Diamond Tiara of The Royal Guard

Today was a big day for a part of the Ponyville population: the last day of school. More importantly for some, it was graduation day. There may have still been a few days until the ceremony, but school was over.

As such, an entire school year class was celebrating that they were now out of school. No longer did they have to worry about homework, group projects, tests, or studying. Admittedly, some of them would have to go through it all again in college, but that would be different, and was all the way after the end of summer. They were not thinking about that, or the fact that so many others would have to start working at jobs soon. Tonight, they were celebrating the fact that they were now adults who were finished with school and had no responsibilities. They were grown-up and free!

In what had once been a barn at Sweet Apple Acres, three friends were getting ready to have a big party to celebrate. As soon as the last two of the expected guests arrived, the five of them would start to have fun.

A knock at the door drew the attention of the three ponies.

"Who could that be?" Babs Seed asked as she looked at the door. Neither Sweetie Belle nor Spike would knock. They would simply come in.

"I'll get it," Apple Bloom announced as she headed over to do so.

"Diamond Tiara?" she called out as she saw the young mare standing on the other side. "What are you doing here?"

"What are you doing here?" Scootaloo asked, her voice a growl as she glared at the young mare.

Diamond Tiara shifted, her red eyes looking down at the ground. She ran the tip of her hoof through the dirt, drawing small circles.

"I... uhm... well..."

She sighed and rolled her eyes, giving a shake of her head.

"Oh, forget it." She turned and started to walk away. "This was a mistake. A stupid mistake. Just... do me a favor and forget you saw me tonight. Okay?"

She walked away from the barn, pushing her way past Sweetie Belle and a purple and green dragon that was a head taller than her while standing on all fours.

"Spike!" Apple Bloom shouted. "Grab her!"

Rearing up on his hind legs, Spike reached out and grabbed Diamond Tiara, picking her up off the ground.

"Hey!" Tiara cried out as she was picked up. "Put me down!"

"Bring her inside," Apple Bloom said.

Spike gave a nod and carried Diamond Tiara toward the barn. Sweetie Belle moved to look at the captured pony, grinning at her.

"You might as well just accept it," she stated. "Spike's a big, strong, tough dragon -- " she grinned as she watched the dragon blush and puff his chest out "-- and you know how Apple Bloom can be."

Diamond Tiara glared at Sweetie Belle, letting out a huff, but stopped struggling. Once she was inside and the door was shut, she was finally set down.

"So what brings you here?" Apple Bloom asked again, giving Diamond Tiara a gentle smile.

"Nothing," Diamond Tiara snapped. "Like I said: this was bad idea. Just let me go and forgot you saw me tonight, okay?"

"Hold on." Apple Bloom took a step forward. "You came out all this way. Why don't you stay a while and celebrate graduation with us?"

"What?" Scootaloo yelped, wings flaring. She gave them a flap as she jumped from where she had been to the doors, getting face to face with Apple Bloom.

"Now you're inviting her to hang out with us? What the ever-loving buck, Bloom?"

"It's a big day," Apple Bloom replied in a calm voice, taking a step back from the angry pegasus. "No pony should spend it alone."

"You know what?" Diamond Tiara yelled, causing all the others in the room to turn her. She pointed a hoof at Apple Bloom. "I don't need your pity, and I don't need your charity. I'll find some other place to stay the night."

She turned toward the doors.

"Now get of my way!"

Sweetie Belle stepped forward.

"A place to stay the night?" she asked in a soft voice. "Why are you looking for a place to stay?"

Diamond Tiara froze, eyes going wide. She had not even intended to let that slip. She looked around, realizing that all eyes were on her.

"Look," she growled. "It's none of your business. So just let me get out of here, and you can go on with your stupid party."

"Babs?" Apple Bloom said as she turned to look at her cousin. "I think we might need to break out the surprise early."

"I'm on it," Babs replied as she headed toward the back.

The room turned quiet as the others waited for Babs Seed to come back, curiosity building as they now not only wondered what was going on with Diamond Tiara, but what the "surprise" could be.

The silence was interrupted by the tinkling of glass. Babs came back into view, carrying a wooden crate filled with bottles.

"Surprise," Babs announced as she set the box down for all of them. "Apple Bloom and I would like to present to you: Sweet Apple Acres Apple Ale."

Picking up one of the bottles, she opened it and passed it over to Scootaloo.

"Apple Ale?" Scootaloo repeated as she took the bottle. Her brow furrowed as she brought it to her nose, sniffing. "Like, alcohol?"

"Yeah," Apple Bloom replied as she grabbed one of the bottles and opened it before passing it to Diamond Tiara.

"Here. This'll probably make it easier to talk about... whatever it is you don't want to talk about."

Diamond Tiara's gaze shifted between Bloom and the bottle. If she were honest with herself, she did want to talk about it. It just seemed like it was a bad idea. These ponies were not her friends. In fact, they had been her victims. They were a way to assert her authority and dominance over the others at school.

Still, it seemed she had no choice in the matter unless she wanted to try to fight her way past Sweetie Belle and Spike. That would also probably mean fighting Scootaloo, who seemed like she was looking a reason to get at Diamond Tiara. A fight with Scootaloo would likely also mean having to fight Babs as well, and that would get Apple Bloom involved since they were family.

So that was what it came down to for Diamond Tiara: fight four ponies and a dragon, or drink the ale and admit why she had come all the way out to the damnable farm.

"Fine," Diamond Tiara huffed as she grabbed the bottle. She brought it to her mouth and took a long drink. The alcohol burned her throat, but she found that she liked the taste of it. It was kind of like drinking a slightly sour apple.

"You want to know why I came here?" she asked. "Well..."