Ditzy made her way to the schoolhouse. She was nearly bouncing when she got to the gate. It took all her willpower to stay on her hooves and not take flight. Her mood faltered as she saw her daughter standing with Cheerilee. Dinky was looking down, very embarrassed. No, not embarrased. Angry!

Cheerilee had a weary smile on her face.

Scootaloo, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle looked back as they passed Ditzy. Ditzy overheard snippets of their conversation.

“‘s not fair!” Apple Bloom whined.

“She deserved worse!” Scootaloo muttered.

Ditzy’s heart sank. She felt a twitch on her face, and she struggled to keep her eyes focused. She took a deep breath, and cantered up to Cheerilee.

“Hey Muffin,” she nuzzled her daughter. “Is everything okay?”

Cheerilee answered for her. “Dinky had a little fight today. Are you headed home now?”

Ditzy nodded.

“May I join you?” Cheerilee asked.

“Ummm, sure.” Ditzy tried to sound friendly, but she doubted she did. Cheerilee was frowning and breathing heavily. It made her worry all the more.

Things had been going so well for her daughter. What went wrong?

They did not have far to go, within five minutes they were at Ditzy’s door. Ditzy lead the way, unlocked the door, but once again had trouble where the door stuck. She tried to push against it, but with her wing still healing, she struggled until Dinky came to help.

As they walked through the door, Ditzy noticed Cheerilee frowning at the door.

“Landlord won’t fix it,” Ditzy muttered, hanging her head in embarrassment. She turned to her daughter. “Dinky, why don’t you go play outside for a little bit?”

Ditzy wandered into the kitchen. She should at least be hospitable.

“Tea?”

Behind her, Cheerilee broke into laughter.

Ditzy had finished making tea, and sat down with Cheerilee. Cheerilee had calmed down by this time, and had proceeded to explain what had happened.

It was just after the children came back from lunchtime, Cheerilee had explained. She’d told the children to take out the mathematics books as she was writing some equations on the blackboard. She could hear a few of the girls arguing, so she had turned around and told them to settle down, then went back to writing on the blackboard.

“It takes enough to write on a blackboard without getting chalk in your mouth.” Cheerilee had sighed.

Her writing was interrupted by a sudden shout.

“When I turned back around, Diamond Tiara was screaming, sopping wet. Hovering above her was my emptied glass.”

Cheerilee giggled.

“She was outraged,” Cheerilee shook her head.

“So Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle-”

“Were busy holding Scootaloo back,” Cheerilee laughed again. “Had they not, I think Diamond Tiara would have ended up a lot worse than just wet.”

Ditzy let out a breath she wasn’t aware she was holding.

“What happened?”

Cheerilee had to talk to the girls separately to get the full story. Evidently, Diamond Tiara had been laughing with Silver Spoon, they’d been teasing Dinky about the tattered condition of her books. Cheerilee had been told that the breaking point was when Diamond Tiara had told Dinky the only thing worse than being a blank flank was being a poor blank flank.

Ditzy held back tears. She was supposed to shield her daughter from all this.

“When Filthy Rich came to pick Diamond Tiara up, he was furious,” Cheerilee continued. “I had to explain what had happened, and I told him I would speak to you. So, here I am. Speaking.”

“Is Dinky going to be suspended,” Dinky asked, trying to hide the terror in her voice.

“No,” Cheerilee shook her head, “she’s already been disciplined. I just wanted you to know what had happened. Though I know you will talk to her.”

Cheerilee looked around.

“Now that that business is done with, I was wondering what you were doing Friday night?”

“Ummm, I don’t think I am doing anything.”

“Well, normally it would be improper of me to ask one of the parents of my students, but,” she hesitated, “Big Mac and I are meeting an old friend at The Parched Saddle. I thought if you could find a sitter, you might like to join us?”

“I wouldn’t be intruding?”

“No, of course not. We’d love for you to come along. We’ll be heading there at six. Oh, I do hope you can make it.” Cheerilee beamed, holding out her hooves. “Anyway, I must be going. Thank you for the tea.”

As Cheerilee left, Ditzy called Dinky inside. Dinky slunk through the doorway, her anger obviously dissipated.

“I’m sorry, momma.”

Ditzy looked down, and saw her daughter was truly sorry.

“What are you sorry for?”

“I got you in trouble with Miss Cheerilee.”

“You didn’t get me in trouble.” Ditzy made her way to their bed. “Come up here, my little muffin.”

Dinky climbed onto the bed, and nestled herself between her mother’s forearms. Ditzy lowered her head to her daughter, her pale gold mane obscuring everything but Dinky’s eyes. She planted a small kiss on Dinky’s forehead.

“Tell me what happened today.”

Dinky repeated most of what Cheerilee had just told her. The hurt in Dinky’s voice returned as she repeated the taunts from Diamond Tiara.

“What do we do when somepony says something mean to us?” Ditzy asked.

“We talk about it with somepony,” Dinky answered softly.

“Very good,” Ditzy smiled. “We talk about how it hurts our feelings. You could talk about it with your teacher, Miss Cheerilee. You could talk about it with your friends. You have three young fillies who care for you very much.”

Dinky sniffled.

“And you can always come talk about it with your momma,” Ditzy drew her daughter into a warm embrace. “You can always talk with me; you will always be my little muffin.

“Now, did you want to do your homework while I make dinner?”

“Okay momma,” Dinky got down off the bed. Looking back, she said, “I am sorry I tipped the water on Diamond Tiara.” Next Chapter: Chapter 10 Estimated time remaining: 37 Minutes