Polishing a Diamondby SpeculoreChaptersDulled ShineCracks in the SurfaceSurveying the DamageDulled ShineThe students of Ponyville Day School waited anxiously for Cheerilee, their teacher, to emerge from the schoolhouse with the results of the Student Pony Presidential election. The candidates for this events had been Diamond Tiara, the local bully who would use the positions of others for her own gain, and Pipsqueak, the runt of the group (for lack of a better word) who managed to mostly get through his days without much trouble due to his small stature. After what felt like hours, Cheerilee emerged with a parchment in her hooves. "The votes have been counted," she said with a hint of pride in her voice. "The Student Pony President is..." Diamond then began to walk forward slowly and expectantly. "...Pipsqueak!!" "HUH????" Diamond looked at the smaller pony with sheer disbelief while the other students surrounded and congratulated the colt. There were three ponies specifically who were particularly proud of Pipsqueak's victory. Those ponies were known to all of Ponyville as the Cutie Mark Crusaders, or CMC for short. "Oh my gosh Crusaders, Pip won!" A yellow filly with a red mane and tail and a pretty pink bow on her head exclaimed with pure delight as the victor approached them thankfully. "I couldn't have won without the hard work of my campaign managers, the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" He gestured to them proudly and with grandeur. Sweetie Belle, a filly with a white coat and two-tone purple mane and tail, then realized what this had potentially meant for them. "Campaign manager cutie marks!" The three fillies looked at their flanks expectantly for any sort of symbol to appear, but to no avail. Diamond then saw this as an opportunity to reclaim her lost ground. "Guess you're not as good as you though Blank Flanks. In fact, I demand a recount!" She turned to Cheerilee and waited patiently for her to do so. Cheerilee however, wasn't having any of Diamond's shenanigans any longer. "Trust me Diamond Tiara, Pip won." She spoke with a slight sneer to her voice that would have been missed had no one been paying attention. Diamond, on the other hoof, refused to budge. "I'll be the judge of that Ms. Cheerilee." Diamond pushed past her teacher and walked into the school to count the votes herself. Upon seeing them, she was completely appalled. "WWWWWHHAAAAAAT?!?!? One vote?!?!" She ran out in a near-panic as she walked over to her one and only friend. "Silver Spoon, you didn't vote for me?" Silver looked at Diamond with a near scowl on her face. "No, I didn't." She spoke with a blunt, almost monotone voice that realized all of Diamond's worst nightmares. "But, you're my best friend!" "Am I? Because I tried to help by mentioning your surprise statue, and suddenly, I wasn't even allowed to speak. You could have actually won this election if you'd just listened to me. You wanna know how?" Diamond hung her mouth open in shock as Silver Spoon walked over, placed her hoof on her bottom jaw, and then whispered into Diamond's ear. "Sorry, I'm not allowed to speak." On that final word, Silver Spoon had shut Tiara's mouth as the latter ran off with a scream. Silver then turned to the Crusaders, who all had surprised looks on their faces. "What? I don't have to follow her drama anymore." The Crusaders then walked over to Silver Spoon with a smile on each of their faces. "You kidding? That was awesome!" Applebloom congratulated Silver as she patted her on the back, which had been a bit stronger than intended due to her upbringing. "Whoops, sorry. Guess my strength's building faster than I thought it'd be." Silver accepted the apology as the rest of the crusaders gave her equal levels of praise. Once the dust had settled properly, Cheerilee dismissed the students for the remainder of the day and they all went home to their families. At that moment, the CMC each offered to walk Silver Spoon home and while flattered, Silver Spoon denied their offers politely and opted to be able to make her own decisions while walking home for a change. They understood and told her that if they wanted to hang out again, they'd be open to it. Silver smiled once again and finally started her journey home, as did the rest of the CMC. After all had been said and done, Cheerilee then went back into the schoolhouse and walked toward her desk. She opened the drawer where she had kept the students respective files. She picked out Diamond Tiara's and gave it a thorough analysis as she had remembered what happened when Diamond had been humiliated after being replaced by Featherweight as Editor-in-Chief of the Foal Free Press and subsequently demoted to paper printer. She looked towards Ponyville with a thoughtful gaze as she put away the file and prepared for her own journey home. Meanwhile, Silver Spoon had arrived at her own home and had her own private celebration, consisting of her happily prancing about the house, but not to the point where her parents felt that they needed to intervene. After her little personal party, she decided that it was time to get ready for bed. As she finished her preparations, she could not help but wonder what was going through Her former friend's head right now. She was by no means concerned as she merely wondered what sort of temper tantrum Diamond was throwing right now and felt sorry that she was missing out as she figured it would be humorous. However, Silver's thoughts were anything but what she figured them to be as Diamond Tiara's situation was anything far from pleasant. Upon returning home, she had encountered her mother, Spoiled Rich, who asked her how the election went and how much she had won by. Upon seeing her daughter's face however, Spoiled immediately determined the outcome to be less than satisfactory. Filthy Rich had not returned home yet, as he was busy closing a few last-minute business deals with some fellow associates. As a result, she beckoned Diamond into her own room where she shut the door and locked it tightly behind her. Cracks in the SurfaceAuthor's Note Welcome to the next chapter. This is where things are going to get pretty messed up, so if you wanna turn back now, I will not blame you. Otherwise, please enjoy the story and send me any constructive criticisms you have. Cracks in the Surface A few weeks had passed since the election and things had proceeded as normal. The foals and fillies went about learning new subjects and conversing with one another. Unfortunately, the playground equipment that Pipsqueak promised had not arrived yet, but the students were willing to be patient as they knew they could trust a pony like Pip. As for Diamond Tiara, the students began to ignore her the day immediately following the election and had not let up since. It was now as if the brightest star in the night sky had lost its shine and disappeared altogether. However, it would only be a matter of days before that star suddenly received recognition once again. It was a bright Friday morning and the class was getting ready to have lunch. Not only that, but it was also the day that the students got back their report cards. The bell rung loudly as the foals and fillies went to their respective saddlebags and got out their lunch boxes before heading outside to enjoy the day. However, one filly didn't seem to have any food with her and ended up spending the free period in a secluded area of the school grounds. She thought no one had noticed, but she had been quite wrong in that assumption. Apple Bloom was hanging out with the rest of the CMC when she saw that certain filly move towards the aforementioned secluded area. "Hey, y'all see that little filly head into the woods?" Sweetie and Scootaloo looked to where AB was gesturing, but saw nothing that would catch their eyes. "I didn't see anything Apple Bloom, maybe your eyes were playing tricks on you?" Sweetie tried to dismiss AB's claims, but she remained strong. "I know what I saw! I've been in my family's orchard long enough to know when something unusual goes in or out of it. This ain't any different 'cause I'm sure that I saw a filly go into the woods." Sweetie still had her doubts, but Scootaloo seemed interested. "Well if you really want to, we could go check it out. I mean, there's still a half-hour of recess left. As long as we're back before then, I don't see what the issue is." Scootaloo pointed to the school's clock tower and sure enough, they did have exactly thirty minutes before they were meant to return to class. While hesitant at first, the CMC went into the woods to follow the filly Apple Bloom saw. About seven minutes had passed since the trio of fillies went into the woods to look for their classmate, but they had no luck in doing so. As they were about to turn back, they saw a strange structure in the distance and decided, against Sweetie Belle's judgement, to investigate. Upon getting a closer look, they saw that the structure resembled a large barn constructed of both wood and metal. The trio decided to walk up to the door to get a closer look through the window. Due to their combined weight, the door latch came loose and opened suddenly, causing them to collapse on top of one another. Sweetie Belle was the first to get up and survey the area inside. "Hey, is it just me or does this place look like a sort of storage place?" Sweetie browsed around finding various music and history books from many years ago. Scootaloo opened one of the boxes near her and saw several old textbooks on subjects they were currently learning, most of which from an older time period. "You're right, this must be where Ms. Cheerilee stashes old learning stuff from past school years." Scootaloo then found a book about mechanical engineering and her eyes widened in wonder. "I'm sure she won't mind if I just take one," she muttered as she tucked the book under her wing. However, Apple Bloom shot her a piercing glare with a raised eyebrow and pointed to the box Scootaloo just opened. With a sigh, she went back and returned the book she found to its rightful place. "Ms. Cheerilee keeps this stuff around for a reason, so I say we don't take anything in case that reason makes itself known. Now come on!" Apple Bloom dragged Scootaloo away from the box as the three of them suddenly heard something strange from around the corner. Although nervous at first, the three fillies went to investigate while keeping a low profile. Upon seeing what they did, they were shocked and appalled. There, sitting in the corner with an old, broken pencil sharpener next to her was Diamond Tiara. Her eyes completely glossed over with her own tears and face buried in her hooves. Upon raising her head, she reached for the sharpener and took out the blade from within. The CMC then winced as she used the blade to create small scratches on her forelegs, making sure that they would not show through the fur. Scootaloo was about to race in and stop her, but Sweetie held her back using her magic and was able to pull her back around the corner. However, the effort of doing so left her with minor exhaustion as Apple Bloom took over in holding Scootaloo in position. Despite her struggles, Scootaloo was unable to escape from Apple Bloom's grip due to the latter's superior strength and endurance. "What are you doing, let me go!" Scootaloo half-whispered as Apple Bloom went to cover her mouth. "Easy Scoots, let's just think about this! Why would somepony like Diamond Tiara be in a place like this and doing something like that to herself." Scootaloo felt the realization hit her as Apple Bloom felt her struggling cease and proceeded to release her. After regaining her breath, Sweetie Belle added her two bits. "Besides, if we just rushed in asking to talk to her, she'd either throw a huge tantrum at us for stalking her or run away in fear. Trust me, Rarity's had enough emotional breakdowns for me to recognize what's going on and what not to do. That said, I've never seen Diamond or Rarity upset enough that they'd want to cause harm to themselves." Sweetie Belle looked again and saw Diamond go back to bawling in her hooves. The CMC then took that as their cue to leave and walked through the door as quietly as they could. It was then that Scootaloo noticed something. "Hey, if Diamond was really in here, shouldn't she have heard when we knocked opened the door and fell inside?" Sweetie shook her head. "Whenever Rarity was crying like that, she would unknowingly shut out the world around her. Not even a magical explosion rivaling that of Hiroshimare would rattle her from her weeping. Scoots and Apple Bloom nodded as the latter looked at the position of the sun. "Oh no, we're gonna be late. There's only five minutes of recess left." The CMC then raced back the way they came as fast as they could so that they could get to class on time. Thankfully, they had about 30 seconds to spare as the three took their seats and prepared for class to begin again. Only a minute later, Diamond walked back in with a neutral expression on her face as she took her seat in the back where no one would notice her. She would have been accurate had it not been for three fillies who had witnessed most of her ordeal. A few hours later, the bell rung and signaled the end of the day as the little ponies filed out after receiving their respective cards and headed for home once again. The CMC however, took the initiative to follow Diamond Tiara to her home so as to survey the goings on for themselves. Whether or not Diamond had been awful to them, they had decided that it wouldn't be right to at least see what was happening in her private life. Surveying the DamageDiamond Tiara found herself walking home slower than she had ever been before, so much so that if a snail had appeared beside her, it would likely overtake her within minutes. This pace made it easy for the CMC to keep pace with her as they pursued her through town. Not only that, but it was even easier to remain unseen by her with how purely dejected and downtrodden she seemed to be. Scootaloo tried to wave her hoof in front of her face, but Diamond's eyes continued to face forward as if they were fixed on a specific location. Sweetie Belle tried speaking into her ear, but Diamond brushed it off as someone speaking off in the distance. Apple Bloom even tried to move in front of her, but Diamond would find some way to push past the wall of yellow and keep walking as if nothing had happened. It was then that the Cutie Mark Crusaders knew that the circumstances were much more dire than they had initially thought them to be as they continued their pursuit of the former bully. A few minutes later, the trio of fillies had followed Diamond Tiara to what looked like an accessory shop with living quarters situated in the upper floors. At first, they thought it strange that somepony would live in a store, but then they remembered that Sweetie's sister has the same arrangements. Pushing that thought aside, they each looked inside the windows with Sweetie Belle looking into the left display window, Scootaloo looking through the door window, and Apple Bloom looking through the right display window. After a minute, they saw a new pony enter the room. She had a pink coat with a purple mane and was wearing a teal shirt of mesh and lace with a few gold accessories to boot. They recognized this pony to be diamond's mother and school board president, Spoiled Rich. Within the shop, Diamond had cautiously and apprehensively handed her mother the report card she had received. She looked at the parchment in front of her with a contemplative look on her face. Aware that there were still customers within the shop and that her husband would be working late again tonight, she motioned for one of the part-time staff to take over as the floorwalker while she took Diamond upstairs to her room, preventing the unseen fillies outside from witnessing any further events. Upon reaching the designated room, Spoiled closed the thick doors and locked them tightly as she motioned for Diamond to sit on her bed. Spoiled then moved one of the chairs in the room over to the bed as well as a nightstand to use as a table. She then slammed Diamond Tiara's repot card onto the nightstand, causing the filly to jump and give her mother a fearful look as she spoke with a condescending voice. "Diamond, sweetheart. Can you please tell me what sort of report card has letters such as these on them?" Diamond nervously looked at the paper and saw that she had gotten three C-minuses and four D-pluses. After surveying it for a second, she turned back to her mother and spoke with a shaking voice "A r-r-repot c-card that shows that a student needs to improve?" She asked with an innocent smile that asked for forgiveness. Unfortunately, this request was one that was vehemently denied as Spoiled struck her daughter across the cheek as if she had been hit by a baseball bat. This had left a searing burn on Diamonds face as she moved to rub it in comfort. "You are my daughter diamond! You must show perfection at every opportunity possible and not fall behind those insignificant lowlifes who you have no business being around!! It was bad enough that you lost the Student Pony Presidential election, but to see your grades falter like this is completely unforgivable!!" Spoiled struck her daughter again in the same spot as before, not only making the pain even worse for Diamond, but also wiping off the makeup that was on her cheek. This in turn revealed a significant bruise on the surface that both Diamond and Spoiled knew the origins to. "Brilliant, now look what you've made me do!" Spoiled inspected the bruise closely. "It's fortunate for you that I was able to stock up on makeup earlier today, and even more so that it is the weekend. After all, I can't have my kin, who are always the pinnacle of achievement, stay home and do nothing with their lives like some cast-off little beggar with no one to love or call family. Speaking of which, this means no dinner for you tonight young lady, and you are grounded for the entire weekend!" Spoiled unlocked the door and left the room before locking it back up, preventing Diamond from leaving at all. Meanwhile, the Crusaders were still outside the shop contemplating what was happening on the upper floors of the structure they stood before. Apple Bloom was the first to voice her concern. "So what do y'all think's going on up there? it's been kinda quiet for about 20 minutes." The rest of the crusaders shook their heads as they were just as clueless as she was. Suddenly, the three felt a sort of vibration from their saddlebags and reached in to pull out a strange mirror. This was a new magical item that allowed accessible communication between two or more ponies, but also allowed them to listen to music as they were walking and keep up to date with various news stories due to various enchantments that had been placed on it. The developer of this item had dubbed it the pMirror. Upon answering their respective mirrors, the crusaders received strong words of concern from each of their sisters regarding where they were and why they hadn't come home as of yet. The three apologized fervently as they all promised to be home within a few minutes. They all said their goodbyes, but agreed to meet at the clubhouse over the weekend to discuss what was happening with Diamond Tiara. As Celestia's sun set over the horizon, signaling the end of another day in Equestria, Diamond Tiara lay in her room, her face and bed stained with tears and running makeup. With her facade now gone, Diamond's face was shown to have an assortment of scratches and bruises that threatened to swell if not treated properly as well as a few minor lacerations on her back and midsection. Looking up at the moon outside her window, she prayed that she could be somepony who could escape the tyrannical rule she was under. With the final tears running down her face, she finally grew exhausted and fell asleep with a look of nothing but forlornness on her face.
Dulled ShineThe students of Ponyville Day School waited anxiously for Cheerilee, their teacher, to emerge from the schoolhouse with the results of the Student Pony Presidential election. The candidates for this events had been Diamond Tiara, the local bully who would use the positions of others for her own gain, and Pipsqueak, the runt of the group (for lack of a better word) who managed to mostly get through his days without much trouble due to his small stature. After what felt like hours, Cheerilee emerged with a parchment in her hooves. "The votes have been counted," she said with a hint of pride in her voice. "The Student Pony President is..." Diamond then began to walk forward slowly and expectantly. "...Pipsqueak!!" "HUH????" Diamond looked at the smaller pony with sheer disbelief while the other students surrounded and congratulated the colt. There were three ponies specifically who were particularly proud of Pipsqueak's victory. Those ponies were known to all of Ponyville as the Cutie Mark Crusaders, or CMC for short. "Oh my gosh Crusaders, Pip won!" A yellow filly with a red mane and tail and a pretty pink bow on her head exclaimed with pure delight as the victor approached them thankfully. "I couldn't have won without the hard work of my campaign managers, the Cutie Mark Crusaders!" He gestured to them proudly and with grandeur. Sweetie Belle, a filly with a white coat and two-tone purple mane and tail, then realized what this had potentially meant for them. "Campaign manager cutie marks!" The three fillies looked at their flanks expectantly for any sort of symbol to appear, but to no avail. Diamond then saw this as an opportunity to reclaim her lost ground. "Guess you're not as good as you though Blank Flanks. In fact, I demand a recount!" She turned to Cheerilee and waited patiently for her to do so. Cheerilee however, wasn't having any of Diamond's shenanigans any longer. "Trust me Diamond Tiara, Pip won." She spoke with a slight sneer to her voice that would have been missed had no one been paying attention. Diamond, on the other hoof, refused to budge. "I'll be the judge of that Ms. Cheerilee." Diamond pushed past her teacher and walked into the school to count the votes herself. Upon seeing them, she was completely appalled. "WWWWWHHAAAAAAT?!?!? One vote?!?!" She ran out in a near-panic as she walked over to her one and only friend. "Silver Spoon, you didn't vote for me?" Silver looked at Diamond with a near scowl on her face. "No, I didn't." She spoke with a blunt, almost monotone voice that realized all of Diamond's worst nightmares. "But, you're my best friend!" "Am I? Because I tried to help by mentioning your surprise statue, and suddenly, I wasn't even allowed to speak. You could have actually won this election if you'd just listened to me. You wanna know how?" Diamond hung her mouth open in shock as Silver Spoon walked over, placed her hoof on her bottom jaw, and then whispered into Diamond's ear. "Sorry, I'm not allowed to speak." On that final word, Silver Spoon had shut Tiara's mouth as the latter ran off with a scream. Silver then turned to the Crusaders, who all had surprised looks on their faces. "What? I don't have to follow her drama anymore." The Crusaders then walked over to Silver Spoon with a smile on each of their faces. "You kidding? That was awesome!" Applebloom congratulated Silver as she patted her on the back, which had been a bit stronger than intended due to her upbringing. "Whoops, sorry. Guess my strength's building faster than I thought it'd be." Silver accepted the apology as the rest of the crusaders gave her equal levels of praise. Once the dust had settled properly, Cheerilee dismissed the students for the remainder of the day and they all went home to their families. At that moment, the CMC each offered to walk Silver Spoon home and while flattered, Silver Spoon denied their offers politely and opted to be able to make her own decisions while walking home for a change. They understood and told her that if they wanted to hang out again, they'd be open to it. Silver smiled once again and finally started her journey home, as did the rest of the CMC. After all had been said and done, Cheerilee then went back into the schoolhouse and walked toward her desk. She opened the drawer where she had kept the students respective files. She picked out Diamond Tiara's and gave it a thorough analysis as she had remembered what happened when Diamond had been humiliated after being replaced by Featherweight as Editor-in-Chief of the Foal Free Press and subsequently demoted to paper printer. She looked towards Ponyville with a thoughtful gaze as she put away the file and prepared for her own journey home. Meanwhile, Silver Spoon had arrived at her own home and had her own private celebration, consisting of her happily prancing about the house, but not to the point where her parents felt that they needed to intervene. After her