Marks of Sorrow

Diamond Tiara was furious as she stalked across the playground, practically shaking beneath her pretty pink coat. Ever the loyal shadow, Silver Spoon was at her side, but the friendly chatter seemed hollow and inconsequential; it was doing nothing to calm her nerves. "How dare he?" Diamond Tiara fumed silently to herself. A shake of the heiress' head sought to banish the memory of Silver Slice's quip, though it did little save dislodge a strand of hair from her perfectly coiffed, purple and white mane. Annoyed, the little filly paused to replace the errant hair beneath the glitzy silver tiara her father had bought her as a cute-ceañera gift, a perfect replica of her cutie mark.

The thought of her daddy finally brought some measure of balance. Filthy Rich was the smartest pony she knew, having built a business empire that made him the wealthiest pony in town. Diamond Tiara chewed on her bottom lip as she pondered what he would do in her place. Her place as queen bee of the school had been threatened, as this new colt entered the game.

She could almost here daddy's words in her mind. "If someone's got you on the back hoof a distraction can give you time to recover, and a show of strength will make your enemies hesitate to take advantage of your stumble." A vicious smirk spread across Diamond Tiara's face as a plan began to form. She just needed an appropriate target...

"... and that's when I realized that she'd tried to pass of some cheap imitation as a genuine Versace. I wasn't about-" a raised hoof brought Silver Spoon's words to a stumbling halt. The younger grey filly looked at her oldest friend and recognized that look. "What's up, Di?" despite herself, a hint of excitement crept into her voice, somepony was about to have a bad day.

"I need to blow off some steam, Silvy." Diamond Tiara thought that she still had about half of the lunch period to vent her frustrations and was eager to begin. "Did you see which way the Cutie Mark Goofsaders went?"

"They went towards the Gazebo, I think." With a nod, Diamond Tiara began to casually trot in that direction with Silver Spoon falling into step behind her.

The school's open air gazebo lay on the far side of the ball field, and rather than walls it sported thick hedges broken by a trio of red painted gates. Deciduous clematis vines climbed the quintet of posts to twine among the arbor, providing a shady green sanctuary from summer heat. In the autumn though the structure looked more than a bit lonely, with the woody stems bearing sad wilted leaves soon to be swept away in the preparations for winter. As a result, few students had come out this far during lunch in the last few weeks.

Today was an exception, it seems, as the mischievous pair soon spotted their targets on the east side of the structure. The three Blank Flanks were laying down near one of the hedges and seemed to be engrossed in something on the ground between them. It was too easy for the mean girls to circle wide and come at them from an angle covered by a screen of vegetation. It never hurt to have a little information before starting in, so Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon stealthily approached to listen in.

"Ah dunno Sweetie Belle, ya really think your sister'll be alright with lendin' us all this?" Apple Bloom's voice sounded skeptical.

"Don't worry about her, Rarity's super busy with a big order. She'll never even notice it's missing." The high pitched voice had to be Sweetie Belle

"No harm, no foul, right?" Scootaloo tossed out.

There were a few moments of silence and the sound of a filly shifting "Y'all sure this ain't too much? Applejack don't usually... I feel like you mighta put too much on."

"I watch Rarity put this on all the time, and everyone thinks she looks great! Cmon Apple Bloom! Scootaloo did me, I'm doing you, and then you can do Scootaloo! A little practice and we'll have our Beautician Cutie Marks in no time."

"Ooh, we could be the Cutie Mark Cosmetologists!" the pegasus' undersized wings buzzed excitedly.

Apple Bloom, it seemed, was determined to keep kicking up a fuss though. "It smells funny, like that time we mucked out the chicken coop for Fluttershy."

"Oh, quit your whining! Rarity says it's made from Nightingale droppings and that its really rare and expensive! I always wonder what the Nightingales keep dropping though."

Apparently the significance wasn't lost on Apple Bloom, as disgust crept into her voice "Uh, so you mean to tell me yall've been smearing DROPPINGS all over mah face?" The two hidden fillies shared a look and fought to keep back a snicker, this was going to be priceless!

Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon sauntered into view and stopped in their tracks when they got a look at the faces of the Cutie Mark Crusaders. Each of them had applied a pale cream to their faces far too thickly to blend with their natural coloration. Sweetie Belle's snow white coat made that blunder rather harmless, but the yellow and orange coats of her two friends contrasted bizzarely with the cosmetics. Gripped in the aura of her telekinesis was a short bristled brush tipped with paint, even now putting on the finishing touches that outlined Apple Bloom's lips in a garish red. The unicorn filly had already completed her work on herself and Scootaloo. They looked, for all the world, like a trio of undersized clowns who had somehow confusedly stumbled onto the playground.

It wouldn't do any good to humiliate these three in private; Diamond Tiara knew she needed an audience to make her point. The little filly laughed at the three, her friend quickly picking up on the plan and joining in. She made sure it was loud, cold, and cutting like a shard of ice brought from Cloudsdale months ahead of schedule. The little ponies on the ball field stopped their game to gaze curiously towards the source of the mirth. "Perfect" she thought.

"Well, well, well, what have we here?" a smirk spread across Diamond Tiara's face as she circled around the targets of her ire.

"Looks like someone's decided to go for an avante garde look!" Better than anyone else, Silver Spoon knew how to set them up. The two of them were perfect for each other, and it was adorable in a sociopathic kind of way.

A mock gasp, wide eyes, and a hoof to her muzzle contrasted with her obvious sarcasm. "Do you think the clown look will be all the rage this winter, Silver?"

Sweetie Belle looked embarrassed and miserable when Scootaloo spoke up in defense of her friend. "Hey, she's just starting, you can't-"

Silver Spoon ignored the feeble defense to trample the objection. "I bet if we wrote a book filled with everything you three know about beauty, it'd be as blank as your flanks!" Another softball.

"I bet she thought she'd be good at this because her sister is." It was a casual remark, but the words that followed were cutting. Diamond Tiara's eyes narrowed as the went in for the kill. "Looks like talent doesn't run in your family."

Tears began to run down the unicorn filly's face. With a sniffle she tried to wipe them away, but only succeeded in making a further mess. More were on their way anyhow.

The onlooking students shifted uncomfortably, their game forgotten. No-one dared intervene, but neither could they look away. It was like some horrible train wreck and their classmates were caught up in it.

"Still afraid of me. Good." Diamond Tiara allowed herself to feel the satisfaction of a job well done.

A new voice broke her reverie. "Give her a break, any skill needs practice. I bet ya weren't this much of a cold-hearted bitch when ya started." Silver Slice, the same pony who had made her so mad in the first place, was standing in the gazebo resting his forehooves on the top of the hedge casually and looking down on her. His face held no fear, only contempt. "Ya've obviously had a lot of practice."

The sniggers of her classmates brought a blush to Diamond Tiara's cheeks. Silver Spoon had taken an alarmed step backward, but anger made the other pony bold. She stomped towards the newcomer, ignoring the still crying Sweetie Belle for now. Apple Bloom had her hooves around her friend and was whispering comfort in her ear, but Scootaloo watched the confrontation play out with keen interest. "You little..." Diamond Tiara's mind whirled as she sought a way to express her outrage. The look in the black-furred colt's eyes carried threat enough to bring most foes up short, but for all her faults Diamond Tiara could not be called weak-willed; she pressed on.

"My Daddy-" she started to speak, only to be interrupted by Silver Slice's hoof darting down to snatch the bejewelled tiara right off her head.

He filled the stunned silence. "Yah Daddy isn't here right now."

"Give that BACK!" it was almost a shriek.

