The first thing that Diamond was aware of was pain. There was a throbbing coming from her neck, and her throat felt like she'd been eating gravel. She shifted her position slightly, and could feel a comfortable blanket lying beneath her. Moving may have been a mistake, though, as it caused her head to start pounding. She let out a low moan.
Sleep. She really needed sleep. She wanted nothing more than to escape into slumber for just a couple of hours. Burying her head in her hooves, she tried to make everything stop hurting just long enough for it all to fade away.
"You awake there, young filly?" a wavering voice called out.
No, she was asleep. No wakefulness here. Just let her sleep in her bed. Her bed?
"I'm sure you want to rest a while, but I need you awake so I can see how you're doin'. Seems like Apple Bloom did quite a number on you."
Apple Bloom? Oh, that's right, Apple Bloom had tried to kill her. Maybe she should have let her complete the job. Dying might be an improvement from the way her head felt. She moaned again.
She probed at her throat gingerly with one hoof and winced. Oh, that hurt.
Then Diamond felt another hoof pressing on her other foreleg.
"Hearts beatin' faster than the stampin' at a hoedown, but I suppose that's no surprise."
She cracked open an eye to see a wrinkled and green old lady hovering over her. This was Apple Bum's grandmother, wasn't it? So now she was being cared for by a kooky old lady on the bed of the filly who'd throttled her. Great.
"Well there you are." The old lady turned Diamond to face her, and started applying a wet rag around Diamond's throat, which, admittedly, felt wonderful. "Just take it easy. I know Filthy never was much for doctors. Ducked out of a visit any chance he got. I don't know if you're the same way, but I need to know where you're hurt. I've taken care of generations of young'uns, so I ought to have some idea what I'm doin'."
Diamond supposed that being over a hundred, she'd have learned something about medicine. Ugh, her throat felt horrible. "Wargglh."
"Try that again, dear?"
She made an attempt to clear her throat, which only made things feel worse. "W-water."
It felt like she'd been chewing razor blades. Usually if she felt like this, she'd be under the covers of her bed for days with cough drops and tissues and Graywithers taking all her meals to her. She was going to have to deal with this herself, though, wasn't she? There was no way she could just stay here.
"Of course. I'll be right back." Granny Smith got up and slowly walked out of the room. Diamond opened her other eyes and stretched out a little, trying to get as comfortable as she could, to make the most of it. She wouldn't have a chance to be on a bed again anytime soon.
So Apple Bloom had tried to kill her. She didn't have much to live for right now, but that seemed a little extreme. And what was with that crack she'd made about Scootaloo's wings? Weren't they supposed to be friends?
Diamond's headache was still going full force, but at least her mind still seemed to be mostly working. Her main idea for how to make things up to Apple Bloom seemed a bit much now, but it was all she had.
Of course, she was all beat up now, but maybe she could make that an advantage.
Her thoughts were interrupted by approaching hoofsteps. Perhaps Apple Bloom's grandmother was back. Then a big red stallion was right in front of her, huffing.
"What did you do to my sister?" Sweat poured off his forehead, and there was anger in his eyes.
So much for that. Apple Bloom's brother was going to kill her.
"I- I didn't-" she started to protest, and then started coughing. Big Macintosh didn't seem to notice her condition. Maybe it ran in the family.
"I told you not to-"
"Big Macintosh!" Granny Smith's voice came shrilly from behind him. "You get away from that poor filly at once!"
He looked behind him, and for once, looked a bit sheepish. "But Apple Bloom-"
"Apple Bloom's already done enough to her. She doesn't need more hassles from you."
"She must have done something-" He adjusted his harness and wiped some of the sweat from his brow.
"The way I heard it, Apple Bloom attacked her while she was trying to apologize. If you want to lecture somepony, save it for your lil' sister."
"And you believe everything she says?"
"That pretty little filly there didn't tell me a thing. This is what her friends told me, and I don't think they'd lie about that. Now you get over to the living room. I heard that lil' unicorn friend of hers giving Apple Bloom quite a lecture out there."
Big Macintosh turned around and slowly left the room, head hanging down.
Granny Smith sighed, and approached the bed, putting a tray with a glass and a pitcher of water on the table next to the bed, scooting a heavy vase over to make room.
"Children. Nothing but headaches and heartbreak, mark my words." She lifted up Diamond's head and tucked a pillow under it, propping her head up at an angle. "Now don't try to hold on to this. I'm going to give you some water."
Granny Smith filled the glass with water from the pitcher, and brought it up to Diamond's lips. Gulping down the water, a bit of the roughness in her throat went away, though it still felt raw. Granny Smith put the glass back on the table. "Feelin' better?"
"A little," Diamond managed.
"Good! Now I'm gonna touch you lightly in a few places. Just nod if it hurts and I'll stop."
She started probing around Diamond's chest and throat, causing Diamond to wince and nod a few times before she was done.
"Looks like mostly a few bruises, though they're hard to see with your coat. One of your hooves is bunged up, too, but I don't think that was Apple Bloom's fault. Maybe you do take after Filthy. We'll get that squared away soon enough."
With all the other aches and pains, she'd almost forgotten about that hoof. It would be a relief to have some proper care for it, and she was sure somepony in the Apple family would know how to deal with hoof trouble.
It was pretty nice to have somepony fussing over her, really.
"Why don't you tell me how you’re feelin'? Dizzy? Lightheaded? Can ya see proper, or seein' double?"
"I can see fine, and I'm not dizzy now. Head hurts, though, and my throat."
"Not surprising. She got you pretty good there. Do you remember what happened?"
"I went into her room, and Apple Bloom started yelling at me. When I tried to apologize, she said she couldn't hear me, and when I got closer, she grabbed me and put her forelegs around my throat," Diamond winced at the thought. "Then I think Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle pulled me away too hard, and I hit my head."
"You seem to remember clearly, at least. That's a good sign. Comin' over to apologize is good on you, too. Reminds me of your great-grandfather, Stinkin' Rich. He was a real stand-up stallion."
"You mean my grandfather?"
"You sayin' he wasn't great? If he did somethin' wrong, he'd fess right up to it, and take whatever the consequences were. His way of straight-talkin' and dealin' fair was why everypony went to him in the first place."
Just then, a whistling sound came into the room.
"Hold on there, young'un'. I'd best go get that. If anypony comes in while I'm gone, tell 'em to go see me in the kitchen."
Nopony'd better come in here and bug her. That'd be all she needed, Big Mac coming back or something. She was in no mood, and she wasn't sure how well she could fend somepony off, or even if she should.
She hadn't really heard that much about Stinkin' Rich from Daddy. She'd always tried to be more like him, but she wasn't sure she wanted to now, after everything, and if Stinkin' Rich was the one who made Rich Enterprises big anyways, maybe she should pay more attention to him.
Diamond hadn't really thought about it much before, but maybe Granny Smith being old actually meant she knew stuff. Now that she was thinking a bit better, Granny Smith shouldn't really be helping her, though, should she?
She heard a noise outside, but it was just Granny Smith coming back in with a tray with a few mugs with saucers over the openings, a large pot of hot water, and a box with a cross on it. She set it down on the table, and brought the box to the bed with her.
"Here, now let me just see to your hoof while the tea steeps, and you can have some right lovely tea after. Well, some right horrible tea then some right lovely tea, but you gotta take the bitter with the sweet, don'tcha?"
Granny Smith pulled out a rag and damped it down with hot water from the pot. She cleaned Diamond's hoof off, then started smearing some odd-smelling goop from a jar on it.
Meanwhile, Diamond was about at her bursting point.
"Why are you doing this?"
"You don't want to take chances with a hoof bruise like this, or it could get infected. I'll have it bandaged and covered properly in a moment."
"Not that!" Diamond Tiara said, waving her forelegs around. "Why are you being nice to me? Don't you know what I did?"
"Settle down or you'll hurt your voice more," Granny Smith said mildly, as she put a pad on Diamond's hoof and started bandaging it up. "You pushed the wagon my granddaughter was in when she broke her legs, didn'tcha?"
"Yes, I did!" Diamond said, frustration in her voice.
"Yer regrettin' it now, though, or you'd hardly be here to apologize, would you?"