little personal party, she decided that it was time to get ready for bed. As she finished her preparations, she could not help but wonder what was going through Her former friend's head right now. She was by no means concerned as she merely wondered what sort of temper tantrum Diamond was throwing right now and felt sorry that she was missing out as she figured it would be humorous. However, Silver's thoughts were anything but what she figured them to be as Diamond Tiara's situation was anything far from pleasant. Upon returning home, she had encountered her mother, Spoiled Rich, who asked her how the election went and how much she had won by. Upon seeing her daughter's face however, Spoiled immediately determined the outcome to be less than satisfactory. Filthy Rich had not returned home yet, as he was busy closing a few last-minute business deals with some fellow associates. As a result, she beckoned Diamond into her own room where she shut the door and locked it tightly behind her.
Cracks in the SurfaceAuthor's Note Welcome to the next chapter. This is where things are going to get pretty messed up, so if you wanna turn back now, I will not blame you. Otherwise, please enjoy the story and send me any constructive criticisms you have. Cracks in the Surface A few weeks had passed since the election and things had proceeded as normal. The foals and fillies went about learning new subjects and conversing with one another. Unfortunately, the playground equipment that Pipsqueak promised had not arrived yet, but the students were willing to be patient as they knew they could trust a pony like Pip. As for Diamond Tiara, the students began to ignore her the day immediately following the election and had not let up since. It was now as if the brightest star in the night sky had lost its shine and disappeared altogether. However, it would only be a matter of days before that star suddenly received recognition once again. It was a bright Friday morning and the class was getting ready to have lunch. Not only that, but it was also the day that the students got back their report cards. The bell rung loudly as the foals and fillies went to their respective saddlebags and got out their lunch boxes before heading outside to enjoy the day. However, one filly didn't seem to have any food with her and ended up spending the free period in a secluded area of the school grounds. She thought no one had noticed, but she had been quite wrong in that assumption. Apple Bloom was hanging out with the rest of the CMC when she saw that certain filly move towards the aforementioned secluded area. "Hey, y'all see that little filly head into the woods?" Sweetie and Scootaloo looked to where AB was gesturing, but saw nothing that would catch their eyes. "I didn't see anything Apple Bloom, maybe your eyes were playing tricks on you?" Sweetie tried to dismiss AB's claims, but she remained strong. "I know what I saw! I've been in my family's orchard long enough to know when something unusual goes in or out of it. This ain't any different 'cause I'm sure that I saw a filly go into the woods." Sweetie still had her doubts, but Scootaloo seemed interested. "Well if you really want to, we could go check it out. I mean, there's still a half-hour of recess left. As long as we're back before then, I don't see what the issue is." Scootaloo pointed to the school's clock tower and sure enough, they did have exactly thirty minutes before they were meant to return to class. While hesitant at first, the CMC went into the woods to follow the filly Apple Bloom saw. About seven minutes had passed since the trio of fillies went into the woods to look for their classmate, but they had no luck in doing so. As they were about to turn back, they saw a strange structure in the distance and decided, against Sweetie Belle's judgement, to investigate. Upon getting a closer look, they saw that the structure resembled a large barn constructed of both wood and metal. The trio decided to walk up to the door to get a closer look through the window. Due to their combined weight, the door latch came loose and opened suddenly, causing them to collapse on top of one another. Sweetie Belle was the first to get up and survey the area inside. "Hey, is it just me or does this place look like a sort of storage place?" Sweetie browsed around finding various music and history books from many years ago. Scootaloo opened one of the boxes near her and saw several old textbooks on subjects they were currently learning, most of which from an older time period. "You're right, this must be where Ms. Cheerilee stashes old learning stuff from past school years." Scootaloo then found a book about mechanical engineering and her eyes widened in wonder. "I'm sure she won't mind if I just take one," she muttered as she tucked the book under her wing. However, Apple Bloom shot her a piercing glare with a raised eyebrow and pointed to the box Scootaloo just opened. With a sigh, she went back and returned the book