Silver Slice twirled the tiara around one hoof like the world's fanciest loop-de-hoop. "Of course I will, I ain't a thief. But ya got to decide HOW I'm gunna give it back. Option one, both of ya scram right now, I toss this to ya on yah way out. All friendly. Option two, ya stick around and try yah luck, and I shove this so fah down yah throat Daddy'll be picking diamonds outta ya shit foh weeks..." He shrugged, seemingly uncaring which she chose. "Either way, I catch ya doin this crap again, I won't be so nice next time."

For the second time that day, Diamond Tiara didn't know how to react. No one dared threaten her before, not even her parents! She unconsciously took a step back, and Silver Slice nodded at her seeming choice. He cocked his leg and then brought it forward swiftly, sending the precious silver trinket sailing over the heads of the onlooking crowd to bounce and roll through the field beyond.

Gritting her teeth with frustration, the defeated mare turned and galloped towards the small gathering of students with Silver Spoon in tow. Heedless of anything but the pursuit of her treasure, the filly plowed into the crowd, knocking Snips and Snails onto their haunches. All the rest suddenly remembered they had somewhere else to be, and the field was quickly deserted.

Silver Slice sighed, and stepped back down into the gazebo, disappearing from sight. Scootaloo could hear the clop of his hooves as he circled around to one of the gates and trotted down a short set of wooden stairs. By the time he was back in sight she couldn't hold her excitement anymore. She leapt into the air, tiny wings buzzing furiously "That... was... AWESOME!"

The lanky black and white colt spared Scootaloo a small smile. She had at least tried to stick up for her friend, after all. Right now though, his primary concern was the fragile white unicorn, whose sobs were thankfully ebbing with Apple Bloom's gentle rubbing on her back. "Are ya alright?" He swept one of his white fetlocks across her eyes, surprisingly gentle.

The tender gesture seemed to help Sweetie Belle regain the last of her composure. With a final sniff, she nodded. "Thanks, Silver Slice."

Scootaloo seemed to take it upon herself to make introductions, stepping forward to grab his hoof and shake it before he knew what was happening. "I'm Scootaloo, " she pointed a hoof to her chest proudly. "This is Apple Bloom," a wing rested on the yellow filly's shoulder, who smiled but seemed a little troubled yet. "And you've already met Sweetie Belle there." The unicorn got to her feet and nodded in his direction. "We're the original Cutie Mark Crusaders! I'm sure you've heard of us?"

Silver Slice crossed one leg in front of the other and shook his head a little too quickly.

"Whaat? But you're from Manehattan, and we have a branch there and everything! Maybe you've met Apple Bloom's cousin Babs?"

Sweetie Belle assumed her "know-it-all" face and spoke up "Manehattan isn't Ponyville, it's huge! Rarity says that it's way bigger than even Canterlot. There must be thousands of ponies our age there, and hundreds of schools, there's no way he'd just know all the kids in the city."

"Well it's not like it hurt to ask." was the pegasus' retort. "How was I supposed to know if I didn't ask? And besides, it's not like there is NO chance..."

Apple Bloom could tell her two friends were headed for one of their good natured spats, but for now she focused on their defender. He seemed adrift and awkward, nothing like the intimidating presence he had shown a minute ago. Silver Slice seemed torn between attempting to join their conversation or just turning on his heel and leaving, so Apple Bloom decided to ask the question gnawing at her thoughts and make that decision for him.

"Uh, Silver Slice?" she had his attention, "When ya said you'd make Diamond Tiara eat her tiara, you were bluffin... right?"

The muscles in his back tensed and his head lowered slightly, producing a noticeable change in his stance. "No."

"But... she's a filly." The other two thirds of the Crusaders had halted their bickering to listen to this exchange. "You'd really hit a filly?"

"Filly... colt..." He shook his head. "Makes no difference. She's a bully and I'll hit anyone who deserves it."

"Ahm not real sure that sits right with me."

"Then next time, stand up for yourself, so I don't have to." The anger in his voice was obvious as he turned and trotted back toward the schoolhouse.

When he was gone, the three friends exchanged a look for a long moment. The bell rung the hour. Lunch was over.