The gates to Rich Manor were mostly like Scootaloo remembered them. A little more overgrown. A little more rusty, too. She could see it, at the corners of her eyes, when she pressed her forehead against the metal and blinked at the front doors. A little less clean. A little less welcoming, if they ever were.

She was a little less annoyed than she thought she would be. Nope, she was quite calm, actually. Totally relaxed.

She looked up the bars and briefly considered flying over them. Wouldn't that be something? Flap her wings and take one graceful jump, just to show she could. Kinda rude, but she guessed she deserved a bit of validation after years and years of being a flightless failure. She imagined Diamond Tiara's scrunched-up face slowly turning a darker shade of pink and chuckled.

“Yeah,” she mumbled, “who's the one who can't get off the ground now?”

Scootaloo sighed, took the knocker and gave it a few hard whacks. No sense dragging it out. The sooner she got this over with, the sooner she could go home and kick back. It took what felt like half an eternity, but after a while, the entrance to the manor house opened and an elderly Earth Pony came out on shaky hooves. Randolph, the Rich's butler.

Scootaloo grinned, waving a quick greeting to the old stallion. She'd always liked Randolph. He was kinda cool, especially for an geezer like he was. Way to cool to hang around a demanding brat like Diamond Tiara, that's for sure! Scootaloo never quite understood why the old man stayed at his crummy job, catering to the whims of the pink menace, but there was something to be said about loyalty even in bad times, and she could respect that. Hay, maybe she could just give Diamond's homework to him and be done with it?

No, she thought with another sigh on her lips, I promised Miss Cheerilee. She tightened her grip on the stack of papers.

There was something to be said about loyalty even in bad times.

Randolph had arrived at the gate by now. He looked her over with curious eyes set underneath bushy, raised brows. For a moment, Scootaloo worried he didn't recall her face. Why would he? The last time she'd been here, things hadn't exactly gone... perfect. Then, a broad smile turned his muzzle into one big collection of creases.

He was just a little bit older than she remembered.

"Miss Scootaloo! What a surprise! We haven't had the pleasure of your visits since... a while. How was your trip?"

Randolph's voice was like his walk—slow and slightly shaky. But the earther still projected an aura of calm competence; 'Venerable and distinguished', as Sweetie Belle would say whenever she tried to impersonate her big sister Rarity. Scootaloo was grateful Randolph was the one to answer the door. A bit more time before meeting up with Diamond Tiara herself was very welcome.

"Hi, Mister R, it was fine," she returned the greeting, holding up the papers where he could see them. "Got Diamond Tiara's homework here. Miss Cheerilee asked me to bring them around, so. Here I am!"

His expression didn't change as far as Scootaloo could see, but some of the cheer seemed to ebb away from Randolph's face. "I'm guessing you want for me to take these to the young mistress then? Well, if that is the case, please give them to me so you can be on your way. A busy young lady like you surely has other places to be," Randolph finished and waited for her answer. His arms stayed right at his sides.

As much as Scootaloo wanted to jump at that offer, she knew she couldn't. It wouldn't be right. And I don't wanna have to explain to Miss Cheerilee that I broke my promise, she thought with a mental grimace. This was one bullet she had to bite.

"Actually, could I talk to Diamond? In private? I heard she was sick, so I... I want to see how she's doing. Maybe just hang out for a bit. Talk a little. Nothing special. Just, the two of us." She tried to put on a smile, but it wouldn't come. Scootaloo's shoulders sagged. "Okay, fine. Miss Cheerilee didn't just send me here with DT's homework assignments. She asked me to talk things out with her, since... Well, you know."

Meanwhile, Randolph's smile shone as bright as it did before. Maybe a little brighter. Scootaloo didn't know what he was thinking, but she was glad he didn't ask her to explain in greater detail. A tiny voice inside of her was disappointed he didn't look ready to send her away; it was subsequently tied up, put on a boat, and exiled from the Great Nation of Scootaloo.

Randolph took a moment to fiddle with the gate, waving her in when it opened. "That's alright, Miss. Please, walk this way. The young mistress will be happy to have some company."

Even mine? the voice asked. Scootaloo vowed to have it thrown in a dungeon in the place it was exiled to next.

She followed a step or two behind Randolph, all the way from the outer gate, to the manor's front doors, to the wide entrance hall. This was an old house for Ponyville standards. The Riches had lived here longer than nearly anypony; only the Apples had a greater claim to that, and their house had to be rebuilt quite often. Rich Manor was old, drafty, quiet.

She never really liked this place.