At that, her sudden determination to make Granny Smith act like she was supposed to collapsed. She just nodded, and let her forelegs fall back to the bed.
"Look, dear, I'm sure you don't like to think of yourself this way, but you're just a child," Granny Smith said kindly, "and children do real stupid things sometimes. I certainly did in my time. Learnin' from those things is how you start to grow up and be an adult. Now, let me put this cover on and your hoof will be fine for a bit of walkin'."
Blinking, she wiped at her eyes irritably with one foreleg. Why did she have to be so nice? They were all supposed to hate her over here, weren't they? It was easier when they hated her, kind of. At least it was consistent.
In the meantime, Granny Smith seemed to have attached something to the bottom of her hoof and wrapped it in bandages.
"There! Just leave that on your hoof for a few days and you'll be fine. I'd tell you not to walk too much on it, but I know how young fillies are. It's cushioned, but try not to stamp down too hard. I'd best see to your throat before the water gets cold, though."
The elderly mare took the saucer off one of the cups.
"I know this tastes bad, but I'll need you to drink it all down."
She held it to Diamond's lips. Diamond gulped it down and immediately wished she hadn't. It tasted horrible. Granny Smith was still holding it to her mouth, so she didn't really have much choice but to finish it off.
Granny Smith took away the empty cup.
"Ugh. What is that stuff, mud?" Diamond noticed as she spoke that the back of her throat was actually feeling a little better.
"Tree bark, actually. Don't know the hows or whys, but that type of bark helps a lot with a sore throat. Now, lets get that taste out of your mouth and do something 'bout your head."
She gave Diamond two pills to swallow, then held the other cup of tea to Diamond's mouth. She took a small sip, wary after the last cup, but this one actually tasted like lemon and chamomile. It seemed pretty thick, but she swallowed the pills and finished it off anyways.
"Exactly how much honey did you put in there? And what were those pills?" she said after Granny Smith lowered the cup, belatedly realizing taking unknown medicine might be a bad idea, especially from ponies that have reason to be upset with you.
"Just some aspirin, and it takes a good amount of honey to coat your throat. I'm sure it feels awful."
"I think I'm starting to feel a little better. Still don't feel much like moving." Then something occurred to her. "Wait, how long have I been here?"
Granny Smith chuckled. "Not too long. And don't worry, young'un, we've already sent word to Filthy 'bout what happened. Be irresponsible not to."
Well, that wasn't what she wanted to hear. She tensed up. Was the whole thing blown? Would they all find out how pathetic and useless she really was?
She closed her eyes again. This was bad. Though some treacherous part of her thought it might not be all that bad if it meant staying here with Granny Smith longer. Who would've gone, though?
Lets see, Big Mac, Apple Bloom, and Sweetie Belle were in the other room, and Granny Smith was here…
"So Applejack went off to talk to Daddy?" she guessed. Granny Smith shook her head.
"Actually, that orange pegasus friend of Apple Bloom's said she could make it there faster. Probably back soon with the way she's always zoomin' 'round town on that thing."
"Scootaloo went to go tell Daddy?" she said carefully, hope raising up in her. Scootaloo knew her situation. Diamond was pretty sure she'd cover for her.
"Reckon that was her name. Knew it had somethin' to do with that scooter of hers. Seemed a mite upset for some reason."
After that wings crack, she probably was. That could've been part of why she wanted to get away, even.
"I'm sure you don't want to fritter away all your time talkin' with an old lady, though. Why don't you rest for a bit while she gets back, then we can see about you and Apple Bloom makin' peace? Been with you long enough to be pretty sure you'll be just fine, and I figure all her friends should be back for that."
Granny Smith gathered up the tray and box. "I'll just be outside, so don't you fret about ponies comin' in. I'd best have a little talk with Big Mac, too."
With that she left the room, not actually closing the door all the way, but enough to give Diamond some privacy. Diamond just lay there, looking at the ceiling. It felt really weird being here in Apple Bloom's room by herself, not to mention lying on her bed.
Of course, maybe that'd leave Apple Bloom thinking about how Diamond Tiara had been in her bed come nighttime. That was fun to think about. Smiling, she slipped a few loose hairs out of her mane under the pillow for Apple Bloom to find later.
So, time to strategize. She could play on how lousy she was feeling with Apple Bloom, not to mention take advantage of how little she really felt like she cared about anything right now. Shake her up a little, get an apology, get her over to the clubhouse so that she could be filled in, and make her proposal.
Yes, that sounded good. But first, she was in a bed, and she certainly was going to take advantage of it. Diamond snuggled into the covers and the blanket, and was soon fast asleep.
4616740
Nice. The world needs more Diamond Bots. And now you're officially a chapter behind again.
Don't worry, it's a short chapter...
--arcum42
That wing crack. Apple Bloom..
YESSS¡ Another chapter, perhaps short but entertaining nontheless.
I actually got excited when I thought they were sending word to Filthy, since I figured that would mean the truth would come out and things would come to a head on that front.
Dang it Scootaloo!!!
Somehow I'm not surprised Granny is the one who is most forgiving of DT. Very much in character.
And Granny Smith demonstrates that she's smarter than all of Ponyville added together.
Also, I really want to see Granny's reaction to learning about the entire disownment thing. FORCIBLE ADOPTION! Both DT and AB would be convinced they're in hell.
4618349
That'd be awesome. Seriously though a part of me can't wait to see what'd happen when it comes out in the open that she was kicked out to the streets and disowned now that you bring it up.
For a senile loon, Granny Smith can be pretty darn wise. Very Yoda-ish.
good chapter, atleast she has a plan. Even by her standards, thats pretty 'diamond' of her lol. Kinda short, hope the next one is going to be .. eventful.
I'm guessing it will be a while before the Apples find out about Filthy disowning his only daughter? You know, this brings something to mind.
All the ponies in this fiction are jerks!!! Other than Granny Smith, almost every single pony is portrayed horribly! I'm not gonna sugar coat my dialogue either. I'm an avid reader, and I see this mistake happen to even the more seasoned writers in this website.
I love your story! It actually almost made me cry at some parts! But you keep working on it! I hope that this story turns out totally awesome!
Wow filthy is gonna get a real lecture from the apples, it's gonna be bad.
Hmm, like some other readers I have to wonder how the Apple Clan will react when/if they find out that Diamond got disowned and kicked out of her home for good. Considering how they treat the importance of family, it's likely going to involve a lot of pain. Whether physical or mental we shall see.
4618858 *Eye creepily twitches*I vote for both!!
Hero: Eco, you scare me sometimes
>Ecocat<
E~
4618858 You say that like there can't be both. I can see Granny Smith totally chewing out Filthy Rich and Big Mac glaring down the stallion who's so pathetic that he would disinherit his own daughter. I understand the reason why but that doesn't excuse anything that Filthy does from here on out. I hope his life is a living hell right now.
it's called karma. kind of a ß!+@# isn't it?
4618641
I don't think they all are jerk but in all of them are upset and lots of them for good reasons.
Big Mac is in full-on protective mode considering his youngest sister may end up being crippled for life.
Applebloom is in a dark place mentallly when she made the attack as well she has more than a justifiable reason to hate DT and well she is a kid. Acting with out thinking but going full out on emotion is kind of what they do.
Filthy Rich is... well I'm not sure what his real problem is but I suspect there is something goin on there.
4618753 True, true...
4618247
Yeah. As mentioned, people sometimes say really stupid things when they are upset.
4618263
Thanks.
4618554
4618753
Funny, I put Granny Smith into another of my stories, and had people commenting that she was Yoda there, too. She is old, wrinkled, and green, I suppose.
4618773
Thanks. Some sections of this story were pretty hard to write...
4618786
It all depends who gets to him first...
--arcum42
4619754 It works.
4618264
That'd be rather ahead of schedule, I'm afraid. Scootaloo obviously wanted some time away from Apple Bloom, and that was a good way for her to get it.
Granny Smith, well, she's raised two generations of children. She ought to have her head in the right place about it. You'll notice that she's the one that really calls the shots in Sweet Apple Acres, when it comes down to it, too.
4618349
4618408
Diamond wouldn't have trouble with Granny Smith taking care of her at the moment. Living with Apple Bloom, OTOH...
