Diamond Tiara of The Royal Guard

Diamond Tiara laid in her bed, staring up at the ceiling. The curtains had been drawn across her windows, putting the room in shadows, but not complete darkness. Music came from her record player, but more for some background noise than to actually listen to any of it.

A knock at the door interrupted her brooding.

"Go away!" she shouted.

There was a click of the nob shifting and the faint sound of the door opening.

Diamond Tiara let out a groan and rolled to face away from the entering pony.

"That is the opposite of what I said," she growled.

"Hello," a feminine voice called out.

Diamond Tiara let out a groan, rolling her eyes as she recognized the voice of Apple Bloom.

"What are you doing here?"

Apple Bloom's hooves tapped against the floor as she walked into the room and moved closer to the bed.

"I noticed that you kind of looked sad at school today," Apple Bloom said in a soft voice as she got closer. "I heard about the fight with Silver Spoon and breaking up with Snails."

"Great," Diamond Tiara snapped. "You're all caught up. Can you go away and leave me alone now?"

"No," Apple Bloom replied. "I'm pretty sure something else is going on with you, Di."

"Don't call me that."

"You've had fights with Silver Spoon before," Bloom continued. "And we all figured you would break up with Snails sooner or later. There has to be something more to get you like this."

Diamond Tiara let out a long sigh of frustration and lifted her head to look at Apple Bloom from the corner of her eye before responding.

"Even if I wanted to talk about -- which I don't -- it wouldn't be to you."

She then flopped back down on the bed.

"Beside, you wouldn't understand anyways."

"Hey," Apple Bloom snapped. "I may not be as smart as Sweetie Belle, but I'm not stupid."

"It's not because you're an idiot you idiot!" Diamond Tiara yelled, sitting up and facing Apple Bloom to glare at her outright.

"...oh..." Apple Bloom said gently, ears pulling back and cheeks turning pink with embarrassment. She cleared her throat before speaking in a clearer voice.

"So, why do you think I won't understand?"

"You just wouldn't," Tiara replied with a huff as she flopped back down.

The mattress underneath her shifted, causing her to move back slightly. She felt the warm, soft form of another pony now lying in the bed next to her.

"You're not going to leave me alone until I talk to you, are you?" Diamond Tiara asked, grumbling.

"Nope," Apple Bloom said (and Diamond Tiara could just hear that stupid smirk in her voice), "and I can wait all day if I have to. So you might as well just give up and tell me now."

Diamond Tiara let out a snort and stared at the wall. She set her jaw and focused. Because she would be damned if she would let somepony -- especially her of all ponies -- break her.

"Although," Apple Bloom said in a slow voice, "if I stay long enough, Sweetie Belle will come looking for me. She'd probably bring Spike with her too. Since they would go by the farm first, they would probably get my cousin, and Scootaloo might be there as well. So that's four others who would have to come by to find out what's wrong. Then if I end up having to stay the nig-"

"Alright!" Diamond Tiara shouted. "Fine! You win." She let out a groan. "I swear, you must have taken lessons from Pinkie Pie or something."

"Yup," Apple Bloom said with a grin. "So you may as well start spillin'."

With a final sigh, Diamond Tiara sat back up and turned to face Apple Bloom fully.

"Let me ask you something: what are you doing after graduation?"

What's that have to do with anything? Apple Bloom wondered as she stared at Diamond Tiara. A part of Bloom thought about the past, and could not help but suspect that maybe this was a ploy by Tiara to make fun of her.

"I'm opening my own business," Apple Bloom finally answered. "I call it 'Apple Wood Carpentry.' Applejack is even-"

"Okay," Diamond Tiara interrupted, holding up a hoof. "What about your cousin?"

"Babs? She's gonna be helping around the farm and my business."

"And Scootaloo?"

"Scoots?" Apple Bloom asked. "What does she have to do with anything?"

"Just answer the question," Diamond Tiara said.

"She's going to be working as a delivery mare. Use her scooter and the ol' wagon to take packages and such. Least until she can figure how to get ponies interested in her stunts."

"And your little dictionary marshmallow is going to head off to some great city to sing I bet."

"Well," Apple Bloom rubbed at the back of her head, "she and Spike are planning on trying to do a performance in The Crystal Empire."

Diamond Tiara stared, saying nothing. It started to make Apple Bloom uncomfortable. In a way, the music made it worse since it gave her a way to measure how much time was passing.

"That's why I don't think you would understand," Diamond Tiara stated, making Apple Bloom jump slightly. "You and the other... what did you call yourselves? 'Blank Flank Fighters?'"

"Cutie Mark Crusaders," Apple Bloom answered.

"Right. Anyway, now that you all got your marks and are graduating, you all have these big dreams of great things that you want to do. All because you want to do them."

Apple Bloom tilted her head, raising one eyebrow as she looked at Diamond Tiara curiously.

"What does that have to do with anything?"

A snarl appeared on Diamond Tiara's face.

"It has to do with the fact that..."

She stopped, ears drooping as the anger suddenly drained from her. She looked away from Apple Bloom, looking down at her sheets. Closing her eyes, Diamond Tiara took a deep breath, and slowly let it out.

"It has to do with the fact that I realized I never had that choice," she finished in a calmer voice.

Apple Bloom blinked as she stared at Diamond Tiara. The statement and change in mood had thrown her for a loop.

"I don't understand."

"I told you so." Diamond Tiara closed her eyes, rubbing at her forehead with one hoof. "It's not something you would understand because it's not something you've ever been through.

"Okay, Silver Spoon told you we had a fight, right?"

Apple Bloom nodded, biting back a retort she found herself having.

"Did she tell you what she said before I walked away?"

"No." Apple Bloom shook her head. "She mentioned something about your dad, but..."

She stopped talking as Diamond Tiara held up a hoof. Diamond Tiara then straightened up and cleared her throat.

"'I'm sorry,'" she said in an almost perfect imitation of Silver Spoon. "'We can't all be so lucky as to have Daddy give us the family business when we get older.'"

"Wow," Apple Bloom said softly, her eyes wide. "I think that's one of the meanest things I've ever heard Silver Spoon say. Well... when you aren't trying to get her to bully somepony with you, that is."

"But she was right," Diamond Tiara said.

She flopped back onto the bed and looked up at the ceiling.

"That was what made it so effective. It was true.

"Since I was small, one of the things I was always told was that I would inherit Barnyard Bargains and all the other businesses my father owns. Just like he inherited it from his father, who got it from his father, who started it all when Ponyville was founded over a hundred years ago."

Apple Bloom shifted, moving closer.

"So, that's not what you want?"

"That's just it," Diamond Tiara replied, throwing her front hooves up. "I don't know. I never even thought about it. It's been what I was told for so long, I never considered anything else. I was just told and taught that it was what I was going to do, so I never bothered to question it."

Apple Bloom shifted.

"So... you're not sure if that's what you want any more."

"Yes."

"What would you want to do instead?"

Diamond Tiara stared at Apple Bloom a long moment, considering the question. She then rolled over, looking at the wall instead.

"That's what I've been thinking about since."

"And?"

".... I don't know..."