Sweetie Belle's gaze fell as she seemed to kick at some stray dust on the ground.  She wasn't sure what next to say; the unicorn hadn't quite thought that far ahead.  "Weeelll..." she began as she struggled to find something to say.  "It's recess... do you want to do something?"  The filly's gaze had returned to the colt by this point.  She forced a smile, doing her best to make the new student feel welcome.  Sweetie was too busy speaking to Glowbug to even notice Diamond Tiara becoming a victim herself, not that Sweetie Belle would have much sympathy for the filly.

At the invitation from the unicorn filly, Glowbug finally peeked his whole head out from the book like a turtle, looking up at her. "U-Uh w-well..." He stammered a bit, not sure what to do with the invitation. A quick glance caught wind that she was a fellow "pony of unlimited potential" as his mother would say. It was a nicer way of saying blank flank. "W-Well... What would you like to do, Sweetie Belle?" While he couldn't help but blush a little, it was all he could do to at least hope for a friend in this situation.

"Better a Blank Flank than someone with a useless talent!" Meadow Lark shot back as he flared out his small wings, adding a bit to his presence since Diamond Tiara wasn't backing down too quickly.  "Who do you think you are, picking on ponies like that?  Glowbug didn't do anything to you!  So if you wanna pick on somepony, then try me on for size!"

Meadow Lark had simply gotten lucky when it came to the effectiveness of his position -- he didn't know explicitly that Diamond Tiara's accessory was all that important to her, but it seemed like a good place to start.  The little Pegasus wasn't about to back down either; he was just as stubborn and had the upper hoof at the moment.

Diamond Tiara growled, "Who are you to talk about useless talents?  All you're good at is breaking things and stealing!  I wouldn't even waste my time talking to you."

At this point, backing down just wouldn't be worth it.  She couldn't trust the thieving Blank Flank to return her tiara.  Still flustered and backed into a cornered, she pressed forward.  She didn't have wings, but she knew that most ponies got intimidated when she stood her ground and raised her voice, "Now give my tiara back!"

She tried to swipe it back, but she had neither the element of surprise nor the physical talent a more athletic pony might have had.

Most of the school ponies knew to either stay out of Diamond Tiara's way or to kowtow when she got in a mood.  Meadow Lark, however, was not one of those ponies.  As she fell back on tried-and-true methods to get her way he just dug his hooves in and raised his voice all the same.

"Apologize first!" he demanded.  As she tried to snatch the tiara back, Meadow Lark put his nimble nature to good use.  Even if he couldn't fly yet, Pegasi were naturally light and dextrous ponies -- he easily bounced back and flitted away a few strides with a quick buzz of his wings.  "Pony up and apologize to Glowbug, or I'll stick it up on the roof and you won't get it back!"

Diamond Tiara hated the ultimatum, but, at the same time, she knew that that orange-pelted friend of Applebloom's couldn't fly that well, and she was...probably about the same age as this miscreant.  Nervously, she decided to call his bluff, "You wouldn't dare!"

That came off sounding weak, so she pressed the attack, hoping she was hitting the mark, "Do you even know how much it's worth?  If it got so much as scuffed, you'd have to work for the rest of your life to pay it off!  Daddy would make sure you'd never get a job in Ponyville, too!"

Meadow Lark just smirked and turned aside, giving a quick nod of his head to slide the tiara off and loop it around a fore-hoof.  It twirled around and around as he spun it gently, not enough to damage it... but it was obvious he could probably get enough momentum to lob it up onto the sloped roof of the schoolhouse where it would get lodged in the rain gutter.

"Yeah right.  You're rich, so what does one little tiara matter?  You've probably got a whole closet full of 'em back home in your fancy mansion." the Pegasus snarked back at her.  "Besides, I'm not scared of you or your dad.  My Mom's a Royal Guard!  I can just go work for the Princess when I grow up."

Threats weren't doing the trick and it sure seemed like the boy was just reckless enough to hold up his demands.  Or failing that, he might accidentally damage the tiara.  "So are y'gonna apologize or not?"

The thread now rendered legitimate (or legitimate enough), she found herself almost ready to cry.  She'd either have to give in...or her tiara could really be broken.  She could just get a pegasus to get it down if he threw it up there, but it'd probably not land right up there without taking damage.

Her pride wanted her to press the attack, but the tiara was one of the few things she couldn't replace...

"...if you do anything to my tiara..." Meadow Lark couldn't have gotten such a pained, angry look on her face if he had twisted her foreleg and called her names.

Whatever she was going to do if her tiara came to harm, she skulked away to the schoolhouse without further resistance.  Her head lowered and bare, she stepped inside and tried to control her temper, for now.

The sooner the rich filly had her tiara back, the sooner she could get back at this insolent colt.

No pony got to lord over her like that...and this one did it like it was nothing!

Meadow Lark had her where he wanted her.  That was fair, even if he cheated to get there, she assured herself.  But she'd have him where she wanted, one day, and that'd be fair too.  She'd make him squirm, just like he made her squirm, and then he'd never want to mess with her again.

Vengeance aside, she had to go through the motions to get there.  She looked up and around the schoolhouse, and begrudgingly approached the two ponies in there.

Great.  Now two Blank Flanks would get to see her apologize for something that wasn't even wrong, while that jerk had a hold of her tiara and treated it like it was something to throw around!

Diamond Tiara was so distracted with her thoughts that she didn't even speak to the two, let alone the one she was supposed to apologize to.

Meadow Lark raised a brow as Diamond Tiara finally backed down and sulked off back into the classroom, defeated.  Some other ponies had been watching, though the reactions varied... some took a fair deal of schadenfreude in seeing the school bully getting taken down a peg, but others weren't quite so approving of the method.  Meadow Lark seemed pleased with himself though.  As he remembered the story of how his mom got her Cutie Mark, he quickly looked back at his flank... and found it still bare.

"Huh.  Oh well." he shrugged carelessly.  Unlike some ponies around school, he wasn't so obsessed with finding out his talent all that quickly.  In the meantime, he could just wait until Diamond Tiara finished her apology and then give back her stupid crown no problem.

While Diamond Tiara stood hesitant and distracted, she'd get a gentle bump upside the flank.  Her closest friend and cohort, Silver Spoon, had sidled up when she wasn't looking to come stand at her side.  Now where had she been during that whole humiliating debacle?  It would no doubt he hard to accept that smile of hers when she hadn't been around when Diamond Tiara needed back-up...

"Psst..." she hissed through her teeth and leaned in to whisper to her friend's ear.

Barreling In From the Business District

Applejack trotted ahead of Officer Blue Shield, with a clearly directed intent. She was on toward sthe schoolhouse, but slowed as she spotted Fillies and Littlecolts at play. "Ah, must be recess." she chimed to the officer... then took a glance about for Apple Bloom...

[In from Business District]

"But where is Pinkie, Twilight, and the P.I.?" Blue Shield may have simply been looking int he wrong direction, but he didn't see them immediately. If it was recess, that meant the foals wouldn't likely be on the playground due to the flood of fillies and colts from the schoolhouse.

The aforementioned group of ponies out in search of information were nearby the school house -- just a ways beyond amid the path and park out front, really.  It didn't take long at all for the bunch to spot the rest of them all standing with Pinkie Pie at the center of attention.

"It's the fuzz!  Cheese it~!" the pink pony shrieked as soon as she spotted Blue Shield.  She immediately moved to dash off once more but was kept in place as Twilight lit her horn to snag her by the tail.

"Pinkie, why in the world do you keep trying to run away?!" Twilight demanded.  She didn't want to believe Pinkie had anything to do with the missing cart, but she was acting weirder than usual.

