A Weighted Choice: Chapter 4

“Well…that’s…” Clara Life said speechlessly. Featherweight and his dad also had their mouths  opened up in surprise.

“I did badly, didn’t I?” Diamond Tiara asked, an angry expression on her face. “Uff, I was never really good at geography. I know daddy was always disappointed in me when I didn’t know where some city was.”

“No actually,” Clara Life said as Featherweight presumably motioned the same thing. She pointed to the map laid down in front of them. “You perfectly labeled this map of Equestria. There is not one city mislabeled. I’m…shocked. That is a major improvement.”

“I knew you could do it,” Featherweight motioned and Clara translated.

“Color me impressed,” Golden Rule said. “The improvement here is beyond my expectations.”

“Well…thanks,” Diamond Tiara said, with an unsure smile. “I guess it’s because I…” lowering her voice to the point where it was barely audible she said, “have a great teacher.”

Diamond Tiara noticed the shade of orange that they sky was outside and realized how late it was. “Oh wow. Guess it’s time for me to go.”

Clara herself turned around to look outside. “Hmm…looks like we went a little overtime today.”

“Aw well,” Diamond Tiara said as she got up and slipped her saddlebags on. “I’ll see you guys next weekend,” She said before she walked out of the living room, into the hallway, and made it to the porch before she noticed she was being followed. Diamond Tiara turned around to see Clara Life right behind her.

“Well Diamond Tiara, that means you have made significant progress in math, economics, and geography,” Clara told her. “You’ve also made amazing strides to improve your other classes as well. I think Golden Rule agrees with me here. You will no longer be forced to come here.”

Surprise filled Diamond Tiara’s face at the news. “Oh well…are you sure about that?” Diamond Tiara asked. “I mean…I’m sure there’s something I can improve at.”

“There’s always room for improvement,” Clara said, “but you no longer need our help.”

“B-but, what if I still need help later on during the year?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“You know you can come on your own accord,” Clara Life told her. “You just no longer will be forced to come here. If you really want to come then just come.”

“But I…” Diamond Tiara started but she didn’t think what she was saying through so she stopped before she could finish her sentence.

“Want an excuse to come here, don’t you?” Clara Life asked. “You want a good reason to come here that your friends will agree with. Am I right?”

“Wha…how?!” Diamond Tiara asked.

“It seems I was right about you not noticing me even if I was in school,” Clara said. “I’ve noticed you several times, surrounded in a group of ponies. They’ve commented on you spending time here several times and you seem to assure them that you’re forced and you don’t enjoy it at all. Funny how different that sounds compared to what I’ve seen of you here. You seem to be enjoying your time here.”

“I…I just...like the fact that my teachers aren’t bothering anymore and I don’t want to go back to that,” Diamond Tiara said.

“And there isn’t another reason?” Clara asked. “Like spending time with a certain colt?”

“What the heck are you talking about? Diamond Tiara asked.

“Do you like Featherweight?” Clara asked out of the blue causing a bit of surprise for Diamond Tiara.

“W-what do you mean?” Diamond Tiara asked, taking a step back. “L-like…Featherweight?!”

“Yes, like Featherweight,” Clara Life said. “I saw you two together during the first snowfall. It looked like you two were close. You even let him cuddle with you.”

“That’s not…I was just cold!” Diamond Tiara demanded.

“And that blush on your face?” Clara Life asked. “And those words you said to him?”

“How do you know what I said to him?” Diamond Tiara asked. “You weren’t anywhere near us! We would have noticed you if you were there!”

“I asked Featherweight about it afterword’s,” Clara said. “He told me everything you said up there.”

“I-I…listen I pity him,” Diamond Tiara said in her defense. “He sounds like he had a rough life and for a moment I pitied him. So I let him have his moment. It didn’t mean anything.”

“Is it really pity or is that just what you’ve been telling yourself?” Clara life asked.

“What are you, a doctor or a psychologist?” Diamond Tiara asked. “I…I don’t have any feelings for Featherweight! Why would I like him?! There’s…there’s nothing about him to like. He’s scrawny, he’s got those bucked teeth.”

“I’ll forgive you for that for now since I don’t think you actually believe that,” Clara said.

“I-I do mean it!” Diamond Tiara said.  “I mean, what has he done for me? All he’s done is tutor me to keep me from getting expelled. And…I guess he’s also been nice to me even though I’ve never been to him. I’ve spent most of my time complaining and he put up with me.”

