Diamond Tiara of The Royal Guard

The afternoon sun shined brightly over Sweet Apple Acres. A faint summer breeze blew, helping to keep things cool and creating a gentle rustle of the tree leaves. Apple Bloom stood on a hill, eyes closed as she enjoyed the feeling of air across her face and coat. It felt nice. So calm. So relaxing. So peaceful. She felt like she could stand here and enjoy the moment for hours.

"Auntie Bloom! Auntie Bloom!"

Although sometimes she would settle for just two minutes.

With a sigh she opened her eyes and turned to look at the source of the shouting. Coming up the hill was a small green filly. Her wings flicked excitedly as she approached.

"What is it, Greenie?" Bloom asked, looking at the filly curiously.

"Aunt Pinkie says somepony's coming," Little Green "Greenie" Smith Apple explained. "Told me to get you because...

The filly paused, her brow furrowing as she tried to remember what Pinkie Pie had said.

"It's somepony you would want to see 'super duper ultra ultra badly.'"

Apple Bloom gave a soft smile as she placed a hoof on Greenie's head, ruffling the dark blue mane.

"You don't have to try and talk like Pinkie Pie when you're talking about her," Bloom stated.

"I know," Greenie replied, "but she seemed to want you back at the house to meet them really bad."

A chuckle escaped Apple Bloom as she started walking down the hill and toward the farmhouse. Pinkie always got excited about visitors, especially when it was a pony that had not visited in a while. The fact that she probably saw them around town or at Sugarcube Corner had no affect on it. For some reason, ponies visiting the farm was always a big deal.

How many times had she been excited about Sweetie Belle or Scootaloo stop by? And those two practically lived on the farm like it was a second home.

The thought of her old friends caused Apple Bloom to pick up her pace. Scootaloo was supposed to come by later, after she had finished making deliveries around town. Sweetie Belle, however, had gone up to The Crystal Empire with Spike to give a musical performance. Maybe something (hopefully good) happened and the two were coming back early.

As she got closer to the farmhouse, she caught sight of the arriving pony. The sight of the familiar pink form sent a thrill of excitement (and nervousness) through her. Her pace picked up faster, practically running. Her eyes lit up with excitement and her mouth burst into a grin.

As Apple Bloom got closer, Diamond Tiara turned to look at her, smiling. The sight made Apple Bloom stop as she looked at the other mare.

"What in tarnation happened to your face?" Bloom asked, staring at the row of stitches leading from Tiara's forehead to her cheek.

"Really don't want to talk about that right now," Diamond Tiara replied, running the tip of her hoof along the mark.

"Okay..." Apple Bloom shifted, unsure what to say. More accurately, she was uncertain how to ask what she wanted to.

"What about your mane?" she suddenly blurted out. "Do you want to talk about that?"

Diamond Tiara tilted her head and raised an eyebrow.

"What about my mane?" she asked.

"It's short," Apple Bloom stated. "I think it's even shorter than Scoot's."

Diamond Tiara grinned, letting out a small chuckle.

"You think it's short now? You should have seen it when they first shaved it off. Same thing with my tail too."

The mental image of Diamond Tiara without her mane and tail caused Apple Bloom to start giggling. The fact that Diamond Tiara was doing the same was a good sign.

"That must've been quite a shock," Bloom said, still snickering.

"No kidding." Tiara ran a hoof over the short hair of her mane. "I had no idea it was going to happen. I think I actually was in a state of shock. I don't actually remember what happened after that for a while."

Moving forward, Apple Bloom wrapped a hoof around Diamond Tiara and give her a hug.

"I'm glad to see you," Bloom said before kissing Tiara on the cheek.

"Unfortunately, it's only for the weekend," Diamond Tiara explained. "We're finished with the basic training and were given leave. I'm supposed to go back Monday to start some sort of team training. So, it looks like we get to spend the weekend together... if you want."

"Course I do," Apple Bloom said with a grin. "Have a bit of work to do tomorrow, but I should be done in time for lunch. What do you want to do first?"

"Actually..." Diamond Tiara shifted, rubbing one of her legs against the back of another. "Is Scootaloo around? I need to talk to her about something."

That response gave Apple Bloom pause. Why would Diamond Tiara want to talk to Scootaloo? The two might have started to get along a little better after the party -- and the drunken explanation about the bullying -- but they were far from friends.

"She's supposed to come by later," Bloom finally answered. "Anything I can help with?"

Diamond Tiara opened her mouth, stopped, closed it, and looked around.

"Can we talk somewhere private?" she finally asked.

"....sure..." Apple Bloom answered. "C'mon.' She turned and started walking toward the barn turned office and apartment.

"You want something to drink?"

"Just juice is fine," Diamond Tiara called out, looking around. Something about the place seemed different. There was nothing specific that she could point to. Except for a couple piles of papers here and there, everything looked like it was in the same place as last time. Still, it felt like something had changed.

"Here you go," Apple Bloom said, holding out a bottle of juice. The sound of Bloom's voice startled Diamond Tiara, causing her to jump slightly.

"Thanks," Tiara said as she took the bottle. She took a sip, letting the taste linger on her tongue.

