Scootaloo smiled as she waited for Applebloom on the intersection they’d meet at every morning for school. She had a lot to tell her, so much to plan, so much to be excited about. The winter chill didn’t seem to phase her as she stood still, looking down the street for her sister’s bow to come bouncing.

An annoying voice rang from behind her, making her roll her eyes. “He~y, blank flank. Waiting for your mate?”

Scootaloo turned to Diamond Tiara and grinned. “High, DT. I missed you yesterday at the lake, I was hoping you’d be there so I could give you something.”

Silver Spoon leaned in to whisper. “Uh oh, Diamond, watch out, she might finally have snapped.”

Diamond flicked her mane before she walked faster ahead, going within a pace from Scootaloo to challenge her. Getting hit would open a whole new world of torment she could use, even after Scootaloo got her cutie mark.

Silver Spoon stood back, holding a proud facade while her knees trembled. If Apple Bloom came out of nowhere, she’d be ready to run, screaming, for help.

“Diamond Tiara,” Scootaloo said raising her hoof from the ground. The snow stuck to her boots for a moment before falling to the ground in small clumps. Diamond Tiara grinned venomously, standing stock still, thinking of the things she could say.

Scootaloo moved fast, pulling Diamond into a hug, first with one foreleg, then the other, pulling her in until their chests were touching and Diamond couldn’t get a good enough grip on Scootaloo’s coat to push her away.

“Let me go. Let me go you filthy peasant! You’re going to mess up my mane with your dirty fillyfooler hooves and fur. Silver, help, she’s trying to mate with me,” Diamond said as she struggled. Other ponies began to stop to watch and listen to the mare as she made a large scene.

“Diamond Tiara, thank you so much for being such a great friend,” she said loudly, trying to go over Diamond’s shouting, “you’ve always been encouraging us to get our cutie marks and we didn’t realize it; you’re the best friend a filly could have.”

Silver watched in disbelief as Diamond continued to scream insult after insult against the filly and her friends before Scootaloo let her go, only to be pushed back into the snow. Diamond Tiara landed on her boots and spat at Scootaloo.

“If you think I would ever be a friend to a disgusting little pile of plot like you, you’re as stupid as your whore mothers!” she shouted before turning around to the shocked faces of no less than fifteen ponies that had stopped to watch the events unfold. “Um, we’re acting in a play,” Diamond said looking to her friend.

“Right, Silver Spoon? We’re acting in a play,” Diamond told her.

Silver looked shocked at first then frowned. “No, my mother’s want me to go to school on time,” she said raising her nose in the air before turning right and moving through the crowd.

“Oh my,” Scootaloo feigned a gasp and spoke softly, under the murmur of the crowd, “I hope this doesn’t hurt your reputation with the herds in town.”

“Scootaloo!” Apple Bloom called as she trotted up. “What’s happening, did she hit you?”

“No, it’s okay, Apple Bloom, our best friend just got upset,” she said with a wink. “Don’t worry, Diamond, you can still meet me alone at the clubhouse later to, talk this out.”

Diamond turned and scowled. “This isn’t over,” she proclaimed before turning toward the schoolhouse and walking ahead, the crowd parting, watching her, as she left.

---

“That poor filly.”

“Why would she say something so vile?

“I heard her father is a monogamist, by choice.”

“What play would have fillies talking smut like that?”

“Why would she refuse a hug?”

---

Scootaloo smiled as she stood and shook the snow off her, as best she could, fluttering her wings to clear them as well.

“C’mon, sis,” Scootaloo chirped, “we’ve got a big day of school ahead of us! We have to keep our perfect attendance and high grades, you know.”

Apple Bloom looked around briefly before she hurriedly caught up to Scootaloo.

“Scootaloo, what just happened, did she hit you? Are you okay? Lemme see yer face.”

“I’m fine Apple Bloom, I just had a talk with mother’s and they told me to just hug the mean out of her… more or less. So, I took matters into my own hooves and it worked better than I thought it would.”

