Scootaloo

Later that evening, at Filthy Rich's party.

Just as I expected, the party was teeming with rich people! Most of them I didn't know a thing about, so I couldn't get a read on their stuffiness. Jet Set and Upper Crust had arrived before me and my aunts did, so I made a mental note to chat it up with them later. Unfortunately, one of the attendees was the one rich lady who I really didn't want to deal with: Spoiled Rich. Thankfully, the stuck up pointy-nosed hag was sitting at a table that was far from the others and had three empty seats, so I could keep my distance from her without a problem. She was, to my relief, the only jerk who I could find at the time. As Jet had promised, playing with the musicians like a boss was none other than Octavia Melody! I didn't normally listen to string music unless it was part of a movie soundtrack, but her cello-playing was awesome. To make matters even better, I was sitting near Sweetie Belle and Rarity, of all people! Apparently, they had worked together to make dresses for the party and since Sweets had done a great job of helping her sister, she got to go with her. As Sweets and I traded stories about how our day went, Jet Set called out to us with dignified cheer in his voice;

"Good evening to you, ladies!"

We all looked over to catch him and Upper Crust walked up to us with bright smiles, to which we responded in kind. Okay, you two, let's see what you do when your on your kind of turf! The pair stopped to stand near the gap between our two tables and turned their heads to look over at me and my aunts. His smile holding strong, Jet spoke to the three of us specifically;

"We are most pleased that you three made it."

Auntie Loftie responded with a quick laugh;

"You were good to Scootaloo, so we didn't see any harm in bringing her here."

Jet's smile became just a little brighter, same for Upper's, as they turned to face Rarity, who gave them polite a grin of her own. With a slow and theatrical short bow, Jet told her;

"Your stellar reputation as a tailor precedes you, Miss Rarity."

Rarity let out one of her more dignified and proud laughs while holding the top of her right hand up to her chin as Upper Crust added out of gratitude;

"The dress you made for me made me feel like a princess during my dinner date with Jet. Thank you."

"Oh, it was my pleasure, darling!" Rarity said joyfully before adding with surety;

"A lady must look her best when on a date with her paramour."

Before the conversation could go any further into sappy things than I would have liked, the pair of rich folks turned their attention over to Sweetie Belle, who was still smiling at them. Jet declared to her with goodwill in his eyes;

"I hope you are enjoying the party, young one."

Ever the bubbly type, Sweets nodded her head briskly and exclaimed with joy;

"Octavia and the other musicians play such beautiful music together!"

I could tell that Jet and Upper with visibly gushing over how adorable Sweetie Belle was being. Without skipping a beat, she gave Rarity a look of gratitude and love as she declared with one of her trademarked squeaks;

"The best part is that I get to enjoy this party with my big sister!"

Rarity gave her little sis the exact same look. As for Jet and Upper, they were now audibly gushing;

"You two are so lovely together!" exclaimed Jet before Upper added while she tried very hard to not squee in delight;

"You've got such a sweet little sister, Miss Rarity!"

Clearly, those two were not wasting the chance I took on them. So far, anyway. After they calmed down, Rarity noted something to us that I really should have realized when I walked into the room;

"You know, I have not seen a trace of our gracious host anywhere in this soiree."

At that moment, Randolph had arrived with the drinks my aunts and I had ordered. Amazingly, Fizzy Apple Cider was available, so we ordered that stuff without a second thought! I mean, what the heck was a Chicha Morada anyway? As we took sips of our tasty drinks, I took a look at the closed door to the party room while hoping that the host, and his entourage, wouldn't show up. It was then that I learned an important lesson: as awesome as hope could be, and it certainly was, it could sometimes lead to disappointment. The door opened, allowing Filthy Rich to walk into the room with two girls walking beside him at both sides. Randolph, having just arrived at the door, started to guide the trio to their table. I immediately looked away to focus on Sweetie Belle and Rarity. Sweets was gazing at the trio with clear concern and growing recognition on her face. Rarity was slowly switching her gaze between her sister, me, and them, worry shining in her eyes. I looked over at Jet Set and Upper Crust to find that they were gazing at the trio as well, respectfulness all over their faces. This made sense to me.

After all, those two didn't know Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon like my club-mates and I did.

I looked over at Spoiled Rich's table and immediately realized something I hadn't before: those three empty seats were reserved! Okay, this seemed like a good thing in my eyes. All Sweetie and I had to do was not get Diamond or Silver's attention until they took their seats and we could just avoid them like the pla-

"Ah, Miss Rarity! Your presence here is most welcome."

Crud, dear old Daddy Rich noticed Rarity and was now talking with her! At this point, I figured it best to get a feel for things before his little princess and her appropriately named buddy could start being jerks. So, I turned my head to look at Diamond and Silver, only to notice something about them that caught my attention to say the least. They were switching their gaze between Sweets and me repeatedly while showing genuine confusion on their faces. They clearly didn't expect us, two of their old middle school verbal punching bags, to show up in their fancy party. Honestly, the fact that we got to mess with their heads a little with just our presence was a win to me! What I also noticed was that, out of the two of them, Diamond Tiara was the most visibly confused. Seriously, her eyes were wide and her mouth was slightly agape, while Silver Spoon was not quite as visibly surprised. While Sweetie and I watched our two old bullies try to make sense of the situation, I overheard Filthy and Rarity shoot the breeze as only rich folks could;

"I did wonder when you would grace your party with your presence, Mr. Rich. I must admit, it has been an enjoyable time thus far. The decor alone is divine!" Rarity declared with grace and no snobbery to speak of. She was cool like that. Filthy responded with no small amount of pride;

"You can thank my darling wife for picking out the decor. I hope you have enjoyed the drinks as well."

"We most certainly have!" Rarity noted with politely delivered approval. Sensing no danger, I decided to check in on Sweetie, who was inspecting Diamond Tiara's outfit with a narrow glare before her eyes went wide with surprise;

"That dress..." she said softly. Before I could ask her what was up, however, I heard the snobbiest, snootiest, most stuck up voice I had ever heard in my life call out from my far-right;

"My word!"

It was all I could do to hold back my powerful urge to groan out of pure annoyance as I looked over to catch Spoiled Rich walking up to us from her table with a curious glare aimed right at Jet Set's bandaged injury. She stopped to stand before Jet and asked him with a voice laced with curiosity and disapproval;

"What on Earth happened to your elbow, Mr. Set?"

He and his lady were watching Filthy and Rarity talk when Spoiled stepped into the conversation. So, they turned around to face, Jet himself answered;

"Just a minor injury I earned when I was sharpening my athletic skills earlier today."

If he was showing genuine politeness on his face, I couldn't see it, since his back faced me. He elaborated on his answer with a soft chuckle;

"My fault, honestly. It could have been far worse. But..."

He turned around to give me a grateful smile and declared before I could blink;

"Young Scootaloo here patched me up with skill and care. Thanks to her, I'll heal up in time for the Friendship Games!"

On the one hand, it was totally cool of Jet to give me props for helping him out and in front of Spoiled Rich no less! On the other hand, I was really interested in what Spoiled would do about this for, I'll just say, personal reasons. Jet moved off to the side to let her get a good look at me, so I was able to see the shock on her face. Oh, it was priceless! I'm surprised I didn't laugh. What I also noticed, off the corner of my left eye, was Diamond Tiara going from surprised to shocked, her eyes growing even wider while she aimed her gaze directly at me. Oh, this night was getting better and better by the second! Focusing entirely on Spoiled, I noticed that, for a brief moment, she showed terrible anger in her eyes before she let out a dignified, and forced, cough. After that, she reluctantly, very reluctantly, noted while looking at Jet instead of me;

"Indeed. I wish you luck in the games, young man."

I didn't need to be a Belle or an Apple to notice that she was pretending to be calm, which was hilarious to me. She then opted to talk with Rarity, a demeanor filled with politeness and stuffiness hiding her anger;

"Miss Belle, I must complement you on your tailoring skills. The dresses are already being put to good use, as you have no doubt noticed."

Rarity looked around the room with pride sparkling in her eyes before returning her attention over to spoiled and responding politely and without sounding even remotely stuffy;

"I have noticed, yes, and it warms my heart to know that my work is lighting up this smashing party."

She always did take pride in her work, like I took pride in my scootering! Before I could start talking with Sweets again, Rarity remarked;

"I simply can't take all of the credit for the dresses though. Dearest Sweetie Belle assisted me with a sizeable amount of them."

I instantly saw shock reappear on Spoiled's face with more strength than before. I also heard Sweetie try to stop her sister;

"Ra-Rarity!" she exclaimed our of nervous embarrassment. But, there was no stopping her from adding with gratitude all over her voice;

"In fact, she had drawn up the concept art for your dress, Diamond Tiara."

Wait, what?! I immediately looked over at Diamond and Silver to see how they were reacting. At that point, both of their eyes were wide open, their mouths totally agape with shock as Diamond, once again, started to switch her dumbfounded gaze between Sweets and me. Filthy Rich, who was watching this conversation play out in silence alongside Jet and Upper, laughed jovially before declaring;

"Ah, life can be full of pleasant surprises!"

For added effect, he walked over to Diamond and gently pat her back, which made her return to reality with a sudden yelp. Jet and Upper chuckled in silent agreement while she took a deep breath, turned around without even looking at Sweets or me, and told him with a soft voice that had none of her usual high-and-mighty arrogance;

"I want us to go to our table, Daddy."

Filthy gave her a loving smile that only a father could give his kid and said with a nod and mushy fatherly affection;

"Of course, my shining jewel."

With that, he led her and Silver Spoon to Spoiled's table after giving Rarity, Jet, and Upper a polite nod. As they walked up to Spoiled, she told them;

"I will catch up with you all in a moment."

One thing that struck me as odd was that, as the trio walked passed Spoiled, Diamond Tiara turned her head to specifically look back at us kids for a super brief moment before having to look back towards her destination. Now, that alone was not too strange to me. But, when she looked at us, I could have sworn I saw... some kind of expression on her face. Acknowledgement, maybe? I had no clue. After Filthy shrugged in silence while he walked, Spoiled moved over to stand up close to Sweets and me while maintaining a polite, yet strained, demeanor. We were silent while Rarity and my aunts watched this situation closely. Jet and Upper had left for their table, probably to enjoy their food or something. Once Filthy, Diamond, and Silver were sitting at their table, Spoiled's strained politeness was dropped in favor a deeply menacing scowl that, honestly, sent a shiver down my spine. Leaning forward slightly, she told us kids with a voice filled with controlled cold contempt;

"I take it your ringleader and her elder sister had a hand in one of Filthy's... ill advised choice of drinks?"

The music that was playing helped to keep Spoiled's voice out of earshot of the other party goers. Sweetie Belle, with a bit of bite in her voice, answered;

"I'm sure they did, because the Fizzy Apple Cider is delicious."

I could hear the sounds of her taking a large swig of her drink right in front of the angry rich lady before placing it back down on her table with authority. You tell her, Sweetie Belle! The nostrils of Spoiled's crooked nose flared before she replied with a voice that was colder than ice, her piercing glare being just as cold;

"One good deed, or a few deeds, are not enough to absolve you three of your wickedness."

Of course, she would hold our lame mistake over us! Not even Sunset Shimmer, who would have had every right in the world to do that, would never have gone down that road. While Sunset wasn't there to tell Spoiled to step off, my aunts were. But so was Rarity, who responded before they could with a calm dignified voice that I was sure was hiding a lot of anger;

"With all due respect, Mrs. Rich, what makes you think that they'll stop at a few good deeds?"

The two ladies locked eyes on one another so intensely that, I swear, I could almost see sparks firing between them! Spoiled, her restrained coldness on point, told Rarity;

"They can commit a thousand acts of goodwill and none of them will change who they really are, Miss Belle."

Seriously?! That woman was making it really easy for me to dislike her! As if on cue, Aunt Holiday stepped up by telling Spoiled with an angry voice that was kept reigned in by as much politeness as she could muster;

"The kids are no longer who they were last Winter."

Auntie Loftie, without missing a beat, added with a similar tone of voice;

"You not letting yourself see what's in front of you won't change that."

Man, Sweets and I got awesome families! Even when hearing my aunts' remarks, Spoiled kept her gaze fixed on Rarity for a good while before she straightened back up. She looked back over at Sweetie and me with a silent glare that was held for two seconds. After that, she gave us a calmly delivered warning that could not have been more stuck up in tone;

"People like you, no matter the age, will not cross a line just once. You will do it again, and next time, you will not be so fortunate."