"Huh?  Oh, well, that's what they always do in movies when cops show up~!  You're supposed to yell that and then it leads into a dramatic chase scene with explosions and breaking plate glass windows and fruit stands getting demolished~!  BWOOOooooOOOOM~!  Or with the detective, it'd be something cool like ending on a duel on top of a blimp or something~!" Pinkie giggled brightly.  Her friend just groaned and gave a yank on her cotton-puff tail to make the pony sit.

"Pinkie, this isn't a movie or a game.  Applejack's cart has gone missing and we're trying to find it!" the unicorn explained as she gestured over to the approaching farmer.
This message was last edited by the GM at 16:18, Mon 23 Apr 2012.

Sweetie Belle gave the classroom a glance, as if looking for somepony before answering Glowbug.  "Well, usually I'm doing stuff with Applebloom and Scootaloo," the filly said absentmindedly.  Since Glowbug was new here, he might not have known the two ponies Sweetie had mentioned, but the unicorn had not thought of that as she talked.  As she glanced around the classroom, she didn't see any sign of them; they might have been outside, busy with their own devices.  Turning back to Glowbug she finally gave him a better idea of what the two could do during recess.

"We could play tag," Sweetie answered, though it seemed like she was just naming off an activity, "Or... we could draw!"  Sweetie rather quickly added, now a genuine smile on the little filly's face.  There was some craft paper and crayons in the classroom that could be put to good use.

Before she could go get any craft paper and crayons, the two ponies were approached by none other than Diamond Tiara.  The filly didn't say anything though, and Sweetie Belle was left standing next to Glowbug, mouth agape.  Remembering how Glowbug had been when she had first approached him, Sweetie put up a stern front.  She hadn't seen everything that had occurred between Diamond Tiara and Meadow Lark.  "What do you want?" the unicorn asked defensively to Diamond Tiara.
This message was last edited by the player at 16:19, Mon 23 Apr 2012.

Diamond Tiara had never been so happy to hear something out of her friend's mouth.  She whispered something back to the other filly (a quick thank you, in fact), glad that she could go back on the offensive.  Right now, she'd go merrily about her business walking out of the schoolhouse if she hadn't been addressed.

She smiled, shaking off a lot of her frustration quickly, "Oh, I didn't mean to interrupt your business, Blank Flanks!  I thought I left my notebook in here, but I did not."

Feigning concern, she stepped a little closer and added, quietly, "And I'd like to apologize, Glowbug!  That other Blank Flank tried to frame you for what he did to me...and to think he was about to let you take the blame."

She let that sink in for a moment, before turning to leave.

As opposed to the other filly that had been talking to him, Sweetie Belle turned out to be a whole cartload more friendly and likeable. When she mentioned that she was normally with two other, probably her closer friends, who were just as likely not mean to new ponies, he sheepishly looked away a moment. "I... I wouldn't want to keep you from your friends." But the colt was quickly cut off by the suggestion of tag. Or rather drawing as she quickly chimed in.

"Well... Okay. I mean. If that's what you want to do, I'd be happy to join you." Once he'd finally gotten out from under both book and chair, he wound up closer than he'd have liked to Tiara, who'd come back over to have a few choice words. Very insincere words, it seemed, since the term blank flank popped up more than once, and not in a good way.

Still, she'd offered an apology, and he had to be polite. Even if she didn't mean it, he had to show he was the bigger pony. "I... I accept y-your apology. Hopefully, after this, we can be friends." His voice was shaky, but at least he wasn't hiding behind Sweetie Belle... At least not by much...

Silver Spoon just gave a soft 'ppppb' sound with her lips, dismissing Glowbug's effort at friendliness as she turned and followed Diamond Tiara back outside.  There were going to be fireworks for sure and she wanted to be there to see them.

In reply to A Series of Events (msg #56):

Trotting over, and coming to a stop by the Pinkster herself, Applejack looked along to Twilight, curious. "Hay, Pinkie. How's yer' mornin'?"