she found to its rightful place. "Ms. Cheerilee keeps this stuff around for a reason, so I say we don't take anything in case that reason makes itself known. Now come on!" Apple Bloom dragged Scootaloo away from the box as the three of them suddenly heard something strange from around the corner. Although nervous at first, the three fillies went to investigate while keeping a low profile. Upon seeing what they did, they were shocked and appalled. There, sitting in the corner with an old, broken pencil sharpener next to her was Diamond Tiara. Her eyes completely glossed over with her own tears and face buried in her hooves. Upon raising her head, she reached for the sharpener and took out the blade from within. The CMC then winced as she used the blade to create small scratches on her forelegs, making sure that they would not show through the fur. Scootaloo was about to race in and stop her, but Sweetie held her back using her magic and was able to pull her back around the corner. However, the effort of doing so left her with minor exhaustion as Apple Bloom took over in holding Scootaloo in position. Despite her struggles, Scootaloo was unable to escape from Apple Bloom's grip due to the latter's superior strength and endurance. "What are you doing, let me go!" Scootaloo half-whispered as Apple Bloom went to cover her mouth. "Easy Scoots, let's just think about this! Why would somepony like Diamond Tiara be in a place like this and doing something like that to herself." Scootaloo felt the realization hit her as Apple Bloom felt her struggling cease and proceeded to release her. After regaining her breath, Sweetie Belle added her two bits. "Besides, if we just rushed in asking to talk to her, she'd either throw a huge tantrum at us for stalking her or run away in fear. Trust me, Rarity's had enough emotional breakdowns for me to recognize what's going on and what not to do. That said, I've never seen Diamond or Rarity upset enough that they'd want to cause harm to themselves." Sweetie Belle looked again and saw Diamond go back to bawling in her hooves. The CMC then took that as their cue to leave and walked through the door as quietly as they could. It was then that Scootaloo noticed something. "Hey, if Diamond was really in here, shouldn't she have heard when we knocked opened the door and fell inside?" Sweetie shook her head. "Whenever Rarity was crying like that, she would unknowingly shut out the world around her. Not even a magical explosion rivaling that of Hiroshimare would rattle her from her weeping. Scoots and Apple Bloom nodded as the latter looked at the position of the sun. "Oh no, we're gonna be late. There's only five minutes of recess left." The CMC then raced back the way they came as fast as they could so that they could get to class on time. Thankfully, they had about 30 seconds to spare as the three took their seats and prepared for class to begin again. Only a minute later, Diamond walked back in with a neutral expression on her face as she took her seat in the back where no one would notice her. She would have been accurate had it not been for three fillies who had witnessed most of her ordeal. A few hours later, the bell rung and signaled the end of the day as the little ponies filed out after receiving their respective cards and headed for home once again. The CMC however, took the initiative to follow Diamond Tiara to her home so as to survey the goings on for themselves. Whether or not Diamond had been awful to them, they had decided that it wouldn't be right to at least see what was happening in her private life.
Surveying the DamageDiamond Tiara found herself walking home slower than she had ever been before, so much so that if a snail had appeared beside her, it would likely overtake her within minutes. This pace made it easy for the CMC to keep pace with her as they pursued her through town. Not only that, but it was even easier to remain unseen by her with how purely dejected and downtrodden she seemed to be. Scootaloo tried to wave her hoof in front of her face, but Diamond's eyes continued to face forward as if they were fixed on a specific location. Sweetie Belle tried speaking into her ear, but Diamond brushed it off as someone speaking off in the distance. Apple Bloom even tried to move in front of her, but Diamond would find some way to push past the wall of yellow and keep walking as if nothing had happened. It was then that the Cutie Mark Crusaders knew that the circumstances were much more dire than they had initially thought them to be as they continued their pursuit of the former bully. A few minutes later, the trio of fillies had followed Diamond Tiara to what looked like an accessory shop with living quarters situated in the upper floors. At first, they thought it strange that somepony would live in a store, but then they remembered that Sweetie's sister has the same arrangements. Pushing that thought aside, they each looked inside the windows with Sweetie Belle looking into