“But, Scootaloo, ya made her look like a fool, what if she get’s even?”

“I’m not worried about that, I have contingency plans.”

“What?”

“It means, Apple Bloom, that if I have to, I’ll keep hugging her in public until she leaves us alone from embarrassment.”

“O-kay, I guess that makes sense,” Apple Bloom said looking intently at the smile and confidence on Scootaloo’s face, “but, what about Silver Spoon? Ya didn’t hug her away.”

“A.B., Diamond took care of that herself. She called mother’s a bad name that hurt Silver’s feelings. It’ll be a couple days before they’re both bugging us again, and if you’re willing to, could you hug Silver Spoon?”

“Oh yeah, we used ta be really good friends, until… somethin’ happened.”

“Really? You never told me,” Scootaloo said as they passed the last houses, the schoolhouse in view as other fillies and colts were making their way to it as well.

“Mah parents… left us.”

“Oh, I’m sorry. I kinda forgot about that.”

“No, it’s okay. Ah mean, it was horrible’n all. All Ah wanted was mah best friend, and that was when she went ta Diamond Tiara.”

“Wow, that really sucks, Apple Bloom. Did you ever find out why she left you when you needed her most?”

“Nope. Ah didn’t, but whatever the reason it don’t matter now. It’s the past, right? All Ah can do is move on.”

“Well, we’re here, so I wanna know about the rest of the story later.”

They walked into the warm schoolhouse and exhaled the last breath of chilled air, inhaling the warm air as warm, prickly, tingles rushed through their bodies. They went to the locker wall and undressed, enjoying the feel of air on their bodies again before as they gossiped to their seats.

“Well, well, well. If it isn’t the foolers,” Diamond Tiara mocked, “need to use some tissues for when you’re done?” she asked.

Scootaloo and Apple Bloom smiled to each other as they approached Diamond Tiara.

“What’re you going to do? You can’t embarrass me here,” she snarked, looking away. Miss Cherilee watched from her desk to see what would happen, hoping it was a reason to send Diamond Tiara to the corner for a good part of the starting hour, again.

The fillies approached her and went to both sides of her desk. Rearing they wrapped her in a double sided, unwanted hug. They nuzzled her and Apple Bloom had begun to pet Diamond’s mane softly in the two seconds from the time they started the hug.

“Augh! Get off me, you daughters of whores! I’m glad your parents are dead,” Diamond Tiara shrieked, sending the class into silence, except for her struggles against the fillies holding her, eyes wide in shock.

“If your mom wasn’t I bet she’d still be here to teach you how to do it, get off me!”

Scootaloo leaned back and looked into the ragged, mean, hate filled face of Diamond Tiara who looked more vicious than any pony should. Apple Bloom’s eyes met Scootaloo’s before she turned and ran for the door.

Miss Cheerilee was faster and grabbed the filly by her sides and looked with distain at the angry filly who pushed Scootaloo away and crossed her forelegs in frustration. Apple Bloom cried openly, quickly hugging her teacher as she was carried out of the schoolhouse to the teacher’s room a few paces back from the student entrance.

The room was silent, save for the students breathing, staring at Diamond Tiara…

---

“Apple Bloom, it’s okay, just cry. I’m here for you,” Cheerilee decided to say, “what she said was inexcusable and she’ll have to answer for it on her own time. Don’t worry about what she said, okay?”

Minutes passed before Apple Bloom could stop crying enough to pull herself free from her teacher and look into her eyes.

“Miss Cheerilee, it’s okay. I-I just wasn’t expecting her to say that… I mean, I’d heard some things when I was a foal about how they… left us, but no pony ever said they were happy.”

“And no pony is, little mare. She’s just angry and confused. I’ll have a talk with her, are you okay to finish school today?”

Apple Bloom almost said yes before the thought of seeing Diamond, and the other students, made her heart ache. It was her responsibility to get an education though, so she nodded slightly.

