Bougie Apple

Discord laid back in his chair; his feet prompt up as he gazed fondly into a small rectangular-shaped object in his hand. He ran his finger on it constantly, not paying attention to the two mares he had been, "disciplining" for the past two days.

The first day, he went easy on them, (mostly cause he did not want to hear Starlight nagging his ears off). He made them write apology letters to each other...then made them read them aloud in front of the school the next morning. On the 2nd day, he followed the same pattern. Yet again because of Starlight. But, this time he managed to add more flavor than 2nd had embarrassment. It was what he 'personally" believed to be, the most courteous of his punishments.

Atop each of their desks, he had a box wrapped in caution tape and bubble wrap. After ~~making~~ encouraging them to pop each bubble first, they opened them up. Inside of Diamond Tiara's was a dictionary. Her task was to pick words from it that complemented Applebloom. Inside of Appleblooms was a blank canvas and paint. Her job was to draw Diamond Tiara as best as she could. And to add to it, he said that whoever does better, gets to leave detention early tomorrow. They got so focused on it, that they bum-rushed their work in the first ten minutes. In the end, they both did horribly, and Discord displayed their work in the hallway for ponies to see. He mostly did this because Starlight insisted on "reviewing his work", so he had a little fun with it and told them that whoever can do one about how bossy Starlight is, gets to leave early. After multiple attempts, he released them and kept all their secondary assignments for himself as his 'well-earned reward for work".

Which brings us to today. He finally managed to get off of Starlight's radar thanks to Twilight. And, now that she's finally gone...the real ~~punishment~~ disciplining can begin.

"Uhm, Mr.Discord?" Applebloom said, breaking the weird silence in the room. Diamond Tiara looked up from her desk at her. At the same time, Discord finally acknowledged the two mares before him. "What is it, Applebloom?" he asked, turning right back to his little rectangular-shaped object.

"C-can I use the bathroom?" She asked.

"No," He said bluntly before smirking at his hand. "Just kidding," he quickly replied, snapping his fingers to summon a hall pass for her. He waved it in front of her like a toy mouse in front of a cat. She got up to grab it when he suddenly yanked it back towards him. "Ah-ah-ah- You can have this if you can look me in the eye," He smushed his face, merging his eyes into a giant one, "And 'honestly," tell me you have to use the bathroom and simply because you don't wanna leave this room," he said, inching his face a tad closer. Already knowing she'd lost the battle, Applebloom tilted her head down and turned back to her seat, where she remained silent. Seeing where she'd failed, Diamond Tiara smirked at her failure, earning her a close-up image of Discords Eye on her face. This startled her to the point where she fell out of her chair in panic as Discord gripped himself in laughter.

10 more minutes later~

"UUUGGGHHH-" Diamond Tiara groaned, upsetting discord from his object. "Young lady, could you not? You're being very distracting," he said, only to turn back to his object and snicker to himself.

"How much time do we have left in here?" she whined.

"Thirty-five minutes and 14 seconds...13...12..." Diamond Tiara responded with another groan of annoyance. "Why did she make me come to school today?" She muttered as she planted her face into her desk. Applebloom's ears perked, and she glanced up from her own. She wanted to say something but didn't know how to phrase it. When Diamond Tiara finally noticed her, Applebloom shifted her head in the other direction, pretending not to have been staring. She sucked her teeth when suddenly, something bright caught her eye. She looked back at the funny-looking object Discord was holding. The top part of it was shining. That's when the light coming from it suddenly flashed, making her squint her eyes from the daze. Discord smirked as she rubbed her eyes. He glanced at Applebloom who was staring outside the window. He snapped his fingers, creating drapes and closing them shut. Applebloom was surprised at first, before letting out a groan of her own.

"Oh, come on Mr.Discord. Really?" she said. Discord paid her no mind, scrolling his finger across the screen.

"Don't waste your breath," Diamond Tiara said. "He's probably run out of ideas to embarrass us, (mostly me), and now he's bored senseless," she remarked.

"Quite the contrary, my dear little rich foal," he said, waving the object in his hand. "I'm having quite an enjoyable time relishing in this silence. There is no greater punishment for bad-mannered and ill-tempered adolescent ponies than simply...doing nothing, wouldn't you agree? It makes one's mind go places and wander. I was inspired by my extreme boredom just before you two arrived in my office that fateful day. So, thank you both for

"Oh shut up already. I prefer the silence any day over your annoying, scratchy-" Diamond Tiara stopped. Or rather her voice did. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing came out. She tried to scream but to no avail once again. Then she looked up, Discord had made a "mute" speaker appear above her head. "Ah-ah-Ah. It's rude to interrupt somepony when they're talking," he said. He looked over to Applebloom who was raising her hoof. He called upon her name as he slowly turned back Diamond Tiara's voice.

