Blackmail
It was a normal day for the Ponyville school children, Ms. Cheerilee taught them something uninteresting and irrelevant and they stared at her with blank eyes and slumped over in their desks. Sweetie Belle found Herself particularly bored with today's lesson.
learning equestrian history isn't just boring, it's harmful. What if I get my cutie Mark in history, or, yet worse, some stupid and overly specific branch of history, like the study of princess Celestia's left butt cheek during the first five minutes of Discord's second return. I bet it didn't even do anything interesting. Why couldn't have gotten my cutie mark in a cooler branch Equestrian history, like Luna's butt cheek when she got possessed by Nightmare m- wait I don't even have my cutie mark yet. Dang it Sweetie Belle, every time you fantasize about your life you end up unhappily married and in a dead end job. Well at least Diamond Tiara dies early on in them. she thought as she doodled a taco in a top hat. She found Herself drawing behatted tacos a lot these days, and she was growing disconcertingly good at it. She was pondering the implications of this, when she heard somepony place a note on her desk. It had come from her left. She scowled at Diamond Tiara, who was just sitting and swinging her legs, trying to appear innocent in spite of the aura of pure evil that emitted from her. Sweetie Belle thought so at least. Sweetie unfolded the note.
It was six, Sweetie Belle strolled onto the playground as the note had instructed her. "Hello?" She asked, unsure whether or not Diamond Tiara was playing a trick on her. The pink filly emerged from the shadows of a large metal slide.
"Hello there, Sweetie Belle," she said in an irritatingly smug tone.
"What do you want?" Asked Sweetie Belle, irritated by her smug tone.
"Oh, you know, just wondering if we're interested in doing me a little favor," before Sweetie could respond to this statement, Diamond Tiara tossed a large brown envelope at her. Without a word, Sweetie Belle picked up the envelope and warily opened it. She gasped when she saw its contents. Inside were pictures of Sweetie herself. Pictures so embarrassing, so scandalous, and so gut wrenchingly adorable, that if pony saw them it would be the end of her. In her hooves were several pictures of her kissing Silver Spoon.
"H- h how? How did you get these? Who took these?" She stammered.
"That's not important. What is important is what I'll do with them, and how you can stop me from doing it." Sweetie looked at Diamond Tiara then back at the photos. She casually picked up the pictures then shoved them all into her mouth, chewed them up, and ate them. She then scrubbed her mouth out with grass. "Interesting choice," Diamond Tiara commented, "I mean, it's not like I don't have the negatives or anything, but interesting still."
"What do you want from me?" Sweetie Belle said as she fell on her haunches. Diamond Tiara tossed her another envelope.
"I want these notes put together into something readable for the newspaper."
"You want me to write news stories for you?" Sweetie could hardly believe her ears.
"No," Tiara responded as she was about to walk away, "I want Gaby Gums to write news stories for me." And with that, she left.
Sweetie Belle sat in her room, staring at the notes Diamond Tiara had given her. How did she get those pictures? Sweetie Belle thought in the dim light of her lamp. Maybe I could tell miss Cheerilee, she didn't consider that option for very long, She might still have enough time to release the pictures. She might not even have too. Miss Cherilee might end up telling Rarity or, even worse, my parents. I can't tell anypony. She wanted to cry out of sheer frustration.
She had only kissed Silver Spoon because they were the only ones in the class who hadn't had their first kiss. It was done out of desperation. Afterwards, they lied to everypony about who they had kissed. Sweetie Belle smacked her own face her hoof, why didn't I just lie about it in the first place. She closed her eyes and sighed. She couldn't believe what she was Doing. She grabbed a stack of papers from her book bag, and began writing.
It had taken Sweetie Belle the better part of two hours to write the story. She signed her name at the bottom, and beneath that she drew a picture of Diamond Tiara being murdered by a taco with a hat. In red ink she wrote: "I hate you."
It was late and now Sweetie Belle was exhausted from her ordeal. She laid down in bed but her eyes refused to stay closed. She couldn't stop thinking about the pictures.
The next day Sweetie Belle Showed up to school earlier than miss Cheerilee. Diamond Tiara was waiting there for her. She flung the papers at Tiara. "Hm, now that's a bit disturbing," she said, most likely referencing the drawing of her.
"You have what you want," Sweetie Belle said, "now give me the negatives."
"Oh, you thought I'd let you get away that easy," Diamond Tiara scoffed, "this is far to good. I could have you writing articles for me for at least the rest of fifth grade."
"B-"
"Hey there girls," miss Cheerilee cut in having just arrived at school, "are you to getting along alright? It's awfully early."