“He’s chivalrous,” Clara Life told her. “And noble. Not something you can say about a lot of colts lately. And he’s light hearted.”

“I get what you’re trying to do,” Diamond Tiara said. “But I can’t. Even if I…I do like him. I…can’t.”

“Because your pride won’t let you,” Clara Life said. “That’s what I’ve figured out. You want to but you can’t accept the consequences of doing that.”

“You know that if you accept Featherweight as a friend, or even something more, your other ‘friends’ will leave you. The popularity that you’ve built up in school will come crumbling around you. That’s why you ‘can’t’ accept him. Your pride won’t allow you to lose your popularity, which it is based off of.”

“As such you’re trying to live a double life. You want to keep your popularity while still hanging around Featherweight and continued tutoring will make that possible. But as much as you might want to you can’t live a double life. You have to choose one or the other.”

“D-does he like me?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“He’s unsure,” Clara Life told her. “You should know something Diamond Tiara. When you were first told to do this, Golden Rule told you he needed some time. That’s not just because he needed to alert Featherweight about this. You weren’t the only one who had reservations about doing this.

“He needed the time to convince Featherweight to do this.”

“Featherweight was not happy at all with the idea. The idea of tutoring you, somepony who’s tormented him several times before, was almost completely absurd to him. It took a while to finally convince him to do this.”

“I…guess I can’t really blame him,” Diamond Tiara admitted.

“However…” Clara continued, “since then he has grown quite close to you. That story that he told you about his brother? He has told nopony else aside from me that story. Do you understand what that means?”

“He…trusts me?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“It’s more than that,” Clara said. “Featherweight see’s you as somepony who he can talk—well metaphorically—to. You have to understand how important that is to him.  Without the ability to talk, Featherweight can’t really express himself to other ponies. And even when he can, ponies tend to talk down on him due to his disability and his short stature. Even his family does it from time to time. Yet you haven’t. You talked to him as if he was a normal pony and what’s even better, you understand him.”

“So, what’s he so unsure about?” Diamond Tiara asked.

“You’ve said it yourself that you have no intentions of changing,” Clara Life explained. “Featherweight doesn’t want to get his hopes up on that. Yet I know he would be crushed if you decide to stick with your friends.”

Diamond Tiara looked away in annoyance. “So I have to choose?”

“Yes, you have to choose,” Clara Life told her. “I’m not about to let you live a double life. Especially since it could give Featherweight a false hope and I don’t want that. It’d be better for him to face the pain now then live with an unfulfilled hope. You have to make the choice now.”

“I…have to go think about it,” Diamond Tiara said.

“I didn’t expect you to make a choice right now,” Clara said. “Just know that I will be talking to Golden Rule and come next Monday your excuse for coming to this house will be gone. So make your choice by then.”

Diamond Tiara looked to the ground before turning around and leaving the house.

As she ran from Featherweight’s house Diamond Tiara felt the weight of her choice grasp her. Her happiness or her security. Does she choose her friends or the potential for a new friend and a romance?

I…ugg…why do I have to make this stupid choice? Diamond Tiara asked herself. Why can’t I just have both or something? I…I…I need some help.

Diamond Tiara stopped for a second. She took out a piece of paper, a pencil, and a random text book with a red cover. She dropped the text book on the ground, placed the piece of paper on the text book, and then began to write on it.

Hey Silver Spoon:
I…I need your help.

~

Diamond Tiara awoke in her large pink plush bed with more blankets then were honestly needed the next day. To her right she had a desk with a calendar on the back that she immediately looked at when she woke up. The weekend had just begun. She had two days left until she had to decide.

Diamond Tiara yawned and was about to get out of bed until she heard a knock on the door. “Come in!” she yelled out without leaving her bed.

The white door of Diamond Tiara’s room opened and, in stark contrast to the room, a pitch black earth pony stallion walked in. “Mistress Tiara,” the earth pony said, “you have a visitor at the front door.”

“If it’s Shady Daze, tell him I’m sick or something,” Diamond Tiara commanded.

“No, it is not, Shady Daze,” the butler said.

“Alright, I’m coming,” Diamond Tiara said.

She got out of her bed and, after putting her tiara on, walked out of her room and down three flights of stairs to her large regal front entry way. She walked past the pillars up to her large front double doors and opened them up. And what she opened up to surprised her.

“Hey Dia,” Silver Spoon said with a smile.