With that, she walked over to Filthy's table in silence, leaving us all to ponder her words. Honestly, Sweets and I didn't need that warning, and we knew that AB didn't need it either. After all, all three members of the Canterlot Movie Club knew the price of repeating our biggest mistake, and by the stars above, we would not let it come to that!

Five minutes later.

The musicians had finished another song and took a break, allowing Octavia to join us at Rarity's table. Once we caught her up on recent events, she did not even try to hide her frustration over Spoiled's behavior from us;

"The nerve of that woman," she declared with a frown and frustrated tone before explaining her point while looking right at Sweets and me;

"Her anger over your egregious error is understandable, but to treat the both of you and Apple Bloom as if you are stagnant people who never stopped being..."

She wrinkled her nose while closing her eyes, clearly trying to think of a good word to finish her sentence without being rude. I decided to finish it for her;

"Cowardly?" I suggested with a regretful voice and crossed arms. Sweetie Belle sounded really guilty when she chimed in;

"Mean?"

Even the squeak in her voice sounded guilty! I looked over at her to see her looking away out of obvious shame. Octavia, being a good friend, tried to soothe our feelings with a cool truth that she delivered with strong resolve;

"However one can describe who you used to be, who you are today is what matters most."

Sweets and I showed her really big and bright smiles when we heard those words, to which she responded in kind. Rarity, with a polite cough, noted;

"Well said, darling, but let us speak of a different topic, one that has been brought to my attention as of late."

I looked over at Rarity, who gazed at Sweetie and me before asking with carefully chosen words;

"Forgive me for poking at an old wound, dears, but I am curious: when was the last time you two and Apple Bloom spoke with Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon?"

Just like that, tension hovered over our two tables like a storm cloud. I looked over and saw that Sweets looked away from Rarity, clearly hesitant to respond. I was also not too keen on talking about those two jerks. But then, a thought came up that I felt I had to talk about. Looking back at the fashionista, I told her;

"Now that I think about it, we haven't spoken with those two ever since that pep rally. The one from your freshmen year."

"Yes..." said Rarity, who pondered for a moment while holding her chin with her right hand before speaking again;

"It was before the rally that Diamond and Silver tried to get me to hoard my friendship like a dragon with treasure. After the rally, however, they seemed to cool down their off-putting behavior."

She gave Sweets and me an inquisitive look before asking;

"Has this been the case from your perspectives as well?"

I closed my eyes and thought back to the period of time from the pep rally to the party we were talking in. A lot had happened during that period, but there was one thing about it that I hadn't noticed before. It was this thing that Sweets had revealed before I could;

"You know what? Diamond and Silver haven't bullied us at all since the rally."

I nodded at her and added;

"Heck, it seems like they've been trying to not talk to us ever since then!"

"Which would certainly explain their shock over your presence here: they did not expect to see you in a party such as this," Rarity noted. Octavia, who was listening closely to our conversation, took this time to chime in;

"From what I know about that pair, they have an attitude to them that they often bring to bare when flaunting their status and wealth. Yet..."

She looked over the table where Diamond and Silver sat and added;

"Given that they are on home turf, so to speak, those two could have shown that attitude while keeping it slightly reigned in to avoid trouble. Yet, they had let that opportunity slip by..."

Yeah, that was odd. Comparing how they behaved back in the day to that night was like looking at night and day, to say the least. Octavia then asked us;

"When did they start bullying you?"

I was quick to answer calmly while holding back the urge to groan over bad memories;

"Middle school."

That got a raised right eyebrow from Octavia before she asked another question;

"Ah, so you two became friends with Apple Bloom during middle school?"

"After," was my simple answer, one that Sweetie expanded on;

"Cloudsdale Middle School was a big place, the halls were crowded, and our schedules were different."

She gave us an understanding nod while I was giving a lot of thought to the situation, my arms crossed for good measure;

"I'm still mad as heck over how mean Diamond and Silver were to us before. Now, they're keeping their distance from us..."

I took my glass of cider with my right hand and gave it a good sip while I was still deep in thought. My thinking had reached the same dead end no matter how many times I repeated it;

"I don't mind the peace and quiet. But then, why are they doing this?"

Oh, that was a question that I was sure the entire club was gonna talk about in our next meeting.

Later that night, in Diamond Tiara's bedroom.

