Tiara nodded slowly. “I-It’s alright. I guess I forgive you… since you didn’t exactly hurt me or anything…” Sweetie Belle smiled and reached forward to hug Diamond Tiara, but the pink filly stepped aside too quickly and she ended up simply falling to the floor.

“And do you have something that you’d like to say?” Rarity asked as she used her magic to pick up her little sister and bring the filly back to her side.

Diamond Tiara bit her lip. It was rare that she would issue a real apology. It was rare that she felt she was truly in the wrong. But there she was, ready to actually apologise sincerely, and not just to get out of detention of timeout earlier. “I-I’m sorry, Miss Rarity.”

“Not to me,” Rarity said. “You didn’t do anything to me. You should be apologising to the one that you actually wronged.”

Diamond turned to Sweetie Belle, who was now looking down at the floor and shifting about uncomfortably. Diamond Tiara took a quick breath of air and then uttered, “S-Sorry… Sweetie Belle…”

“It’s alright,” Sweetie Belle said, looking up with a smile. “I forgive you.” She narrowed her eyes, and added, “This time.”

Rarity chuckled and stepped forward. “Well then, now that all of that ugly business has passed, what say we have something to eat. It’s a little early, but I think a nice dinner would be a nice way to recover from yesterday’s events.”

“No chores?” Diamond asked in surprise.

“No chores. For today,” Rarity answered. “I was thinking we could eat out. I know a nice restaurant near the park that has a wonderful dessert menu.”

“I’m in!” Sweetie Belle exclaimed, raising her hoof.

“I think I know the place you’re talking about,” Diamond Tiara said. “I love the salads they have there!”

“I should have guessed you’ve been there before.” Rarity grabbed the key to her shop and made her way out of the door, the two fillies following behind her. “Well then, I suppose I’ll close the shop early for the day.”

After locking up her boutique, the three ponies made their way together through the streets of Ponyville. Diamond Tiara looked up at Rarity with a smile. “I…”

“Hm?” Rarity asked, looking down at Diamond Tiara.

“I thought you would never want to see me again,” Diamond said. “I’m glad I was wrong.”

“If I were to hate somepony as easily as that, then I hardly think I’d be the type of pony you would want to like you.”

Diamond’s eyes widened. For just a moment, Rarity seemed to shimmer in the beautiful sunlight raining down behind her. Diamond Tiara felt her cheeks warming up and her legs feeling weird. She was happy that Rarity didn’t hate her, and she was more happy that she could still spend time with her.

“Oh, your father is off work today, if I recall correctly,” Rarity said as she stopped. “Why don’t we invite him along, too? I would like to discuss your progress with him.”

And just like that, Diamond Tiara’s smile fell. “Y-You’re not gonna tell him about yesterday, are you?”

“Of course I am,” Rarity said, the filly’s pleading look bouncing harmlessly off of her. “It is my job to inform him, after all.” The filly frowned, and Rarity smiled as she placed a hoof gently on her shoulder. “But I’ll be sure to let him know how we resolved everything, as well as all the good behaviour you’ve shown, too. Okay?”

Diamond Tiara couldn’t describe the feeling that rushed through her as Rarity’s hoof made contact with her shoulder, or as the kind words entered her ears. Her face was burning, her eyes were wide open and her mouth was just opening and closing without any words escaping. She could also feel her heartbeat in her chest.

Rarity gave the filly a concerned look, alerting Diamond Tiara that she had to say something. “Uh-huh…” Diamond wanted to slap herself right there. ‘Smooth.’

“Well then, now that that’s settled, let’s make a quick detour to your house, shall we?” Rarity asked, retracting her hoof and turning around. Diamond Tiara simply nodded as the mare led the way. She could see Sweetie Belle approaching her from the corner of her eye and turned to face the filly, who was giving Diamond a deadpan stare.

“You’re too young for her,” Sweetie Belle said. “You’ve got no chance.” And with that, she followed after her sister.

Diamond Tiara returned to normal quickly as she glared daggers into the back of Sweetie Belle’s head. “What do you know?!” she shouted as she stomped after the group, ignoring the looks her little outburst had just gathered from the ponies around her.

Two weeks had passed. Diamond Tiara continued to work part-time for Rarity, despite no longer being obligated to, whilst also receiving lessons in the fine art of dressmaking, and in that time she had received only one detention. She still had her little spats with Apple Bloom and still made it a point to poke fun at the three cutie mark-less fillies, but overall the level of mayhem it caused had dropped significantly, and Filthy Rich was pleasantly surprised to find that one night his daughter had volunteered to prepare dinner for them.

With the punishment lifted, Filthy Rich decided to visit Cheerilee once more to discuss the results of their little experiment. The smile on the father’s face conflicted with the concerned look on the teacher’s, but he didn’t even seem to notice it.

“I’d call it a smashing success!” Filthy Rich proclaimed. “Only one detention, improved manners, no complaints from the Apple family, and I’ve never seen my daughter quite this happy or enthused about anything in her entire life. Save for her first – and so far only – visit to the Grand Galloping Gala.”

“I don’t know if we can celebrate just yet,” Cheerilee said, breaking the stallion’s smile.

“What do you mean?”

“While it’s true that Diamond Tiara’s attitude has improved, and fewer incidents have arisen between her and the other girls, there’s still the issue of her grades.”

“One step at a time, Miss Cheerilee,” Filthy Rich said in a confident tone. “I’m sure her grades will start to improve over time.”

“They’ve gotten much worse than they were before she started working for Rarity,” Cheerilee said. “Not only that, but she’s having trouble staying focussed in class. I’ve made a habit of repeating myself over and over again for just her.”

Filthy Rich frowned. “That can’t be. Diamond Tiara was supposed to learn the value of hard work. What could have gone wrong?”

“I think I may know the cause,” Cheerilee said, opening up a small notebook on her desk and turning for the stallion to look at. “This is her Math book that was left for marking. I also have her English, Science and History books here.” Cheerilee opened up said books and showed them all to Filthy Rich.

The father looked down at the books in silence. On each page, barely anything was written that was related to any form of school subject. Instead, the pages mostly consisted of doodles. Doodles of dress designs, Rarity, Rarity with Diamond Tiara, Rarity’s cutie mark, love hearts, bells–

“Wait, what’s with the bells?”

“I think they’re wedding bells,” Cheerilee said in a flat tone.

“Oh.” Filthy Rich’s eyes widened. “Ohhhhhh… O-One step at a time,” the stallion repeated, accompanied by a nervous laugh as he scratched the back of his head. “One step… at a time…”

Author's Note

If there's one thing the world needs, it's more Diamond Tiara/Rarity interaction.

Thanks to Mattricole, Mudpony and Windy Writer for prereading :pinkiesmile: