"Such a cute little colt he's made. I'll be glad to include him in the school system." Cherilee said.

"Thank you, Miss Cheerilee." Twilight said.

"You don't have to give me a prefix if you don't want to. I may not be like Applejack or Fluttershy, but I would like to get to know you better. I really should do that as you are Celestia's student." Cherilee said.

"All the same, the kids treat you with respect." Twilight said. "You're the most well-liked teacher ever it seems." She added.

"Well, I'm...only doing what feels right." Cherilee said.

---

"Something up with Silver Spoon, I sort of ran into her on the way here, but she wasn't even talking. I wonder what's up with her." Scootaloo said. Suddenly Silver Spoon showed up pissed and pushed Scootaloo into mud.

"YOU BLANK FLANKS ARE GONNA PAY! DIAMOND TIARA STOPPED BEING MY FRIEND!" Silver Spoon said. But then the gray pony was pulled back.

"...Leave. Now." Diamond Tiara said. "This ends here. This is exactly the reason why I stopped being your friend. I don't know why I continued to let you talk me into bullying and belittling others." She added.

"Tch. We're better than these blank flanks." Silver Spoon said.

"Oh really? Then maybe you forgot what it was like." Diamond Tiara said. Suddenly Celestia showed up. "But perhaps you'd like a reminder instead." The pink earth pony said.

"Wh-what?" Silver Spoon asked.

"I won't let you continue to bully the Cutie Mark Crusaders. We weren't so different from them once; you know that right? We both did a lot of things to try and get our cutie marks. I know I did. And then I discovered that I do great with business stuff and got mine first. Then you come along and start being all high and mighty giving me ideas on how to talk down to others. Well, I don't want any more of it. Perhaps you need a reminder of what it was like." Diamond Tiara said.

"Am I...seeing what I think I'm seeing?" Sweetie Belle asked.

"If you're seeing Diamond Tiara defending us then...I'm seeing it too." Scootaloo said.

"Ah got nothing to add." Apple Bloom said.

"Me neither." Spike said.

"What are you talking about Deets?" Silver Spoon asked.

"You don't get to call me that anymore. Not unless you learn what it means to be a real friend for a change. I'm done with pretending this was okay. I'm done with bullying others. And I'm done not having real friends." Diamond Tiara said.

"But...I am a real friend." Silver Spoon said.

"No. No, you're not." Diamond Tiara said. "Your bullying of others needs to stop. I'm done with it. I'm done with faking it too." She added.

"...Am I not even going to get our usual thing?" Silver Spoon asked.

"Nope. You don't get sympathy for what you've been doing." Diamond Tiara said.

"But...what happens to me now?" Silver Spoon asked.

"That depends on you." Celestia said before casting a spell. "The spell I just cast will let me know the next time you bully someone. And that happens, you will glow, and you won't stop glowing until you are brought face first to me." The white alicorn explained. "And at that point well...I hate to do this to one of my own subjects, but I'll have to cast a spell to remove your cutie mark until you have learnt your lesson." She added. "So, consider this your last chance." The alicorn finished before leaving. Silver Spoon said nothing and went away.

"That...felt good." Diamond Tiara said before taking a deep breath but noticed the CMC and Spike looking at her. "...What? Oh...you...saw that and heard that...not what I was hoping for. Was hoping for this to be private. But I had to do something when I saw her attacking Scootaloo." The pink earth pony said, sheepishly.

"That...was...AWESOME!" Scootaloo said.

"I just...did what was right is all." Diamond Tiara said.

"Hey, if you want to you know...hang out sometime with us, we'll let you." Sweetie Belle said.

"Just no more secrets." Apple Bloom said.

"I...can't guarantee telling all my secrets. At least not yet. I'm not ready for that yet." Diamond Tiara said.

"When you're ready, we'll be waiting." Apple Bloom said.

"What? Why wait?" Scootaloo said.

"Please Scootaloo..." Sweetie Belle said. "I know she bullied us a lot, but she needs time to open up to us." She added.

"Oh...alright fine. But only because I owe her for getting Silver Spoon off me." Scootaloo said.

"I'll give you one freebie at least to show I'm serious: My father is all I've got for family right now." Diamond Tiara said.

"...Did not expect that." Scootaloo said, now suddenly singing a different tone. "I guess something happened with your mom to make her get cut out of your life." The pegasus filly said.

"Something like that. But that's all I'm saying regarding the subject. I'm...not fully ready to move past what happened right now." Diamond Tiara said.

"Hey, take your time." Spike said.

"Yeah. We'll be waiting." Sweetie Belle said, snuggeling against her crush. Diamond Tiara smiled.

"And one more thing..." Diamond Tiara said. "I was wrong to say he doesn't deserve you. But honestly, you deserve him a lot more than I do. I'll find my special somepony someday. I can wait." She added. "Right now, I just want to have real friends for a change." The pink earth pony filly said.

Next Chapter: Chapter 5: Spike goes to school Estimated time remaining: 10 Minutes