There, along the walls, hung the portraits of the ponies who made up the illustrious line of the Riches. Stern Earth Pony patriarchs with unfortunate names and deep, shadowy bags under their eyes, and the sour-faced gentlemares who married them. They all peered out into the world in various forms of frowns and sneers and things that looked like it could've been a smile if one squinted reeeally hard.

Diamond Tiara's portrait didn't hang here yet.

They finally arrived at the door to Diamond's room. Randolph drew to his full height, coughed, and knocked.

"What?" came the muffled answer. He looked at the Pegasus at his side and spoke up.

"A visitor for you, young mistress."

"I don't want to see anypony! Who is it?"

Now the both of them exchanged a look. 'Typical DT', hers seemed to say. 'Quite', was Randolph's unspoken answer. His spoken answer was directed at the door again.

"It is very unfortunate that you do not want to receive her, seeing as how Miss S has taken the time to come here directly after school was over."

A moment of silence. Then, they could hear somepony hastily rummaging around behind the door, opening cupboards and slamming them shut, and and least once swearing. When things finally quieted down, Diamond Tiara called again.

"Send her in, Randolph." Scootaloo gave him one last, grateful smile, and stepped into the lion's den.

Diamond Tiara's room had been very much like Scootaloo imagined it, all the way back before she'd ever been inside. It was nearly unchanged from that time. One side was dominated by a huge canopy bed with enough space to accommodate four of five ponies of Diamond Tiara's size—were it not for the plushies arrayed like a regiment at the command of the room's overgrown filly tyrant. The walls were brightly coloured, there was a rug that looked like something exceedingly fluffy and cute had chosen this place to die.

And at the far side, directly by a spacious window, the girl Scootaloo was here to meet sat at a table set for two. Two cups, sitting on two saucers, with a teapot in the middle gently being heated by a tealight. Diamond Tiara had been looking outside; when she heard Scootaloo's hoofsteps, she turned around with a smirk.

"So, I guess I'm good enough for you again, S—" She paused mid-sentence. Her smirk collapsed. "Scootaloo?! What are you... oh. Oh no. Don't tell me. You are 'Miss S'?"

Scootaloo shrugged and tried not to look to smug herself. "Looks like. Heard you were sick. Brought you some homework." She waved them in Diamond's direction before dropping them down on her bed. The look of sheer irritation on the pink filly's face very nearly sent her into a giggle fit.

At a second glance, Scootaloo had to admit—once again—what a beautiful young mare her fillyhood bully had grown into. Diamond Tiara had a doll-like prettiness to her that many ponies admired, coupled with a body that had filled out nicely in all the right places. She could wear the girliest dresses anypony ever designed, like the lacy thing she wore right now, and still carry herself with confidence, even a hint of danger.

The only facet marring the picture was how her smile hardly ever reached her eyes.

Diamond growled in annoyance and crossed her arms. "Well," she began, "I guess I am supposed to thank you for that. And offer you tea while you're here. So. Tea?" Her glare sent a wordless challenge in Scootaloo's direction. The Pegasus reminded herself of her mission—Loyalty!—and sat down at the empty spot with a short nod.

"Yeah, tea sounds nice." Scootaloo looked about the room while her pink host poured her a cup. She saw the nightstand next to Diamond's bed. It held the usual: A picture of her family, a picture of her dad, a few books from some line of trashy romance novel or other.
Something was missing, though. Scootaloo frowned and turned back to the other filly.

"I don't see any tissues here," she told Diamond, who froze for a second. Scootaloo's eyes went wide, then narrowed. "You're not really sick, are you?"

Diamond put the pot back down, a little harder than necessary. "And you're a certified genius. Fine!" She threw up her arms. "You caught me. I'm not sick, but whenever I go to school right now, I feel like I'm going to barf."

Scootaloo frowned, shook her head. "What are you talking about?"

"Nothing. It's not important." Diamond Tiara steepled her fingers. In the most calm and collected way since Scootaloo had entered, she continued. "Please enjoy your tea. If you like it, I can tell you where I got it, you can ask me about the place I got it, and we can both pretend we're actually interested in any of that drivel so we get things over with faster."

Scootaloo rolled her eyes. Just as she wanted to speak up, something else caught her attention. One of Diamond's fingers had a darkened spot. The short coat there was singed. It looked fresh. Scootaloo mentally filed it away for later.

"I'm sorry, DT, but no can do. Miss Cheerilee made me promise to try to talk with you, so that's what I'm gonna do. And seeing as how Silver Spoon and you had some kind of falling out..."

"No we didn't," came Diamond's immediate answer. She pouted and peered back out the window. "And even if we did, it wouldn't bother me. Like, at all. Besides, it's none of your business."