“Very well, Apple Bloom. Let’s go back to class and I’ll send Diamond to the dunce corner, does that sound okay to you?”

“Yeah, I guess. It just feels like, she always gets away with bein’ mean, and I don’t know what ta do, mama. I mean Miss Cheerilee!” she blushed as she tried to recover.

“Apple Bloom, it’s perfectly fine to feel that way, she get’s away just by the skin of her teeth. I’ll have this cleared up… what’s that sound?”

---

Scootaloo looked in shock at Diamond Tiara as she sat in her seat, forelegs crossed and wearing a scowl.

“Diamond, that was really mean,” Silver Spoon said quietly as she reached to poke her friend.

“Oh, shut up! You didn’t back me up earlier, where were you when I needed you?”

“Y-you’re being unreasonable, Diamond. My herd has three mothers, and they all love me.”

“Yeah, so? That doesn’t mean anything,” Diamond retorted, “my mother loves me, you don’t hear me whining about it.”

Silver huffed in frustration. “You’re just jealous that your father only has one mare and you, that’s what my moms and dad says.”

“You dad’s just as dumb as her mother's,” Diamond said pointing to Scootaloo.

“Hey, you don’t have to be a… bitch about it,” Scootaloo said reluctantly, her ears lowering as the class made a collective ‘ooo’ sound, enthralled by the argument.

“A bitch? A little slit licker like you has no right to talk to me, go taste your mom.”

“What?! That’s so insulting on so many reasons, why’re you so evil?” Scootaloo retorted.

“Evil? I’m not evil, Apple Bloom’s mother is! She tried to ruin my family, I can’t believe you didn’t know that. All I’m doing is treating her like she deserves.”

“Enough, Diamond Tiara,” Silver Spoon shouted, “I can’t believe that’s the reason you think she’s… She’s the nicest filly I know, knew, before you came along.”

“Don’t you take her side, Silvie. You know if she didn’t die she’d have gone after your dad next.”

Silver spoon lunged from her seat toward Diamond, knocking her from her desk and pinning her to the floor. The class erupted in a chorus of shouts as Silver Spoon began to roll, struggling for dominance in their fight.

Diamond Tiara rolled Silver to her back and pinned her, raising a hoof before Scootaloo tackled her from the side, freeing Silver Spoon who rolled to her four hooves and leapt onto Scootaloo’s back, biting her mane and tugging.

Scootaloo yelped in surprise, pulling her head down, trying to yank free; only to connect her forehead to Diamond’s muzzle.

Scootaloo twisted and swung a hoof, connecting with Silver Spoon’s neck, freeing her mane before she felt a sharp pain on her right pastern.

Diamond was biting, hard. Before Scootaloo could attack back she felt a thud against her belly as another pointed pain stung her. She spit up a little bile onto Diamond’s face before she knew what happened.

Silver screamed and whacked Scootaloo across the side with Diamond’s saddlebags, sending her to the floor for a second before she flapped her wings and hovered to a stable position.

She looked as Silver pounced on Diamond and realized that they were both fighting for the right to beat the snot out of Diamond.

She felt adrenaline coursing through her body as her mind buzzed. It was different than when she was flying around town on her scooter, this was… primal.

She leaned forward and flew ahead, for the first time, making a target; she knocked silver spoon in the side right into Diamond’s desk and landed on top of Diamond Tiara, who was bleeding from several cuts on her muzzle. Her forelegs were up, guarding herself as she squirmed to get free.

“Two FUCKING years! You’ve been a horrible,” punch, “bitch to me and my friends,” slap, “for two years!” she spat into Diamond’s open mouth before Apple Bloom tackled and pinned her to the floor.

“Scootaloo, what the hay?!”

“Children, take your seats,” Cheerilee shouted at the class who quickly scurried to their seats, looking intently at the four fillies on the floor near the front of the class; the ones in the back craned their necks to try to see the aftermath of the first fight in three years.

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