Closeness (Revised)
The cloaked pony made their cautious way through the heart of Ponyville, weaving along side streets and alleyways on their meandering path back to the street on which they'd met the colt with the camera, Featherweight. The lengthier route, winding through some of the filthier sections of the booming town, added several minutes to the pony's journey, but as far as they were concerned, the delay and the dirt were worth it for the assurance that they were not being followed. Peering out into the street from the shadow of an alley, their violet eyes scanned the view for any sign of the gangly colt, narrowing in time with their frustrated snort when the search yielded no sign of him.
Shaking their head, they stared thoughtfully into the distance, tapping one hoof against the floor. The cloak shifted near-imperceptibly as something beneath it moved, before stilling suddenly when the pony's eyes refocused, and they lifted the camera up in one sock-clad hoof to examine it. If the colt had any sense, he'd have put his... Ah, there it was:
'Property of Featherweight, if found please return to 21 Sweet Apple Lane, Ponyville.'
Dropping the camera back into the folds of the cloak, the pony steeled themself and walked confidently out into the street, approaching the nearest pony who didn't look to be in much of a hurry. As the cloaked pony approached, their intended target - a mint green unicorn mare with curious amber eyes - noticed them. The unicorn turned to face them, eyebrows hiking up her face in surprise at the odd clothing, and preempted the cloaked pony's attempt to ask directions by asking a question of her own.
"Hey, there - nice cloak. Y'know, that reminds me of when a zebra came into town a year or so back, name of Zecora. Now that was a day and a half. Word of warning, there: I think the whole 'cloaked stranger' thing makes for a pretty cool look, but it can make ponies kinda... antsy. Speaking from experience, here - old 'Cora had her work cut out for her shaking off that first impression, just so ya know."
"Thanks for the warning... I've been given odd looks by ponies all morning."
"No problem. Say, you being all cloaked and all, I thought you'd be a zebra, but you sound more Canterlot than Marebasa, if I've got my accents right. You a Canterlot zebra or... ?"
The cloaked pony shrugged, deciding to roll with it. "A Canterlot zebra? I'm something like that. To be frank, I'm not certain which city home's at... Speaking of home, I seek a pony's domain, but I don't know the way to Sweet Apple Lane. If you live in this town, perhaps some help you could lend? If you'd give some directions, I'd be grateful, my friend."
The mare grinned eagerly, nodding as she set off in the direction of Sweet Apple Lane. "Sure! Just follow me and I'll take you there. What house were you looking for?"
Trotting after her, the cloaked pony replied: "The home of Featherweight; house 21. I'd hoped to catch him in town but he'd already gone."
The mint unicorn blinked, looking round with a question on her lips. "Featherweight, huh? What'd you want with him? You a friend or something?"
"Not a friend, no: I only met him today. Besides, were we friends, I'd already know the way. I've a camera of his: to return it, I wish - I dare say he'd want it back, wouldn't you, miss?"
"Yeah, I guess he would. The name's Lyra, by the way; Lyra Heartstrings."
"A pleasant name, Lyra; my own's Spirit Song. Will getting to Featherweight's house take us long?"
"It shouldn't do; we're almost halfway there already. Say - and I hope I don't sound rude - your name's a lot more pony-like than I was expecting. Is Zecora less typical of zebra than I thought?"
"No, Lyra, nothing of the sort; this Zecora's quite typical, or so I'd have thought. Spirit Song's a translation, new friend of mine, but easier to say, so it's better most times."
"Ah." Lyra said simply, nodding her head and trotting along with a happy tune humming from her lips.
As the conversation faded into silence, the cloaked pony found herself humming along to Lyra's tune, a broad smile breaking out on the larger mare's face as they trotted together, their spirits and voices lifted together in a harmonious duet.
*
"Diamond?" Asked Copperwing softly, from her position curled up on the sofa in her family's living room.
The ears of the filly in question twitched and she turned to her friend with a curious expression, a small smile lighting up her expression.
"Yeah?" Diamond responded, equally softly, gazing up at Copper. Their eyes met and the older filly glanced a little away, light pink embarrassment flushing across her cheeks as her wings shifted subtly.
"I... uh... I'm a little sleepy. I didn't expect the walk back to be so..." - she yawned loudly and full-mouthedly, her ears and wings twitching, the latter partly extending, before snapping back to their original positions - "... So exhausting. I think I'd like to go to bed for a bit, but I... I might need a little help with the stairs. Do you... d'you mind?"
Diamond shook her head with a smile and got up off the carpeted floor, earning an interested glance from Dinky and Auburn, before heading over to where Copperwing lay.
"No problem, Copper. D'you want any help getting down off the sofa, or will you be okay?"