--arcum42
4618614
I'm not saying it's necessarily a good one, and it has downsides, like having to spend a lot of time around Apple Bloom, but she does have a plan. Of course, she had a plan for dealing with Filthy in the first chapter, too...
--arcum42
4619782
I sincerely hope that DT ending up as Diamond Apple is in the cards.
4618641
All the ponies in this story? Well, that's all encompassing.
Filthy - Acting horribly, certainly.
Cheerilee - Hasn't really done anything that's out of line as a teacher. Perhaps wasn't there when excitement broke out, but that happens to everyone. Reporting to Filthy about Diamond's behavior was just part of her job.
Greywithers - He's doing what his employer says to the letter, and has shown he's willing to bend around that to help Diamond.
Silver Spoon - She's doing what her parents said. She was trying to find away around it, but Diamond rather blew that out of the water.
Scootaloo - Is acting very nice to Diamond considering.
Sweetie Belle - Threatened Diamond once. Bought her breakfast twice.
Twist - Was trying to be nice to Diamond, and got yelled at.
Snips & Snails - Yes, acting like jerks.
Archer & Rumble - Things escalated a bit there. If you look, Rumble seemed more upset at Diamond yelling at Twist then anything.
The teriyaki vendors - One was acting like a jerk. It was also his first day on the job, and from his color scheme, you can rather guess he's related to Twist. The other was quite nice to her.
Vanilla - Hugged Diamond and is happy to have her kitty back.
Applejack - Gave Diamond a tongue-lashing, but was actually rather reasonable about it. Would certainly have approached things differently if she knew what was going on.
Pinkie Pie - Seems concerned about Diamond, in her own way.
Mr. Breezy - Is fairly happy with Diamond for running his store for a while and paid her for it.
Big Macintosh - He's upset about Apple Bloom and only knows the outskirts of what's going on.
Apple Bloom - She had good reason to act like a jerk. She got carried away, but Diamond broke both her hind legs. She has reason to be upset.
Granny Smith - Reasonable and looks at the big picture more.
4619712 covered the Apple Family, really. Filthy, well, you aren't really supposed to know what's going on with him yet.
While the times when ponies were acting like jerks stand out, there were quite a number that weren't, and even the ones that were were mainly doing so at that moment, without a full understanding of the situation...
--arcum42
4618858
4619258
Considering how they reacted to what Diamond did, they are rather unlikely to be happy with Filthy. He could have a major supply problem, in fact, at the least.
4619411
I can't exactly give away too much on that front...
--arcum42
4619754 All I can say to that is yeesh Arcum. If granny gets her hooves on him it's gonna suck way more than most realize.
Pff, if you don't actually have a proposal but you still try to make one, it just sounds like begging for mercy. Because it sorta is. I wonder what scheme DT is cooking up this time to try to cover up her complete uselessness.
4619782
Especially if her plan blows up in her face.
I shouldn't have read this in one sitting, now all I want to see is Pinkie telling scootaloo what the collar is for and seeing Diamond in it.
4619919
Hey, I'm not gonna ignore the little things, but my main issues stem from a moral point of view and some writing critiques and nitpicks, and I will mostly be talking about the major problems.
Filthy Rich: You can't just disown your own blood without leaving her with someone you can trust. That's just irresponsible! Any parent would have sent their bad seed to live with someone else, but not Filthy Rich! I don't have to be a parent to know that is bad parenting!!!
Apple Bloom: Her action is not warranted because there isn't much progression for her character. Yeah sure, she's crippled, but that's not enough to go on! She's completely out of character, behaving like she has years of pent up anger against Diamond Tiara. And oh yes, the big one!
Diamond Tiara: I only see one Diamond Tiara. The one dimensional prune, pampered with her supremist attitude and callous behavior... and I love her for it! I like to keep myself contained within the show's lore. I could see a grown ass mare being evicted for malice behavior, but dear God! She's a filly! Morality in this fanfic is incredulously destructive. "Hey kids, don't treat others with malice, otherwise you'll get thrown out into the streets! A hyuck, a hyuck, a hyuck!"
I had left no remorse in my last comment, but that doesn't make me any less human. Fanfiction or not, these are major problems that I have with the story! Opinions? Thoughts? Flame riots? Wait, not the last one!
4620656
It'll be a learning experience for her.
Filthy may be a rotten monster, but the trauma actually is proving to be incredibly character-building.
For the first time she's having to own up to her mistakes and solve her own problems. And she's come a long way in a short time already. But she's got a lifetime of baggage to work through. She's bound to stumble.
And, well, let's admit it. Even adults would pretty much want to at least passive-aggressively make someone feel guilty after they were strangled.
4621093
If you can't separate the views of characters from the quality of a work, you're not going to make it in fiction. Any fiction.
'Aww man. Joker is so evil! This story is crap!'
Ohai. Welcome to the primary driving point of the story.
...Did it take you twelve chapters to realize this?
Or read the dozens upon dozens of comments speculating when Filthy will be found out? And how much we're all waiting for it?
Heck, did you pay attention to the story at all? Because addressing that is a big theme.
I hope you're a troll. Because that makes me want to cry for humanity.
She literally does have years of pent up anger. And the fact that it was so out of character for her was the mechanism to drive the point home about how wrecked AB is. And how much DT screwed up.
Be right back.
Weeping.
4621093
Filthy Rich - I don't believe I've actually indicated anywhere that Filthy did the right thing. If I have, I certainly didn't mean to. Filthy Rich throwing her out without putting her in someone else's care would not only be bad parenting, but would be illegal. If it were widely known, Filthy would be in a lot of trouble.
Diamond Tiara might not realise this, but she hardly knows everything, and is dangerously naive in places. I thought I'd made it clear in several places that his actions weren't right, though.
Apple Bloom is in a bad frame of mind. She's spent the last few days brooding, Scootaloo indicated that they spent several hours talking about ways to kill Diamond while in the hospital, and she's implied to have slashed out Diamond's name on the get well card.
She's sitting alone in a dark room, which is never an indication that you are in a good mood, having just come back from the hospital, and now has to face the fact that she's stuck in a wheelchair and can't do much by herself. And this is someone used to running around doing things all the time that we know barely knows the meaning of the term "patience".
Then, before she has a chance to cool down, the person she's most upset at shows up and refuses to go away. Maybe an adult might have handled it better, but Apple Bloom isn't an adult. She's a little kid. She goes into hysterics and throws a tantrum, which Diamond is in the middle of.
She's undoubtedly already regretting it.
I've spent quite a lot of time on how what happened has devastated Diamond emotionally and mentally, so you'll have to forgive me for not being sure where I give the moral as "Hey kids, don't treat others with malice, otherwise you'll get thrown out into the streets!".
It's also been implied that he wasn't acting like the best parent before this. Note that most of her good memories have been with her butler not her father? The dream sequence indicated quite a lot about their relationship.
If you're going to insist on taking the views of the characters as my views, can you at least take this as the moral?
--arcum42
4620656
Yes, my writing is 3rd POV limited. Anything I say reflects Diamond's point of view, and not mine.
Also, it takes a long time for people to change, and she's only had a few days. She's coming along quite well, but she'll have ocassional relapses.
And doing planning like that is clearly something she does often. She did it in the first chapter, too...
--arcum42
4621010
Just think, if I'd changed the order things happened in, some of the earlier scenes could have been construed as Scootaloo giving her pet a bath, and than taking her for a walk and feeding her. The lost opportunities...
--arcum42
4621575
You certainly won me over with that statement.
4621305
Or they weren't hurt that badly, and what happened to Apple Bloom was more of an exception.
4621466
No kidding. I had so much trouble writing that...
--arcum42
4621093
Maybe it's for the best if you just stop reading this story... or anything else that might upset you.
This is one of those fics that has been in my read later list for a while, then I started it and read the whole thing in one sitting. I love how you've resisted the urge to make DT a heartless bitch but also have resited the urge to have her instantly reformed. Great character study. Have a (the highest honor I bestow)
MOAR
Also, listening to Apples to the Core while reading this gives an interesting effect.
whatever the Apples think of Diamond right now they're not going to like Filthy Rich disowning her. I imagine that could cool even Mac's anger in a second, while increasing Granny's dramatically
I hope to see that part soon
In regards to the person saying every pony are being "jerks" in this, I got to disagree. As the author outlined in one of the comments here, some have actually been rather nice to Tiara, especially Scoots & Sweetie, and she (unintentionally) crippled their friend. Even Applejack while she chewed her out a bit, was more reasonable to Tiara, and even encouraged her to go back to the Tarriyaki booth.