"So, our punishment is ta be bored while you play with that flashing yellow and pink...brick thingy?" she asked.

"Duh! And it's not a brick, I'll have you know," he replied.

"I'd rather not," Diamond Tiara said. Her voice sounded more like herself again. Annoyed by her rudeness, he said, "Oh, you mean this?" pretending to be surprised. She slapped her forehead, groaning yet again. "What even is that, number three or four on the heavy sigh/groan of annoyance counter?" She blushed with embarrassment as he mocked her evident predictability. She cleared her throat in an attempt to calm herself. "Anyway, I call it...The PANDEMONIUM HAVOCER OF NEUTRAL ENTERTAINMENT...or Phone for short." He said. Applebloom and Diamond Tiara shared a look of confusion as he waved it in front of them. "I did plan on saving ear-wrenching lectures next week. They would have paired well with the macaroni and superglue glitter towers, but what the heck? Allow me to explain," he said, rivetingly pulling out a whiteboard listing what makes up his phone and a blueprint of how it was made.

As he listed off the "ingeniousness" of his creation, Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes, wishing for the room to return to silence.

"Why does the world hate me?" she thought. She hated every aspect of this. First, her mother "gets rid of" their help, then forces her to attend school. Sure, Princess Twilight had cast a spell to conceal the bruise on her eye on the first day, but that was only after having to show up wearing an eye patch to hide it while walking through the school gates. Then, everyone in the school was focused on her. It was no secret that Diamond Tiara loved attention, but this was different. Each day, she could feel how unfeeling their gazes were, as weird as that sounds. But the worst of it was always the same. Whenever Applebloom showed up to school. Everypony in sight always rushes to her side like starving fans wanting autographs on their faces. "Why does she get the attention? I'm the one who got hurt. I'm the victim here! And now I have to deal with...THIS!" She looked back up at Discord, who was talking about something called "texting".

Applebloom's mind was also elsewhere. She kept drifting back to these past few days. Big sisters become more hostile, her granny more invasive and now whenever she arrived at school with her friends, they were hounded by their classmates. Everyone feels the need to shower her with praise and ask to hang out with her. When she finally asked why, many answered. "Are you kidding? You bucked Diamond Tiara... in the face!" Another one said, "It's about time somepony knocked her down a peg." Another added, "She's been asking for it. I wish I was the one who did it." This chain of rusted compliments would have continued if not for the sound of the bell. Applebloom felt sick to her stomach all day because of them. The thought of her name brought her back to reality, thinking her name was called on. He looked glanced around her, noticing Tiara glaring at her. She refocused on Discord's lecture, trying to come up with a question to make it seem like she was paying attention.

"And with a push of this button, I can send a message to anyone," Discord said. "That covers everything about it. Any questions?" He asked them. Diamond Tiara kept quiet. Applebloom, however, raised her hoof. Delighted, Discord called on her.

"I don't understand. It's not magic?" she asked.

"Nope." He said, transforming his head to mimic her brother, Big Mac. "It's science. The nerdy kind of magic." He finished, laying back in his chair.

(Bell Sounds off)

"Finally!" Diamond Tiara cried out, jumping from her seat and racing to the door. "See ya!" she said, happily closing the door behind her. "I can't wait to go home. I'm gonna relax on my bed, reading magazines and doing my hair-" Diamond Tiara's train of thought was stopped as she trotted face-first into a ladder. As it fell, it snagged down a band of streamers and tipped over three buckets of paint. One of the buckets slowly rolled onward, being stopped by the very angry duo of Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle.

"Nice going Dumbling Tiara! You just wasted all of our paint." Scootaloo shouted. "How did you even get in here? We locked the door before we left." Added Sweetie Belle. Diamond Tiara then realized who was at fault here. She grunted loudly, shouting Discord's name.

"And that makes five on the groan/annoyance counter," he said, just loud enough for Applebloom to hear. She looked at him confused, wondering what he was on about. He walked over, patting her on the head and thanking her for a fun detention. She welcomed him back, confused but thankful that she could leave and go home now. As she walked to the school gates, she noticed somepony standing next to them.

