The bell was ringing. The fillies were entering their classroom to begin their school day. Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo were going in to learn different things from Ms. Cheerilee. It had always excited fillies like them with so much life inside. Unfortunately though, they still had their usual problem; every so often, the two fillies Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon would insult the girls for not yet having cutie marks.
"Blank flanks!" they would often yell in unison.
This had always troubled the girls ever since the day they met. Ever since Diamond Tiara's cute-ceañera, she had invited ponies to her celebration for discovering her special talent, and became the best of friends with Silver Spoon.
"Bump! Bump! Sugar-lump, rump!" they would always say to each other as their own motto.
Other times, they would simply follow the crusaders around to crack a joke at their expense. If not that, they would try to get an upper hand in something to act better than them. And despite the crusaders always triumphing in the end, Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon were at least comforted to know that they at least had the company of one another.
Meanwhile, the three fillies had made their own club known as the cutie mark crusaders, in which blank flanks worked to find their special talent.
On this day, the crusaders were walking in the playground, writing out plans for their next meeting, while writing a letter to Apple Bloom's cousin, and new member of the group, Babs Seed. They were excited because Babs Seed lived all the way in Manehatten, giving the cutie mark crusaders a chance to write.
"Alright girls, ah'll keep this in my bag so ah can send it in the post when ah get home", Apple Bloom said cheerfully, with a jolly smile.
"Now we just need to plan out what we're doing today", Scootaloo noted.
"Let's go inside the classroom to write out ideas", Sweetie Belle suggested.
The three young fillies were on their way inside but heard a voice coming from a corner. It sounded like Silver Spoon. The crusaders peeped at a corner of the school and noticed Silver talking to Diamond Tiara.
"Please don't leave, Silver", Diamond Tiara pleaded, as she got on her knees.
"I've made up my mind", Silver Spoon said furiously. "You lied to me, and I just can't forgive you for that. You were a fraud this whole time. I'm leaving you." Silver Spoon turned her head to go, as Diamond Tiara stayed on the ground, looking down in shame. But just there, she raised her head.
Diamond Tiara began to snap. "You can't leave me! I made you who you are. You are nothing without me!" she yelled.
Silver Spoon turned around to answer her former friend. "Good, I'd rather be nothing than a liar who fools other ponies just because she's lonely!"
Silver Spoon marched with anger away from her former friend. She passed the three fillies. "Out of my way blank flanks", she commanded in a much more serious tone than usual.
Apple Bloom and her two friends walked towards a sad Diamond Tiara. Normally, Diamond Tiara would't show any sadness. She would always try acting better than everyone without losing any type of dignity. Today it was different.
"What happened there?" Apple Bloom asked curiously in a casual manner.
Diamond Tiara lowered her eyebrows in slight rage. "None of your business!" Diamond Tiara yelled furiously, as she marched past the girls. The CMC looked at each other with confused expressions.
The school bell rang, and the fillies left the school to go back to their homes. The crusaders were walking to their clubhouse. "Ah wonder why Diamond Tiara's so mad", Apple Bloom wondered.
"What do you care?" Scootaloo asked. "Silver Spoon came to her senses. Diamond Tiara deserves this."
Sweetie Belle nodded in agreement.
Apple Bloom was shocked. "But girls, there could be somethin' wrong", Apple Bloom thought. "Just 'cause she's mean, we should talk to 'er anyway. Besides, she's not actin' as stuck-upful as usual".
Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo reluctantly agreed, as the crusaders began to leave, to go to Diamond Tiara's home.
The crusaders stood outside Diamond Tiara's home. Scootaloo knocked on the door of the house. Filthy Rich opened it.
"Hi, is Diamond Tiara home?" Sweetie Belle asked.
Filthy Rich began to speak. "She doesn't really want to be seen right now", he said nonchalantly. "She's in too bad of a mood".
Filthy Rich closed the door, and the crusaders were now more anxious than ever to know what was going on. Never before, has Diamond Tiara been so secretive about anything.
The girls made their way back to Sweet Apple Acres. Applejack galloped out the door to meet them.
"Apple Bloom, you're home later than usual", Applejack said worriedly.
"Sorry, Applejack", Apple Bloom apologized. "We went to Diamond Tiara's house."
"What?" Applejack said in a shocked tone. "Ah thought she was a bully."
"She is", Scootaloo said.
"But Silver Spoon stopped being friends with her for some reason", Sweetie Belle added.
"We wanted to find out, but Filthy Rich told us that Diamond Tiara was in too bad a mood", Apple Bloom said.
Applejack nodded. "Alright girls, maybe ya should wait until Diamond Tiara is in a better mood before we talk 'bout somethin' serious that happened to her. She's a mite' busy with whatevers happenin'
The crusaders agreed. They would rather wait until Diamond Tiara was in a better mood. After all, she yelled at them very defensively the first time.
Two full weeks had passed however. Diamond Tiara was in a mopey state of depression. She didn't talk to anypony at all. She was sadder than ever. Whenever she walked, she did it much more slowly than the average filly. Her eyes were saggy, from lack of sleep. Her tiara was rusty. Her hair was messed up, and she hadn't washed in weeks.
