The Tiara weighs Heavy

The cutie mark crusaders were now on a train ride heading towards Coldstone Acadamy, with the three usually rambunctious fillies looking quite worried and rather quiet. The ride took some time, but it wasn’t long until the train started to slow down as it arrived at the prison-like school looming over them. Scootaloo was the first to comment, being rather horrified at the massive stone building as she shouted, “This is where Diamond Tiara has been the whole time!?”

Sweetie Belle shook her head and said, “Guess we gotta get her out of here ASAP!”

“Right, let’s go, girls!” Apple Bloom chimed.

The three then ran across the train station, waving through the dozens of rich ponies, getting off, all looking as boring and drab as the academy the fillies were heading to. The three continued through the courtyard, heading to the base of the school, and hid in some bushes. There, the three fillies looked around, seeing some old, grouchy-looking teachers talking to some of the rich ponies. The three were abit too far away to hear what they were saying, but the parents sounded surprised, others looking concerned the teachers were placating to them and seemed distraught.

Sweetie Belle nudged Apple Bloom and whispered, “What do you think is going on?”

Scootaloo shrugged, “Not sure, seems like they are all having an argument.”

“Who cares? This is the perfect time to get in without them noticing us!” Apple Bloom chimed. The three nodded in unison, and then they went around the teachers and parents who didn’t notice them as they went into the dark, brooding halls of Coldstone Acadamy. The fillies avoided contact with the other foals or the staff walking about there. But as the three were sneaking around, they noticed the foals seemed to be much more cheery and less brooding than they originally thought. Some were even skipping down the hall and heard whispers about tonight’s “Crusader meeting.”

This caught the attention of the Crusaders, who only had a crusader Chapter in Ponyville and one in Manehattan with Babs Seed starting the chapter there. So this was odd and weird, but the three came upon a supply closet and found a bunch of school uniforms of their size. They then dressed like the rest of the students in white blouses and drab grey skirts and followed the remaining foals to the “crusader meeting” room 3C. Inside, they came into an unused classroom now packed with fillies of all ages, looking straight at the chalkboard. The three fillies’ eyes went wide, and they saw it was covered in drawings of “cutie mark” ideas, pictures hung about of fillies earning their cutie marks. It was like their treehouse, and the three were impressed, but they didn’t say a word as a pink-coated filly flew over them with the bright red crusader cape fluttering behind her. The three looked up to see their friend Diamond Tiara above them, proudly spreading her wings with a horn atop her head. They then watched with awe and confusion as they couldn’t believe their eyes, seeing that their friend was an alicorn!

They just continued to watch as she came down and said, “Welcome one and all to another beautiful day!”

The other foals cheered as she threw out a hoof. “Now I know you all recently heard I am an alicorn. Well, the rumors are true, as you can clearly see!”

She looked back at her wings bashfully, then turned towards the crowd. “I am not really sure how this happened or why. But I didn’t want my new form to remove what we're doing here. I feel a change here since I came, and I want it to continue; please continue looking for what you want in life, and don’t let your teachers or parents tell you otherwise.”

Diamond flew up, spread her wings, and exclaimed, “Now, let's begin!”

The foals then went their separate ways, going about doing various activities set up across the room, with Diamond directing them along with a white-coated pegasus. The Crusaders waited until their friend was alone, and then the three fillies ran over. It took a minute for Diamond to recognize them as she asked out loud, “Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle!? What are you all doing here!?”

Apple Bloom looked around and whispered, “We came to bust you out, that's what!”

“Yeah, come on! We have a train to catch this afternoon, so come with us!” Sweetie Belle chimed in.

Scootaloo was most amazed at their friend’s appearance and asked, “Also, why didn’t you tell us you were an alicorn!?”

Diamond blushed, looking around, seeing they were getting odd looks from the other fillies, then whispered, “Girls, um, let's talk somewhere more private.”

She then led them away from everypony else to a side room near the classroom and closed the door. The young alicorn took a deep breath, then turned towards her friends and said, “Listen, there were a lot of things that happened recently; first of all, I don’t know how I became an alicorn. It happened after you helped me stand up to my mom.”

The three fillies were rather amazed by the answer, and then Sweetie Belle asked, “So what are you saying is that we helped you become an alicorn?”

She shrugged, “Maybe I don’t know for certain. Also, I apologize for not writing sooner, but you three really shouldn’t have come here.”

Apple Bloom gave a sheepish look and said, “I know. Our sisters think we’re having a sleepover with Silver Spoon. In fact, she was the one who sent us to find you. She’s worried sick about you.”

Diamond winced at hearing her old friend’s name and said, “Right, I should write to her as well…but still, I'm happy you all risked getting into trouble coming here.”

Scootaloo tugged on her hoof, then said, “Yeah, so let’s go home!”

Diamond seemed to let Scootaloo lead her to the door, but she pulled her hoof back and said, “But I can’t leave.”

“What!?” the three shouted together.

Diamond looked at her friend dead and continued, “I will come back home eventually, but I can’t go back right now; I will, but I want to do it when I change this place.”

Sweetie Belle then said, “You already have, from the looks of things. I'm sure you can find some other fillies to take your place here.”

“Things are a lot better, I admit, but I feel like I’m needed here.”

Scootaloo started getting angry and snapped, “You're needed back home. We miss you, Silver Spoon misses you, and your dad really misses you. I get it you're making a difference here, but there are a lot of ponies that care about you in Ponyville.”