“Silver Spoon?” Diamond Tiara asked. She took a good look at her friend just to be sure she was seeing right.

Since Silver Spoon had left for Manehatton, she had gained an entirely new look. She now no longer wears glasses anymore, exchanging them for contacts, and wore a large white fedora top of her white mane, which itself seemed to shine more, which had a black bow on its brim. She had apparently gotten the advice from a friend of her’s in Manehatton, and Diamond Tiara had to admit it works.

“Did I seriously read your letter right?” Silver Spoon asked. “You have a crush on Featherweight of all ponies?”

“Well…I…” Diamond Tiara stuttered.

“Out of all the ponies in the school,” Silver Spoon continued. “I would have guessed Snails before Featherweight. But hey, the heart wants what the heart wants.”

“Yeah I guess but…” Diamond Tiara started.

“Yeah, I know,” Silver Spoon said with a nod. “You’re not sure whether you want to hang out with Featherweight or keep your popularity. And come on Dia, with you knowing all I’ve been through, you already know exactly what I’m going to say.

“Yeah…I know,” Diamond Tiara said. “I guess I’m just hoping you talk me into it or something.”

Silver Spoon walked closer to her friend and placed a hoof on her shoulder. “Dia, nopony but you can make this decision,” she said. “You know I think you should go for Featherweight, and you probably can guess my reasons for it, but at the end of the day it’s your choice.”

“I guess…I’ve been popular for so long that I can’t imagine what I’ll do without it,” Diamond Tiara explained. “And it’s not like I’ll make any new ones. Shady Daze has his eye on me and as soon as I’m unobtainable he’s going to write something that will ruin my reputation in the papers. And my reputation around the school isn’t going to help either. Who would want to be friends with me?”

Silver Spoon walked in and sat by Diamond Tiara’s side. “Well it’s not like your ‘friends’ were really close to you to begin with,” she said. “This will give you a chance to find some new friends. Friends that are actually close to you. Just ask Featherweight to introduce you to his friends. And maybe…”

“If you’re going to suggest Apple Bloom, Scootaloo, or Sweetie Belle don’t,” Diamond Tiara said. “I know Apple Bloom and Scootaloo won’t and I doubt Sweetie Belle will.”

“Alright, alright,” Silver Spoon said. “Either way Dia there’s going to be a risk sure. What you have to decide is whether it’s worth it or not. It’s going to be hard for sure.”

“Well that helps,” Diamond Tiara groaned.

“You do like Featherweight don’t you?” Silver Spoon asked.

“…Y-yeah I do,” Diamond Tiara admitted out loud for the first time. “I really like him. I feel almost stupid for it but I really like him.”

“And does he have feelings for you?” Silver Spoon continued to inquire.

“He…doesn’t want to get his hopes up,” Diamond Tiara said. “He’s gotten close to me but he doesn’t want to believe that I’d change for him and be crushed if I don’t.”

“I understand,” Silver Spoon said. “So you’re going to have to find a way to prove to him you’ll change huh?”

“Well…yeah but that’s if I decide to date him,” Diamond Tiara made sure was known.

Silver Spoon rolled her eyes. “Yeah, true. Just…don’t choose something you’re going to regret.”

“I.E choose Featherweight,” Diamond Tiara said bitterly.

“No, that’s now what I meant,” Silver Spoon said. “What I mean is, if you think that you’ll regret choosing Featherweight more than choosing your friends, then don’t choose that. And vice versa. You just need to decide which you’ll regret losing more.”

Which will I regret losing more? Diamond Tiara thought. That’s kinda obvious. But still…

Diamond Tiara looked to the sky and flashed back to an earlier time at Featherweight’s house. It was a day and a half after the first snowfall and Diamond Tiara and Clara were alone in the house, with Featherweight coming later due to him needing to stay at school a bit later. Featherweight’s cheerfulness despite all that’s happened to him.

“He’s always been like this,” Clara explained to her. “Featherweight never let’s things get him down for too long. He tells me it’s because he always believes that no matter what happens the future can always be better. He hopes for that and I think that’s what keeps him going no matter how sad things get.”

Diamond Tiara sighed. “I’m going to hate doing this,” she mumbled.

Diamond Tiara began walking off but before she could get very far Silver Spoon called out and asked “Where are you going?”

“I’ve got somepony I need to see,” Diamond Tiara said. “Sorry Silver Spoon but I gotta go!”