Whenever asked a question by Cheerilee in class, Diamond Tiara would simply not answer at all. Whenever she passed Silver Spoon along the corridor, the grey colored filly would push her down.
Soon enough, Cheerilee tried finding out what was going on.
"Alright class, and that is how the weather works in Equestria", Cheerilee said, as she finished her lesson for the day.
The school bell chimed, and the fillies were off. Diamond Tiara slowly pushed back her chair to get out of it, as she slowly walked out the door while looking at the floorboards.
"One moment, Diamond Tiara", Cheerilee said, as Diamond Tiara stood in her place. "You've been acting awfully strange these past few weeks. Is there something bothering you?"
Diamond Tiara shivered in her place. "Uh... no", Diamond Tiara said timidly.
"Are you sure?" Cheerilee asked. "You haven't been as enthusiastic as usual. You can tell me if you want".
"I'm serious Ms. Cheerilee", Diamond Tiara answered. "I'm fine". Diamond Tiara clopped off, as Cheerilee looked at her with worry. Cheerilee grabbed a piece of paper and started writing on it.
Meanwhile, Silver Spoon was getting on differently. She had made up a lie to Snips and Snails about how she used a spoon to find buried treasure. Ever since, the duo had become friends with her. Silver Spoon regularly ignored Diamond Tiara, not caring a single bit.
One day, Silver Spoon was eating lunch with Snips and Snails. Silver Spoon was paying little attention, peering over at Diamond Tiara, who had a look of distressedness on her face.
Snips was finishing telling a story while Snails' eyes sparkled as he listened in wonder, and interest.
"And that's how I pulled the lamp out of my nose". Snips' eyes darted to the left, at Silver Spoon, who seemed a little interested in Diamond Tiara. "Hey, SIlver Spoon, are you alright?" Snips asked.
Silver Spoon stuttered for a second "Uh... yeah, sure". She turned around away from where she looked, as she continued to eat her apple.
At Diamond Tiara's home, her father, Filthy Rich opened the door to her bedroom, and saw her looking at the ground on her bed.
"Listen Diamond", he asked. "I got a report from Miss Cheerilee. She thinks that there's something bothering you. Is there?"
Diamond Tiara began to snap once again. "I already told her I'm fine".
Filthy Rich put his hoof around his daughter's shoulder and hugged her. "It's okay, Diamnd Tiara", he said.
"But it's not!" she answered. She pulled her father out of his hold and she ran off fearfully. Filthy Rich was confused.
After the two weeks, Apple Bloom came to a conclusion in the playground. Rather than do their normal planning, the crusaders had a new plan.
"Consarn it", Apple Bloom said frustratingly. "We need to ask her what's goin' on". Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo were in agreement. They didn't want anyone, no matter how bad they were, to feel like this.
Diamond Tiara stood in the same spot she always stood in at recess ever since her fight with Silver Spoon; on the see-saw, pushing it up and down for herself. Her tiara was now missing, and there seemed to be some bumps on her head.
"Uh, Diamond Tiara", Sweetie Belle said nervously.
"We want to ask you what's been troubling you", Scootaloo added.
"Yeah, what is it?" Apple Bloom asked.
Diamond Tiara sighed. "Just please leave me alone".
"But we just want to he-" Scootaloo started before she was interrupted by Diamond Tiara.
"I said leave me alone!" she yelled, with wide bloodshot eyes easier to see.
"I... I just want to be alone... that's all I'll ever be", she said tearfully, as Apple Bloom noticed a tear streaming from her eyes.
"Listen here Diamond Tiara, you don't need to be alone", Apple Bloom said as she put a hoof around Diamond's shoulder.
"Yeah, you can be friends with us", Sweetie Belle cheered in her positive attitude.
"You don't understand", Diamond Tiara said. "I can never have friends after what Silver Spoon found out".
"But what did she find out?" Scootaloo asked curiously.
Diamond Tiara let off a sigh. "I suppose I should come clean."
Diamond Tiara walked into the classroom with the crusaders. She put her hoof under running water, and rubbed her wet hoof on her flank, in the area of her cutie mark. Rather than just make her flank wet though, her cutie mark appeared to be messy.
Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo gasped.
"Is that..." Scootaloo wondered.
"Yes. It's paint", Diamond Tiara said. "It's always been paint. I haven't discovered my special talent yet. Diamond Tiara opened her saddle, and picked up a piece of paper which was a picture of a tiara. She painted it grey, and cut out the paper, as she stuck the rest of the drawing onto her flank.
"But then, why'd ya make a party celebratin' yourself gettin' a cutie mark?" Apple Bloom asked in a confused tone.
Diamond Tiara sighed and looked at Apple Bloom.