"Is that-," she wondered before they came into full view. It was Silver Spoon. She was standing there waiting with her bag hanging on her side. Applebloom thought she kinda looked like a puppy waiting all by her lonesome. She tried to wave to her, but when Silverspoon saw her she flicked her hair as hard as she could. A firm sign she wasn't wanted. Applebloom let out a small sigh as she walked past her, her head down to avoid any trouble. But, after she did so, Silver Spoon called out to her. "Great, you try to be the bigger pony." she thought to herself. When she saw her face, however, Silver Spoon looked distressed.

"Is she doing okay?" she asked. Applebloom felt a little creeped out by how sincere her words were but told her she was doing alright from what she could see. When she said as much, Silver Spoon's face let out a sigh of relief before turning back to face the school. Although she was happy nothing happened between the two of them passing each other, Applebloom wanted to see if she could push her luck further. Maybe find some common ground to build upon. And just maybe, she'd take that kindness to Diamond Tiara and they could become friends, or at the very least be on good terms.

"Hey, Silv-

"Applebloom!" somebody hollered. She turned around and saw her big sister Applejack comin' towards her, which was mighty surprising. Usually, her brother would be the one to walk her home since her detention started. "Sorry if I'm late. I was at the farmer's market and lost track of time," Applejack said. Silver Spoon snickered, finding her excuse humorous, but Applejack picked up on this. Normally, she'd let it go in one ear and out the other, but this time was different. "Did ya' hear something Sis?" Applebloom shook her head. "Really, 'cause it sounds like somepony is doing stand-up comedy. And you know how I LOVE a good joke." Silver Spoon gulped, and stayed quiet, pretendin' not to hear her. "Come on now, what's so funny? Or where ye laughing at something your little 'high society' boss friend said? I'd just love ta hear it for Myself." Applejack mocked, gettin' closer to Silver Spoon. She could practically feel her anxiety ribbing around her body as she heard her hooves stompin' closer to her. A singular bead of sweat traversed down her face.

"Sis. Stop!" Applebloom lightly shouted, getting her sister's attention.

"What is it sugar plum?" she asked, turning around like nothing happened. Silver Spoon looked back at her, her face scared, almost pleading for help as silently as she could.

"Ughm, I-I don't see anything on you. Could we go together...like right now perhaps?" she asked, a little bit of her nerves caught in her throat. Not that Applejack seemed to notice.

"You mean- back to the farmers market?" she asked. Applebloom nodded hastily, already pushing her sister in the direction. She looked back at Silverspoon, an agitated yet thankful expression on her face. She took what she could get and gave her a wink as Silver Spoon turned back around, now walking back into the school.

The two sisters arrived back at the farmer's market. Applejack was enjoying walking about with her sister in tow. It wasn't often that the pair got to go out together like they used to. What with Appleblooms new school and how much Applejack works. It was nice being able to relive this kinda experience with her.

"I missed doing this with you Applebloom," She said.

"I missed this Sis."

"No really. It's as if these last few days have been weighing down on me. But, spending this time with you right now. I feel like myself again." Hearing her sister's last few words struck a cord in Appleblooms head. She wondered what she meant by herself. "I feel like nothing could through me off right now," Applejack finished when she suddenly bumped into somepony.

"How bout you watch it," They said. She looked up, seeing it was one of the flimflam brothers.

"What the-, The Flimflam Brothers. What is tarnation are you all doing back in ponyville? "She angry spat out.

"My, My, if some little pony isn't a little vocal today. Careful now, you have children present," Flim said, pointing to Applebloom, embarrassing her a little bit.

"H-hey, I'm not a little filly anymore," she said.

"Ahh~ How cute. Her voice still cracks when she's flustered." Flam said.

"You're jaw is gonna crack if you don't back away from my sister." She said. The brothers glanced at each other smirking before Flam did as he was told.

"Settle down now cowgirl. We don't want any trouble." Flam said.

"We're just here to make a few bits by selling off some goods," Flim said, waving his hooves toward the fruit sitting atop the stand. "Here, have one on us for being such good, gentle colts," he said, tossing her an apple. She caught it with ease, looking at it with suspicion.

"What's y'all's angle here?" Applebloom asked.

"You make it sound like were-

"Bad apples," Applejack said.

"Well, that's just being rude."