the left display window, Scootaloo looking through the door window, and Apple Bloom looking through the right display window. After a minute, they saw a new pony enter the room. She had a pink coat with a purple mane and was wearing a teal shirt of mesh and lace with a few gold accessories to boot. They recognized this pony to be diamond's mother and school board president, Spoiled Rich. Within the shop, Diamond had cautiously and apprehensively handed her mother the report card she had received. She looked at the parchment in front of her with a contemplative look on her face. Aware that there were still customers within the shop and that her husband would be working late again tonight, she motioned for one of the part-time staff to take over as the floorwalker while she took Diamond upstairs to her room, preventing the unseen fillies outside from witnessing any further events. Upon reaching the designated room, Spoiled closed the thick doors and locked them tightly as she motioned for Diamond to sit on her bed. Spoiled then moved one of the chairs in the room over to the bed as well as a nightstand to use as a table. She then slammed Diamond Tiara's repot card onto the nightstand, causing the filly to jump and give her mother a fearful look as she spoke with a condescending voice. "Diamond, sweetheart. Can you please tell me what sort of report card has letters such as these on them?" Diamond nervously looked at the paper and saw that she had gotten three C-minuses and four D-pluses. After surveying it for a second, she turned back to her mother and spoke with a shaking voice "A r-r-repot c-card that shows that a student needs to improve?" She asked with an innocent smile that asked for forgiveness. Unfortunately, this request was one that was vehemently denied as Spoiled struck her daughter across the cheek as if she had been hit by a baseball bat. This had left a searing burn on Diamonds face as she moved to rub it in comfort. "You are my daughter diamond! You must show perfection at every opportunity possible and not fall behind those insignificant lowlifes who you have no business being around!! It was bad enough that you lost the Student Pony Presidential election, but to see your grades falter like this is completely unforgivable!!" Spoiled struck her daughter again in the same spot as before, not only making the pain even worse for Diamond, but also wiping off the makeup that was on her cheek. This in turn revealed a significant bruise on the surface that both Diamond and Spoiled knew the origins to. "Brilliant, now look what you've made me do!" Spoiled inspected the bruise closely. "It's fortunate for you that I was able to stock up on makeup earlier today, and even more so that it is the weekend. After all, I can't have my kin, who are always the pinnacle of achievement, stay home and do nothing with their lives like some cast-off little beggar with no one to love or call family. Speaking of which, this means no dinner for you tonight young lady, and you are grounded for the entire weekend!" Spoiled unlocked the door and left the room before locking it back up, preventing Diamond from leaving at all. Meanwhile, the Crusaders were still outside the shop contemplating what was happening on the upper floors of the structure they stood before. Apple Bloom was the first to voice her concern. "So what do y'all think's going on up there? it's been kinda quiet for about 20 minutes." The rest of the crusaders shook their heads as they were just as clueless as she was. Suddenly, the three felt a sort of vibration from their saddlebags and reached in to pull out a strange mirror. This was a new magical item that allowed accessible communication between two or more ponies, but also allowed them to listen to music as they were walking and keep up to date with various news stories due to various enchantments that had been placed on it. The developer of this item had dubbed it the pMirror. Upon answering their respective mirrors, the crusaders received strong words of concern from each of their sisters regarding where they were and why they hadn't come home as of yet. The three apologized fervently as they all promised to be home within a few minutes. They all said their goodbyes, but agreed to meet at the clubhouse over the weekend to discuss what was happening with Diamond Tiara. As Celestia's sun set over the horizon, signaling the end of another day in Equestria, Diamond Tiara lay in her room, her face and bed stained with tears and running makeup. With her facade now gone, Diamond's face was shown to have an assortment of scratches and bruises that threatened to swell if not treated properly as well as a few minor lacerations on her back and midsection. Looking up at the moon outside her window, she prayed that she could be somepony who could escape the tyrannical rule she was under. With the final tears running down her face, she finally grew exhausted and fell asleep with a look of nothing but forlornness on her face.