Diamond Tiara was partaking in a key part of her nightly ritual: standing before her opened window while gazing at the outside world. The courtyard of her family's mansion, in this case. Her hands were held behind her back in a show of calm dignity and her eyes were locked on her mother and father, who were sitting at a table in the courtyard. The movements of their arms, hands, and heads signified to Diamond that they were arguing over something. Their agitated voices could be heard, but they were too far away for their words to be discerned by her. She was wearing her traditional outfit: a yellow jacket with a white collar, a necklace with a magenta diamond-shaped jewel hanging from it, a black under shirt, a white skirt with black shorts poking out from under it, and yellow & white boots with black buckles that bore the same type of jewel. Upon the left side of her head rested her ever-present tiara that was, indeed, made of diamonds and diamond material. Behind her stood the old butler Randolph, who was clad in a black and white outfit that was befitting someone of his occupation. He was holding in both hands the dress that Diamond Tiara had previously worn during the party, only it was now neatly folded up enough to be easy to carry. Sitting on the bed to Randolph's right was Silver Spoon, who gazed upon her friend with a curious glare. She too was wearing her usual outfit: A purple shirt with a white collar, a pearl necklace around her neck, a silver spoon with a heart on its back end attached to the front of the shirt, a pink skirt with a thick white line around its bottom edge that hid her shorts, and purple boots with white highlights at the bottom and little cyan bows tied near the top. She wore her cyan glasses as per usual. Diamond stood as still as a statue, the reflection on her window revealing a look that mixed quiet contemplation and nearly hidden frustration together in a facial blend. All was silent as she kept her eyes fixed on her arguing parents outside, her mind lost in thought;

"So, the rumors are true: The Canterlot Movie Club has woken up at last..."

This silence remained until Randolph asked her with a voice laced with politeness, experience, and age;

"How was tonight's party, Miss Tiara?"

He was met with more silence for a few seconds until Diamond responded with subtle hesitancy in her voice;

"It was... interesting."

Other than the hesitancy, there was no clear hint as to what her true feelings concerning the event were. Randolph could easily tell that she was hiding such feelings, but thought it best to let it be for now. Instead, he opted to carefully ask;

"What will you have me do with this dress?"

Silence filled the room again, this time lasting much longer until Diamond, with slightly less hesitancy than before, gave an order that neither he nor Silver expected to hear from her;

"Add it to my wardrobe."

Randolph raised his right eyebrow while Silver nearly jumped off of the bed in surprise. With an incredulous look, she tried to tell her;

"You do remember that this dress was, like, made by-"

"I know," Diamond replied with a hint of bite in her voice that made Silver shut up real quick. No malice, no antagonism, just vocal bite. She knew better than to speak out of turn when her best friend spoke like that. Randolph, with a nod, took the dress to its given destination. Once he did this and returned to the pair, Diamond turned around to look upon her bedroom. It was a lavishly decorated place. Everything in it, from the furniture to the knickknacks, made her status as a privileged young lady in a wealthy family perfectly clear. To her right, next to the window she had just finished looking through, was a night stand that held three framed photos that stood next to each other. The one of the left depicted her father, Filthy Rich, showing a loving grin that only a parent would show to their child. The one on the right showed Silver Spoon and Diamond Tiara smiling brightly at the camera together, their arms resting on each other's shoulders. The photo in the middle showed Spoiled Rich angling her head upwards with a stiff upper lip and her eyes closed, as if the camera and cameraman were beneath her. Diamond took the photo on the right into her left hand and gazed upon it in silence. A sense of ease had begun to flow within her being, a feeling that she was glad to be familiar with. If there was any doubt in her mind as to what her next move was going to be, that sense of ease had banished it as she gently placed her right hand on the photo. For a brief moment, a tiny smile had formed on her face. By the time she returned the photo to its place on the night stand, however, that smile had been replaced by something else entirely. It was an expression that she did not let Randolph or Silver Spoon see at first, for she was staring daggers at the photos of her mother and father specifically, her face turned out of sight of her butler and best friend. With a sigh that relieved some unseen tension, she turned to look at them, allowing them to recognize an expression that they had seen on her face on more than one occasion:

Calm, unrelenting drive.

Diamond Tiara, before anyone else could utter a single word, calmly declared to the pair before her, that drive she was showing fueling her every word;

"Listen to me very carefully."

Author's Note

After a memorable party, a quiet diamond contemplates and plots...