"No, this is!" she shouted. The other patrons and stall owners looked her way. Most, if not all, of the ponies there knew Applejack. So, imagine their surprise when she suddenly dropped the apple to the ground and smashed it with her hooves. Applebloom was the most shocked, not because of the apple, but because of her face. It looked almost identical to Spoiled Rich's face back when they were in Discord's office. It was cold and stale, yet it created an atmosphere that could make beads of sweat roll down somepony's face.

"(Gasp) How dare-" Flim stopped as Applejack Spat what little apple she had in her mouth at his hooves. She then turned around, and one all too familiar movement, she bucked at their stall. Destroying the fruits and vegetables they had on it, along with the stall itself. The onlookers, her sister included, had either looked of disbelief, or fright or had their hooves covering their mouths.

"Why?" The brothers said in unison.

"Why in tarnation did you two backwater 'ALE'-BAMA bucking Idjits honestly think you could pull a fast one on all of us again with one of y'all stupid schemes?" she berated them, as they held onto each other. "Y'all covered these apples with food coloring and were fixin' to sell them off. And if you can desecrate an apple, I do not doubt that you did so to the rest of the stuff on this stand," she said. The crowd began to talk amongst themselves as they heard what she had to say. Nearly all of them took Applejack's side, remembering how the brothers scammed them in the past. The brothers looked at each other before standing up.

"Flim said to Flam, "Let's go. This town was always stupid anyways." As they walked away, Applejack looked down at the broken stall. She picked up a few apples, brushed them off with a smile, and threw them into her basket. No one in the crowd seemed to have noticed, all too busy talking about what just happened. But Applebloom did notice, and she didn't like it one bit.

Back with Diamond Tiara, Silver Spoon was walking home with her as she vented how terrible her luck had been.

"They fired your maid?" she asked.

"No, my mother just "let her go" and now I have to do all the chores around the house." She replied.

"Wow. Well, don't worry, Tiara. You just have a few more days of their boring club stuff. And don't worry about your homework either," Silver Spoon said, grabbing a notebook out of her bag. Tiara put her hoof against the hardcover.

"I can handle my homework. If you do it all, I won't benefit. How else am I gonna be an entrepreneur like my mom." she reasoned.

"Easy. You got me," She said, getting a giggle out of Tiara. Her joy quickly subsided as her house came into view. She looked over to Silver Spoon, bearing an even gloomier expression than she.

"So, I'll see you tomorrow?" she asked. Silver Spoon's frown turned into a small grin. She gave her a quick kiss on the cheek before trotting off. She smiled as she walked into her house, her mother in the kitchen again. This isn't too abnormal for her to see nowadays. Every time she saw her mother in the kitchen, she kinda looked like a different person. She looked the same physically, but she felt more approachable, and happier too.

"Ah, Welcome home Sweetie. How was school?" Mrs.Rich asked, closing her oven door.

"Huh. Oh-uh...it was ok, I guess. Detention was boring thou," she said. "Huh, that's weird. She's never asked me that before?" she thought, setting her stuff down on the arm of a nearby chair.

"Really? Well, not too surprising. They mostly made people write essays and read books for bad apples in my day." Mrs.Rich said.

"No. I mean...literally boring. Discord-

"Ah-ah-Ah- Manners young lady," she said, correcting her daughter.

"Right. Ahem, Mr. Discord made us do nothing today. We just sat there with our thoughts for the first forty minutes. The rest of it was him ranting on about something called a "phone" It was awful." She finished.

"Sounds awful. Well, it's over now and you're home. Now you get to eat some delicious apple pie I made," she said, turning around with a freshly baked pie in her hooves. She tossed her oven mitts to the side and grabbed the carver, cutting out a piece for her daughter. As she made a piece for herself, she looked up at her daughter, who was eyeing the silverware.

"How's Silver Spoon doing?" She asked. Tiara froze, feeling like a weight was just thrown at her stomach.

"Uhm, I-I don't know. I haven't spoken to her since I got detention." She lied through her teeth, avoiding her mother's gaze.

"Well, that's a shame. Um, sweetie, if you want to, and I'm not saying that you aren't allowed to, but if you want to go and spend the night at a friend's house this weekend, I suppose I could speak to your father about it," she said, gently poking at her piece of pie. The sound of silverware hitting the floor, however, made her refocus on her now dumbfounded daughter.

"You mean I can go to Tiara's house this weekend?" Spoiled Rich merely smiled at her daughter nodding.

"Yes. Yes, you may."