"Bloom? Why do you want to be with me?"

"What do you mean?" Bloom asked, tilting her head curiously.

"Come on!" Tiara snapped, causing Apple Bloom to jump slightly. The reaction made Diamond Tiara sigh.

"I'm sorry." She set her bottle down and rubbed her forehead. "It's just that when we were in elementary school, I was a bully and a total bitch. Yeah, it was pretty much to everypony, but I treated you and your friends the worst... or so I thought..."

She turned to stare at the wall, her eyes glassing over as her mind turned to more recent events. The memories of its origin made the cut burn and itch.

"So it would make sense if you hated me like Scootaloo does," Diamond Tiara continued. "Except you don't. Not only are you not mad at me for all the shit I've done to you and your friends, you've pretty much seem to have forgiven me. You see me depressed at school, and you try to find out why. You learn I had a fight with my best friend, and you come to my house and annoy me until I talk about it. I show up on your doorstep because of an argument with my dad, and all three of you let me stay here.

"All of this is above and beyond what I deserve. But you do it, and you don't even seem to give it a second thought."

Tears started to flow from her eyes.

"I treat you and your friends like utter shit for, like, five years, then basically ignore you until pretty much the end of the school year, and you practically treat me like a friend. You're kind, caring, compassionate, and forgiving."

She takes a moment to wipe her tears away. The action causes the stitches to pull, sending a fresh bolt of pain through her cut.

"As if that wasn't enough," Diamond Tiara continued, "you're actually willing to give me a chance in a relationship. I act like a royal bitch for years, never make up for it, and yet you are right here --" she puts a hoof on Apple Bloom "-- by my side. You're willing to be my fillyfriend, even after all I've done. I'm pretty sure that any pony you talked to would tell you it's really bucked up. And they'd be right."

Apple Bloom sat there, staring at Diamond Tiara as she went through everything that had just been said. It was not exactly a lot of information, but it was pretty emotionally charged. It was also a rather valid point. Diamond Tiara had been mean to them for years and -- although she did eventually stop -- she never really tried to make up for it.

Still...

"What brought this on?" Apple Bloom asked. "Does it have something to do with..." she motioned toward her face.

Diamond Tiara reached up and touched the stitches once again. One of her ears gave a flick as she chewed on her lip.

"...Yeah..." she finally answered. She let out a sigh and turned to face Apple Bloom.

"Back at camp, I met a mare that hated me so much, she wanted to kill me. Literally. She was so mad at me for what I did to her back when we were fillies, that she was willing to see me dead. Want to know what the worst part is? The most horrible thing about it all?"

Apple Bloom looked at Diamond Tiara curiously, but said nothing.

Diamond Tiara looked away.

"I don't even remember her. This mare hated me so much for what I did to her, that she was willing to stab me... and I don't even recognize her from before camp. Not her name, not her face, nothing. So I have no idea what I've done to her to make her hate me that much."

She sagged, looking down at the floor.

"Was I that horrible? Was my attitude so bad that ponies hate me enough to see me dead? And..."

She shifted.

"Am I so much a monster that I have destroyed other ponies that badly without even bothering to remember who they were or why I acted that way toward them?"

There was a moment of silence. Not even the ticking of a clock to interrupt it and keep track of the time. Diamond Tiara stared down at her hooves, hoping to hear something that would make her feel better.

Something.

Anything.

"I ain't gonna lie," Apple Bloom finally said. "You were pretty bad. You cared about how much what you said hurt, but for the opposite reason. It was like the more something you said managed to hurt somepony, the prouder you were."

Diamond Tiara winced and looked away. There was no way she could honestly deny that. The more a pony seemed devastated by what she had said, the prouder she was of it. If it fail, she actually got mad. How dare they not do what she wanted them to.

Maybe things would be better if she left? Ponyville would be better without her, and few ponies would miss her. Pretty much two, actually: her dad, and Apple Bloom. Her dad would throw himself into his work, make Barnyard Bargains bigger and more profitable. He might even find a pony that would be a better heir to the business. As for Apple Bloom--

Apple Bloom put a foreleg around Diamond Tiara, pulling her into a half hug.

"You ain't no monster though," Bloom stated. "Or... if you were, you ain't any more. The fact that you feel bad for what you've done to this mare -- whatever it was -- shows that you have a conscience."

She then gave Diamond Tiara a kiss on the cheek.

"You can't change what you did," Apple Bloom continued, "and I doubt you can make it up to the mare that wanted you dead," -- Diamond Tiara perked up -- "but you can still try to make things right. You're still alive, so there's still time to try and make amends for what you did."

Diamond Tiara turned to look at Apple Bloom, eyes wide.

"Who says I can't make it up to her?" Diamond Tiara asked. She then grabbed Apple Bloom's face, pulled her close, and kissed her. As soon as the kiss broke, Diamond Tiara turned and ran for the door.

"Where you going?" Apple Bloom called out, still reeling from the passionate moment.

"To talk to Princess Twilight," Diamond Tiara responded. "If anypony can figure out how to help, it's her."

"I'm coming with you," Apple Bloom stated, getting up to follow after her.