Scootaloo sighed and picked up her cup to take a sip. The tea was... surprisingly good. Some fruity, sweet blend that she took an instant liking to. She took another taste, and another, before putting the cup back down. Diamond hadn't turned around yet.

"Come on, Diamond. A blind pony could see it's bothering you." She waited for the other pony to react. When no reaction came, she pressed on. "Silver Spoon herself wasn't very shy about admitting you two had a fight."

One of Diamond Tiara's ears twitched.

"Is it about her and Snails?"

This got a reaction out of the pink filly. Diamond glared at her, then the teapot, and if looks could harm, it would've melted right throught the table.

"I don't know what she sees in that skinny idiot," Diamond Tiara muttered. Scootaloo leaned forward, tried to look understanding, encouraging.

"It happened while I was gone, right?"

"They got together while you were gone," she answered. "Snails had been trying to get Silvie's attention for months. He tried to impress her with stupid gifts, like rare bugs he found in the dirt. Bugs! Can you believe that? We always made fun of him for it. Silvie told him they were gross, and so was he, and then we laughed together. I don't know what changed."

Scootaloo nursed her drink while she thought about Diamond's words. Snails? Crushing on Silver Spoon for this long? The Silver Spoon? The filly with a coat of silver and heart like a rock? It sounded silly to her. And yet, they were an item. So who was the silly one here?

"That's strange. And she never returned any of his feelings before?"

"Well, maybe a little bit." Diamond Tiara shrugged. "I don't know if you noticed, but Silver Spoon can be a little dumb sometimes. Maybe she thought the way he tried to get her to notice him was kinda cute. In its own, disgusting way. You wouldn't noticed it anyway, what with being so clueless yourself."

"Hey!" Scootaloo's wings shuddered with her anger. "What's that supposed to mean?!" As soon as the words left her muzzle, she knew she'd made a mistake. Opposite her, Diamond Tiara slowly, deliberately, leaned back in her chair and put a finger to her cheek. She was obviously enjoying the turn their talk had taken, going by her shark-like grin.

"Scoots, have you ever felt like one of the colts is paying a great deal more attention to you than the others? Someone sitting close to you in class? Someone... with wings?"

Scootaloo blinked. "Featherweight?"

"No, you... Gah!" Diamond facepalmed. Dragging her hand down her face, remarkably without messing up her makeup, she fixated Scootaloo with a look made up of equal parts irritation and amusement. "I'm talking about Rumble. Rumble has been interested in since last year. Light coat, dark mane, too much of a pansy to talk to you. That Rumble."

Try as she might, Scootaloo failed to put a face to the name. It did sound familiar, though... "Do you mean Roar?"

Scootaloo didn't expect the fit laughter that followed her remark. Diamond Tiara first looked at her like she'd grown a second head, then she broke down and nearly fell out her chair as she doubled over.

"Hah hah hah! Hah, that's rich! You, you don't even know his name! Now I almost feel sorry for him, hahah!"

Scootaloo felt a deep blush coming on, right on her face. She couldn't meet Diamond's eyes. Fortunately, she didn't need to; the inside of her teacup was almost as interesting, and not nearly as mocking. Scootaloo waited until the other filly got everything out of her system before she murmured.

"Well, it's... H-he's so often in Cloudsdale, on some kinda training trip or whatever, and I'm away when he isn't, and we never really talk, and... Don't laugh again." It was her turn to glare. Diamond Tiara held up both hands.

"Fine, fine. No more laughing." The Earth Pony took a deep breath and slowly let it go again. "Talking to you really does help. You know, you were the first to say it, but... you're right. Isn't it weird how Silvie suddenly decides she wants to date that loser, Snails? Of all the... ponies in our class, she goes for the drooling mouthbreather. What's up with that?"

"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Scootaloo wasn't still angry. No, not at all. She grunted when she burned her lips with the tea by accident, and wiped the spot with the back of her hand.

Diamond just shrugged again. "I would, but she doesn't talk to me anymore. I may have said some, well, not so nice things about her taste in stallions. However, there might be another way."

"And what would that be?"

"Scootaloo," said Diamond with an eager glimmer in her eyes, "how would you like to go sleuthing with me?"

Scootaloo briefly noted how Diamond Tiara looked a little less hostile than at the beginning of their talk.

Now if only she could decide whether that was a good thing.

Author's Note

Heyo. Took quite a while, didn't it? For all of my readers who haven't given up on my yet, thank you. You probably deserve more props than I do!

This took a long, long while to write. Part of the problem was how Crusaders of the Lost Mark came along and dashed the animosity between the CMC and the SS/DT duo to pieces. Needless to say, I'm not going to take that as canon in regards to this fic. I may pick some things I like, but overall, CotLM didn't happen.

Cheers!