"Remember that time when you said in school about your sister saving the whole town from Nightmare Moon? Well, everyone started to like you. I was jealous. I was annoyed that you were getting praise from everypony over your sister's achievement. So I tried making a fool out of you. I painted my tiara on my flank and I went into school with my cutie mark. Silver Spoon, who previously had no friends, really liked my cutie mark because it was pretty. I decided to try and get a sidekick so I could be noticed even more. With you being the only one I knew without a cutie mark, I made everyone forget about your sister's achievement. That way, it would make me seem like I was better than you".
Diamond Tiara turned to Sweetie Belle and Scootaloo. "But once you two came around, I wanted to do everything I could to make fun of you at any chance I get. Like when I discovered that Granny Smith was different from other ponies, or when I tried taking charge of the newspaper team so I could have a bigger role than you. But no matter what, you kept on showing me up. This is why I had Silver Spoon. So she could be somepony I could turn to when I was sad. When she discovered that I had a fake cutie mark, and learnt why I was friends with her in the first place, she left me, and hasn't talked to me since".
The crusaders were shocked. This whole time they thought she was just a bully.
"But wait", Apple Bloom said. "Why're ya' jealous of me?" she asked. "Ah never did much to ya".
Diamond Tiara answered her.
"My daddy really likes your family. He always gets food from you. But everytime he comes home, he always rambles on about how great you, your brother and sister, and your granny are. He never praises me because I haven't accomplished much. This made me more jealous of you, Apple Bloom. And when that big accomplishment your sister and her friends did spread around the town, my daddy was delighted. He rambled on all day about your sister. I had enough because of that.
"But how did Silver Spoon find out?" Sweetie Belle wondered.
"Remember that upcoming race for the fillies we had at school a few weeks ago?", Diamond Tiara asked. "Silver Spoon was entering, and she was drinking lots of water. Silver Spoon was drinking the bottle of water energetically in her hoof, and did some jogging on the spot. She drank more of the bottle and felt so hyperactive that she threw it at me, bouncing off my flank, and revealing my secret. After that, my friend left me... my only friend".
Diamond Tiara put her hooves over her eyes, as she weeped. Apple Bloom gave a sympathethic look at her. Apple Bloom noticed a roll of tissue paper beside the sink. She cut some off and handed it to Diamond Tiara to dry her tears with.
As her eyes cleared more, Diamond Tiara looked at Apple Bloom. "I'm sorry for what I've done to you and your friends", she said while now looking at Apple Bloom timidly, scared of what she'd do to her. "Now if you'll excuse me, I have a see-saw to get to". Diamond Tiara clopped slowly out the door.
The crusaders watched Diamond go out the door. "Wait!" Apple Bloom yelled. Diamond Tiara turned around.
"What is it?" she asked.
"We can be your friends", Apple Bloom said.
"I've already told you, I can't be friends after what I've done", Diamond Tiara responded.
"We know", Sweetie Belle said. "But now we've heard your story."
"We know how you feel", Scootaloo added. "Before the three of us met, we didn't have many friends."
"And if there's one thing ah learnt from Applejack, it's that you should always give ponies a second chance, even if they're a mite' mean to you", Apple Bloom said.
"Really?" Diamond Tiara asked.
"Sure. You can join the cutie mark crusaders. We're always looking for new members", Scootaloo noted.
"That way, ya can find your cutie mark with the help of us", Apple Bloom said.
Diamond Tiara smiled, the biggest smile she ever had. She had tears of joy. She trotted over to the three crusaders and wrapped them around her for a hug, as she spoke.
"Thank you... thank you".
The bell rang for the class to leave and go home. The crusaders walked out with their new best friend. They waited outside for Rarity, who was collecting all of them today.
As Rarity walked towards them to greet them, Spike came following her in his usual passionate way. "There you are, girls", Rarity said.
"Why hello there, Diamond Tiara", Rarity greeted. "So what brings you here?" she asked.
Sweetie Belle began to explain everything to Rarity.
"So, you three are friends with her now?" Rarity asked.
"Eeyup", Apple Bloom answered. "In fact, Spike, take a letter please, to the princess."
Spike grabbed a quill and paper, and began to write down a letter to Celestia, as Apple Bloom cleared her throat to speak.
"Dear Princess Celestia, today, me and my fellow crusaders learnt a valuable lesson 'bout friendship".
"No matter how bad a pony is, you need to look inside them more to find the good inside", Scootaloo added.
"And once you do, you can find things about them that you never knew before", added Sweetie Belle.
"Once ya' spend time with a pony who seems bad, you can discover good things 'bout them that ya' never learnt before. And in the end, that can open up more possibilities for friendship", Apple Bloom noted.
"Signed, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle, and Scootaloo", Scootaloo finished.
Spike breathed fire on the letter, and it was sent to the princess. "That should do it", Spike said.
"Good", said Apple Bloom. "Now Diamond, what'd you say we introduce ya' to our clubhouse", Apple Bloom asked.
"That sounds great", Diamond Tiara said.
And with that, the crusaders were on their way, with a new member, and a new friend. Silver Spoon looked in the distance and sighed, as she spoke to herself. "We all need to move on someday". Silver Spoon picked up a tiara she had taken, and carried it home with her.
The End