Diamond tugged at her chest, seeming to be hurt by the words, “I get it…but if I leave, the school will report me, and most likely, it will make things worse for me back home.”

“But your dad is willing to help get you out of here; he’ll ensure it doesn’t look bad.”

“I understand, but I…I just can’t abandon all my new friends, too! I have to stay here and finish my duties.”

Apple Bloom looked down at her hooves, wondering if there was a way to resolve this, and then said, “If you're not going to come back with us, that’s fine, but at least write some letters to your dad and Silver Spoon, tell them what's going on, and let them know you’re okay.”

“I…I can do that. How about you stay here until the Crusader meeting is over? After that, you can come to my dorm room, and I’ll give you the letters.”

The other crusaders reluctantly nodded in agreement, and then they all went back out into the classroom. The three went about helping other foals with their talent searching. After a few hours, and the meeting was wrapped up they followed Diamond Tiara to her dorm room with the white-coated pegasus. As soon as they were in the small dorm room, she squealed, “Are you three really the original Cutie Mark Crusaders!?”

The fillies were abit stunned, but Scootaloo put a hoof to her chest and said, “Yeah, we are!”

Apple Bloom blushed and asked, “How do you know about us?”

“Diamond told me all about you and your friends! You guys are so awesome!”

The fillies both beamed smiles of pride and then Diamond Tiara came over and said, “Sorry, this is my friend Snowflake. She’s helped me get used to this place.”

The pegasus stuck out her hoof, and the other fillies shook it. Then she asked, “So I assume you guys wanted to bust Diamond out of here?”

“Yeah, of course! But she wants to stay,” Scootaloo grumbled.

Snowflake rolled her eyes and added, “Trust me, I tried telling her it's probably better for her to leave. Ever since she revealed herself as an alicorn, the teachers have been gunning for her to get expelled.”

“Why!?” Sweetie Belle asked.

Diamond's eyes narrowed at Snowflake, then said, “Mainly because my appearance is a disturbance, but they can’t force me to hide my wings or horn, so at this point, I’m just waiting for my mother to respond to their request to kick me out. Now let me get to those letters.”

She then sat down at her desk, took out a quill, and went to work writing letters to her dad and Silver Spoon as the Crusaders watched. Snowflake talked extensively about Diamond and how things are at Coldstone Acadamy. Diamond tried to focus on the letters, but when they mentioned how she used to be a bully, it made her pause and wince a little, remembering how she was before she became an alicorn. As the filly finished her letters, she then gave them to Scootaloo, who placed them inside the folds of her wings. Diamond said, “I appreciate you risking getting into a lot of trouble coming here, and I want to go back to Ponyville, but I need to help the foals here. If I left now, I feel as if all the hard work Snowflake and I put into making a Crusader chapter here was all for nothing.”

Sweetie Belle and Scotaloo both wanted to rebuttal, but Apple Bloom trotted over and held up a hoof. “Diamond, I think what you’re doing here is amazing. You’re helping so many fillies that were in your horseshoes find out what they want to do in life. If you want to stay and finish helping these foals, I’m okay with that.”

Sweetie Belle gave a reluctant sigh, “It's ok, I guess, but I agree with Apple Bloom that if you think you need to help these foals, I have no problem with that.”

“I do!” Scootaloo snapped with everypony, turning their attention to the angry orange pegasus as she shouted, "I think you’re making a big mistake and should come back with us!" She wiped a tear from her eye and added, "but we can’t force you to come with us if you don't want to.”

Diamond smiled with tears in her eyes as she threw out her wings and wrapped around the three fillies. She then began to bawl and cry, “Thank you so much for giving me a second chance. Being here, I realized how horrible I was to you, and I couldn’t help but feel ashamed of myself.”

The three were abit surprised and abit sheepish about their former bully, now hugging and apologizing. Still, they hugged back as Snowflake stood by, placing a hoof over her chest, and with a warm smile on her face, she said. “Oh, I wish I had a camera.”

Diamond laughed as she wiped the tears from her eyes. “Thank you, Celestia. We don’t. I don’t want my first picture with my friends looking all sad and moody.”

She then stepped back and asked, “Now, is there anything else I can do for you before you go?”

The Crusaders shrugged, and Apple Bloom shook her head. " No, I think that covers everything. Just be safe.”

“Yeah, you too.”

Diamond then opened her window and said, “You probably should go out this way. The teachers monitor the halls in the evening.”

She then tied up some blankets together and created a little rope for the Crusaders to climb down, and the three fillies waved goodbye as they headed back to the train station and boarded the train heading to Ponyville just in time. As they went to their seats, Scooaloo slumped down by the window and watched as they went down the mountainside. She let out an annoyed sigh and grumbled, “We should’ve convinced her to come.”

Sweetie Belle looked backward, seeing the looming building of Coldstone Acadamy fading into the distance, and grumbled, “Yeah, me too. It feels wrong leaving her there.”

Apple Bloom turned back and said, “No, she’s doing the right thing. She’s helping so many ponies find their cutie marks or helping them learn what they mean. Besides, we got the letters, and Filthy Rich will get her out of that school, so she’ll be back in Ponyville in no time. So don’t be sad our Mission was a success!”

“Yeah!” the three foals slapped their hooves together. The three sat back in their seats and talked about how cool it was learning Diamond Tiara was an alicorn and how surprised everypony in Ponyville would react to the news.