Sweetie Belle looked at Diamond Tiara who wore a devious grin, then at miss Cheerilee, "we're just fine. Everything is fine"
Sweetie Belle couldn't focus on class today, not that she did any other day. She scowled at Diamond Tiara. Diamond Tiara's only response, was to stick her tongue out. Sweetie almost growled in anger. She looked past Diamond Tiara at Silver Spoon. no, she told herself, returning her eyes to her paper, she'd probably get in even more trouble than me. Sweetie Belle's eyes went wide. She realized it. It should have been obvious at first. Silver Spoon had just as much to lose as she did.
Sweetie Belle walked into miss Cheerilee's class. She was early again today and she was tired from spending all night writing Diamond Tiara's newest article. She put the papers into Diamond Tiara's desk and sat down at her own. She took out her homework from last night, she had been to tired to finish it when she was supposed to. I hate her so much, Sweetie Belle thought
Diamond Tiara showed up to class just a few minutes before it started. She opened her desk to find Sweetie Belle's, now her, article on the latest events of Ponyville. She chuckled, "at this rate, I could have you doing my homework, too."
Sweetie looked up her, "I've been thinking" She said, almost growling.
"Did it hurt," Diamond Tiara said, laughing at her own joke.
Sweetie Belle ignored it, "I think you don't even have the negatives."
"Pfft," Diamond Tiara said sitting down, "what makes you think that?"
"'Cause you've never shown me any other copies of the photo," Sweetie Belle said, pointing a hoof at her, "bring me one of those pictures."
Diamond Tiara laughed, "That's easy,"
"No, it's not easy, because you don't have the negatives, and because I ate them all!" As the words left Sweetie Belle's mouth, the entire class turned to look at her. "All of the Pie's," she said, trying to come up with an excuse, "at last year's fare. In the pie eating contest."
"Now Sweetie Belle," miss Cheerilee said, "it's not okay to brag. Especially about something that happened so long ago."
Sweetie Belle came into class a little late the next morning. Class had already started. "Sweetie Belle," miss Cheerilee said upon her entering, "do you have a note."
"No ma'am," she said pretending to be embarrassed, "I just slept in, is all."
"Well, since this is your first time being late I won't make you get a note, but try to be on time, okay"
"Yes ma'am," Sweetie Belle said as she sat down. As soon as miss Cheerilee's back was turned, she looked over at Diamond Tiara. The filly pointed her hoof at the desk and mouthed, "it's already in your desk." Sweetie turned to face forward again and opened her desk slightly. She saw the photo. Perfect, she thought, smiling, just perfect.
As Sweetie Belle was on her way out of the classroom, miss Cheerilee spoke up, "Sweetie Belle can I talk to you?"
"Sure miss Cheerilee," she replied.
"You've been looking down lately. Is something wrong at home."
"Nope. Nothing. Nothing at all miss Cheerilee. I've just been staying up later so I can," Sweetie Belle paused for a moment trying to think of something, "so I can draw more... tacos."
"Oh," miss Cheerilee responded, slightly confused and agitated by this, "well try to get more sleep okay." Miss Cheerilee walked to the door. "Are you coming?" she asked when she noticed Sweetie Belle wasn't following her out.
"Yeah, I just left something In my desk."
"Well alright, but hurry up," miss Cheerilee left. Sweetie Belle bolted to her desk and took out the picture. She looked into her bag and got a pen and a piece of paper.
She wrote, "Diamond Tiara has the negatives. You have three days to find them, and leave them in the oak tree in the Ponyville schoolyard. Tell nopony or I'll release the photos." She put the picture and the note into Silver Spoon's desk, and holed the filly wouldn't call her bluff.
Silver Spoon looked scared that day; she looked like Sweetie Belle did when she first saw the pictures. "So Silver Spoon," Diamond Tiara said, pulling her friend from thought, "are you coming to my slumber party tomorrow?" Silver Spoon looked down at her desk for a moment then back up at Diamond Tiara.
"Well of course I am," Silver Spoon, "who else is coming?"
"You know, all the cool kids," Diamond Tiara went on, "like us and anypony as cool us. Which is nopony."
Silver Spoon stuffed a pair of socks into her over night bag. She reached for another pair of socks only to hear her hoof click on her dresser. She looked into her bag. It was completely filled with socks. She laid down on her bed. can I really trust a unanimous note I found in my desk? she thought, more importantly, would I be were I am without blindly obeying notes attached to incriminating photos of various ponies? She closed her eyes for a moment to ponder this. no, she concluded. She reached into her school bag and took out the picture. She tore it in half. She looked at it shortly, remembering that time so long ago. She then stuffed both halves into her mouth, chewed them up, and ate them. She went to the bathroom, to brush the taste of picture out of her mouth. "I'm gonna have a long day tomorrow," she said to herself.