Diamond Tiara of The Royal Guard

The sound of the bell echoed through the halls, signaling an end of the school day. The students quickly made their way from their classrooms, meeting up with friends to figure out what to do with the rest of their day.

One such mare -- a yellow earth pony with a red mane -- was otherwise occupied. Although she headed toward the lockers to meet up with her friends, her attention was elsewhere. Specifically, she was watching a rather unenthusiastic looking pink earth mare who was walking toward the school doors alone with her head down.

It was a surprisingly odd sight to see that particular pony in that particular kind of mood.

The thoughts were interrupted when the mare in question was out of sight and the distracted one felt something fleshy bump against her chest.

Turned out that something fleshy was an orange-brown flank.

"Hey!" the owner of the flank shouted before turning around. "What the hay, Bloom?"

"Oh," Apple Bloom said with a shake of her head, "sorry, Babs. I was kind of noticing something."

Babs Seed narrowed her eyes and smirked.

"Really?" she said with a grin. "Was it the flank of a stallion?"

"No," Bloom snapped, cheeks turning red.

"A mare?"

"No!"

Babs grinned and threw a foreleg around Apple Bloom, pulling her into a hug.

"I'm just teasing you, cuz. You know I love you."

"What's this?" a voice called out.

Apple Bloom and Babs Seed both turned toward the source. Standing there was a bright orange pegasus with a spiky violet mane. She stared at the two with her eyes wide as she pressed a hoof to her chest. Behind her, a white unicorn with pink and lavender mane rolled her eyes and shook her head.

"One of my best friends," the pegasus moaned out, "and my girlfriend, cuddling each other. Behind my back. How could you?"

"That wasn't funny the first time, Scoots," Apple Bloom said, rolling her own eyes, "and it's less funny each time you say that."

Scootaloo let out a gasp and clutched at her chest as she dropped back into a sitting position.

"Sweetie Belle," Scootaloo cried out, turning to look at her white unicorn friend. "Did you hear what she said to me?!"

"Sweetie," Apple Bloom called out. "Do you know where Silver Spoon is?"

Sweetie Belle looked away from Scootaloo and toward Apple Bloom, raising an eyebrow.

"I think she was heading to the gym to meet up with Pip or something. Why?"

Instead of answering, Apple Bloom turned and started walking quickly down the hallway. The other three watched her a moment, looked back and forth between each other, then chased after her.

Apple Bloom made her way through the halls quickly, going against the ponies that were leaving. Soon, she caught sight of the two ponies she was looking for: A gray mare with a silver mane, and a white stallion with brown spots of fur and mane.

"Silver Spoon," Apple Bloom called out. "Silver Spoon." She came to a stop, her hooves skidding along the linoleum floor. The pair turned to look at the new arrival. Silver Spoon -- the gray mare with silver mane -- looked over the edges of her glasses Apple Bloom.

"Do you know what's bothering Diamond Tiara?" Bloom asked.

"That's what this is about?" Scootaloo shouted out as she and the others caught up with Apple Bloom. "That's what this is about? Diamond Tiara?"

"Well...." Apple Bloom shifted, "....yeah. She just seemed, really sad."

"So?" Scootaloo snapped. "Why should you care?"

"We've known her for years," Bloom replied.

"And she picked on us for most of them!" Scootaloo's wings flared out as she practically shouted, stomping one of her hooves for emphasis.

Babs Seed took a step closer to the pegasus and put a hoof on her back. She rubbed gently, moving her hoof back and forth at the base of the wings. The sensation caused Scootaloo to relax some, her wings slowly folding back up against her sides.

"It's alright," Babs said in as soothing a tone as she could manage.

Scootaloo sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Sorry," she finally said. "It's just... Diamond Tiara was never really friendly toward us. She made fun of us for not having our cutie marks, my not being able to fly, Sweetie Belle's magic -- and her dating Spike -- and pretty much the entire Apple family. For crying out loud, everypony knows that the only reason she's dating Snails is because of his looks."

"Actually," Pipsqueak interrupted, "it seems that she broke up with him yesterday."

"What?!" all five mares called out, making the young stallion cringe slightly.

"Can't really tell you any more," he added. "Snails mentioned it but didn't really give any clue as to why. Sorry."

"Okay," Sweetie Belle said, "now I'm curious as well." She turned to Silver Spoon. "Do you know anything about it?"

Silver Spoon shifted, moving away from the other mares and hiding slightly behind Pipsqueak. She chewed on her lower lip as she looked toward the wall.

"I know... part of it," she finally replied. "It's... also why I'm probably not the best pony to ask for the full story. Diamond Tiara and I haven't talked since Friday."

Pipsqueak's eyes went wide with understanding. He opened his mouth wide in a silent "ah" of understanding as he gave a slight nod.

"What happened Friday?" Babs asked, finding herself becoming curious about the matter as well.

Silver Spoon's ears drooped as her head dropped slightly, leaning against Pipsqueak.

"We had a fight," she finally said. "She was talking about... something or other... and I told her that I was already sending applications to Canterlot for jobs. The idea was I would have one ready and waiting this summer. That way I can move there with Pip while he starts his training with the Royal Guard."

There was silence as Apple Bloom, Babs Seed, Scootaloo, and Sweetie Belle all watched Silver Spoon.

"I'm not entirely sure what happened next," Silver Spoon continued. "Before I knew it, we were yelling at each other, and she was calling me a traitor. I got so mad I yelled... something about her life and her dad. I think it was about how her future was all planned out.

"Whatever the case, it made her furious. She just... stormed off. We haven't talked to each other since."

Pipsqueak moved and hugged Silver Spoon, pulling her close.

"So," Apple Bloom said slowly, "you tell Tiara you're moving away, you two have a fight, and then she broke up with Snails?"

She gave a shake of her head and turned to start walking down the hall again.

"You're going to talk to her, aren't you?" Sweetie Belle asked as she moved to catch up with her friend.

"Yeah," Apple Bloom replied. "You don't have to come. Probably better if I try alone all the same."

"Okay. I'll come by the farm after practice with Spike. If I don't find you there, we'll mount a rescue mission."

Apple Bloom grinned, and let out a chuckle.

"Thanks, but I don't think I'm going to need it."

"Okay," Sweetie Belle replied with a shrug. "We'll help you hide the body then."