Hearing the phrase "Cheese it!" had Blue ready for a chase. A chase that never happened. For the best really. There were three people he didn't look forward to chasing if they ever committed a crime, at least in Ponyville. Rainbow Dash, obviously, was on that list. Twilight Sparkle too, because teleportation. Then there was Pinkie... Quite frankly the mare just had the most curious ability to go anywhere anytime, however inconceivable.

But as everypony gathered, so did he. He just offered a small smile, not wanting to provoke any of Pinkie's potential cop-dodging triggers. And the situation was surely already explained.

"Oh, hiya AJ~!" Pinkie waved a hoof happily to her other friend.  Despite how she'd fled the authorities (or attempted on that second shot) she didn't seem to mind them coming right up next to her and gave them just as cheery a greeting.

"My morning's been great~!  I slept well and had a big breakfast and I got to help out The Cakes and pull a cart and had a chat with Daisy and have been playing with the Baby-Cakes and then I got to run away from a detective and--" she prattled off at a rapid pace, apparently totally pleased by everything that her morning entailed thus far.

Applejack raised a brow. Pull a cart. "Pinkie...  Ya'.. didn't pull.. mah cart, did ya?"

"Well, yeah~!  I totally did!  All the way from the library, to Town Square, to Sugarcube Corner~~" Pinkie giggled, raising a hoof each time she counted off a location.  She was just about to risk defying gravity by lifting her last hoof when she paused and looked to the other girls.  "Wait, Twilight said the cart was missing?  Where did it go?"
This message was last edited by the player at 20:33, Mon 23 Apr 2012.

Meadow Lark had waited patiently outside, but Diamond Tiara's return sure didn't fit the image he had in mind.  Not only did she look more smug than ever but she had a friend with her too.  That set off alarm bells in the boy's head, but he chose to ignore instinctive wisdom since his self-righteousness was still burning hot.

"You sure don't look like a pony who's sorry." the Pegasus muttered as he carelessly whirled the tiara around his hoof, tossed it up into the air, and caught it around his hoof again on the way back down.  He kept toying with it like that, not showing any respect for the item.

"I'm not sorry that I apologized.  Now give me my tiara back!" The filly seemed way too smug, but, she also seemed honest about the apologizing part.  What instinct Meadow Lark had was right; something wasn't quite right about this situation.

She stepped forward, anger and concern returning to her face, "Or are you a liar as well as a thief?!?"

Of course, he still held something very dear of hers in hand, and she just wasn't able to conceal how much she wanted it back.  He could take advantage of this situation...and really make her pay for her crimes...

"What good is saying you're sorry if you're not actually sorry?  That just makes you a liar!" Meadow Lark didn't seem the sort to put up with loopholes and weaseling out of responsibility.  It was a trait he'd picked up from his mother.  However, what the little pony didn't realize was that the situation had turned.  The girls would know it first as they spotted a familiar form step up behind the colt while other ponies who'd been watching quickly scattered.

Meadow Lark had kept the tiara spinning and tossed about, though he blinked in surprise as it didn't come back down after the latest flick.  He looked up to find it deftly clenched in the jaws of their teacher, Miss Cheerilee, who'd slid up behind him quiet as could be.  The Pegasus instantly shrunk on the spot as he realized what the situation looked like... and hearing Silver Spoon's snickering in the background, that he'd been set up.

"M-miss Cheerilee, I--" he started, but was cut off by the schoolmare's glare.  He fell silent as the teacher leaned over and set Diamond Tiara's namesake back onto her head.  However, any sense of victory the little filly might have felt would be short lived as that narrow-eyed gaze settled on the girls.  She focused particularly on Silver Spoon until the filly quailed as well, then gave a quick nod of her head to dismiss her.

"Sorry..." the gray-coated girl whispered to Diamond Tiara before hurriedly making herself scarce.

"Alright you two.  Explain yourselves right now." Cheerilee waved Meadow Lark to stand beside Diamond Tiara so that they could equally weather her disapproving gaze.
This message was last edited by the GM at 22:26, Mon 23 Apr 2012.