In fact, one could say Tiara was a jerk at times when she yelled at Twist, (only to learn to late Twist was trying to be nice to her, and regretted it) and in the previous chapter she admitted she was more upset what happened to herself, then what she did to Applebloom, so she's still being a li'l selfish. While part of her apology was sincere, and she did feel bad for what she did, she's still more-so thinking of herself. Which is actually in-character, and while she's more sympathetic in this story, I like how she's still a li'l bratty at times, and not suddenly 100% good/reformed like other "Tiara" redemption/woobie stories. She's still gradually learning how to be nicer, and to have more empathy for others.
I like how Granny was being nice to Tiara, and how even Tiara was confused by it. (So used to others disliking her for what she did.) In a way it also seems to of made her feel bad for calling Granny a "kookie old lady." (in "Family Appreciation Day") I like the parts where Tiara is gradually learning about ponies she's pre-judged like Granny, Scootaloo, and Sweetie, and realizing they're more then just a "kookie old lady," and some "annoying blank-flanks." She's starting to realize they're actually nice ponies, and have more depth to them.
Regardless of her "kookyness," Granny at times can be one of the most mature members of the Apple family, and probably the nicest, and I like how the author outlined that in this brief chapter.
I thought her chewing out Big Mac was a nice touch, and the implications that Scoots was very hurt by Applebloom's (unintentional) remark about her wings, (I'm sure Bloom was so upset she didn't even realize what she was saying, and would regret it) and the other implication of how even Sweetie Belle surprisingly seemed to of been standing up for Tiara to. (Even though she hasn't bonded with Tiara as much as Scoots has.)
So really, it's unfair to say "every" character was a jerk.
Pinkiephile?
I smell a fanfic already becoming popular all over the internet.
4625219
Try listening to Darude's Sandstorm.
It has the worst kind.
This is...surprisingly accurate. My grandmother from the south was the same, she treated me the same way, and she acted the same.
....Wow.
4623758
Thanks, I appreciate it. I do feel like Diamond wouldn't really be Diamond if just instantly reformed her, and characters aren't really black and white, either. Any of my characters that seem black and white just haven't been adequately explored.
4623781
Well, Diamond believing something doesn't make it realistic. It probably makes it less so, really, given her unrealistic view of how the world works, even if that view is in pieces now.
4640711
I'm afraid that may still be a while...
--arcum42
(Didn't realise I was this backlogged on replying to comments...)
4625219
I'd imagine it would. Granny Smith is the "core" of the Apple family in my view, or at least, the Ponyville branch. She may usually let Applejack run things, but if Applejack's wrong about something, Granny Smith's decision will be the final one...
--arcum42
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In regards to the teriyaki booth, it's subtle, but this was not long after Diamond shouted at Twist a bunch, and the stallion who was behind the booth initially had the same coloration as Twist. Did you know Twist has an older brother in the Cubic Zirconia universe?
One thing I am very careful about in this story, though, is to make sure Diamond is bratty, selfish, or just plain wrong on occasion, whether she acts on it or not. Years of habits don't suddenly go away. The only reason she's progressing as fast as she is is that she's under a lot of pressure right now.
Diamond learning she's wrong about things is a bit of a recurring theme, and Granny Smith is certainly one of those points. She's had a very limited and self-centered worldview, but it was suddenly shattered, making her more open to new things, and she's starting to see pieces of the bigger picture.
I love how Granny Smith came out in this chapter. Given that Diamond is living with Scootaloo, I don't really think it's spoilers to say that we'll hear more about Scoots hurt feelings.
Sweetie Belle, well, she is inclined to think the best of people and want to help, but is also protective of her friends. Of course, yelling at Apple Bloom could be more about how Apple Bloom is acting than Diamond, too...
--arcum42