Copperwing, rising as well, shifted her body so that she slid slowly off the sofa and onto her hooves. Finding her legs unsteady when she tried to stand up properly from this halfway point, she smiled bashfully and nodded.
"I could use a hoof, yeah. Still not so steady." Nodding a wordless 'okay,' Diamond positioned herself by Copperwing's side, providing support to the older filly as she pulled herself up with the aid of her glimmering wings. As she gained more stability from Diamond's support, she continued her line of thought a little further, noting Diamond's look of interest with contentedness. "It's weird, y'know? I guess I'm just used to having perfect balance, being a pegasus and all, but there's something really... not unsettling, so much, just... surreal? Yeah, that'll do... about not having my balance at 100%."
"You two going somewhere?" Asked Auburn, smirking lightly. Though she was silent for the moment, curiosity shone in Dinky's golden eyes.
"Yeah," replied Diamond, "Copper's tired out, so I'm taking her to bed."
Auburn snorted, the smirk growing by the second. "Oh, I bet you are, lover-filly."
"I-I... What?!" Squawked Diamond, Copperwing hiding her radiant crimson blush behind her pendent mane.
"Phra~asing!" Singsonged Dinky, giggling as Diamond facehoofed and Copperwing shuffled in embarrassment, neither one pulling away from the other.
"You know what? N-never mind." Diamond muttered, shaking her head emphatically as if that might clear the blush. Turning to Copperwing, she continued: "Copper, you ready to go?" - Copperwing nodded, issuing an affirmative 'mm-hm' - "Then let's get out of this circus act."
"Circus act?" asked Auburn and Copperwing, in unison.
"Yeah," Diamond replied, repeating herself as she supported Copperwing on their way towards the stairs. "Circus act. Honestly, Auburn, between you and Dinky, it's like we've got a whole clown troupe."
"Oh, ha ha." Replied Auburn, the laughter in her eyes tempering the sarcasm in her tone. She turned back to Dinky, and the pair of them continued their conversation after a moment, letting Diamond and Copperwing climb the stairs in peace.
Slowly, one step at a time, Diamond and Copperwing ascended the carpeted staircase, the older filly squeezing the younger one tighter with a wing to counteract her shaky legs. Every few steps, they stopped to let the asthmatic pegasus catch her breath, before carrying on upwards towards their destination. When, at last, they reached the top of the stairs, they paused for a moment, and Diamond turned to Copperwing to speak, a smile on her face.
"Well, now that we're up here, getting you to your room should be easy."
Copperwing nodded. "Yeah, just a few more steps. Thanks for helping me up here, Diamond."
"No problem." Diamond glanced at her friend with a smile. "I think we make a pretty good team."
"I think so, too... I'm ready to walk the last stretch if you are, Dee-Tee."
Diamond braced herself against Copperwing's weight, shifting herself to better support her.
"Okay. In three?"
"Yeah, so... two."
"One... and step."
Step by step, the fillies trotted across the landing, quickly falling into a steady rhythm as they moved as one towards Copperwing's room. A good team, indeed.
*
"Here we are!" Lyra chirped, gesturing to a door in a house near-identical to every other house on the street, except for the windows on the left corner of the upper floor, which were bricked up. "21 Sweet Apple Lane," she continued, sitting on her haunches and pointing her forelegs at it in a motion that demanded - but didn't receive - a celebratory 'ta-dah!'.
Just to be sure, the cloaked pony who'd followed her there double-checked the label on the camera, before returning her gaze on the house and the expectant unicorn in front of it. This was the place.
"Thank you, Lyra, and sorry for the time I've cost. Without your guidance I'd have surely been lost."
"No problem!" Lyra beamed at the cloaked pony, shifting on her hooves as if to move on, then paused. "You gonna be okay from here?" - the cloaked pony nodded - "Cool!"
The unicorn fished a small sheet of paper out of... somewhere, as if summoning it, and the cloaked pony found a small pamphlet advertising a music bar levitating before their eyes. Reaching out to take it, they gave it a cursory glance, then looked up at Lyra questioningly, though admittedly the shadow of the hood didn't do much to help her make the expression obvious.
Lyra, guessing the reaction from posture alone, or maybe just from past experience, laughed nervously and rubbed the back of her neck. "I'm a lyrist, you see. I'm playing - along with a few others - tonight at the 12-Bar. You don't have to come, if you don't want to, that's fine, but I'd kind of appreciate it if you came along. If you want to. It's at 7:30. The show, I mean. Anyway, I've gotta get home, but maybe I'll see you later?"
Feeling bad for the mare who'd helped them, the cloaked pony hurried to reply, hoping to ease Lyra's embarrassment. "I'll be there if I can, though I have other business in these parts. I always like to hear the playing of a fellow fan of classical arts."
"Thanks!" Lyra chirped, her smile returning. "I hope I see you, then. Later!"
With this, she turned away for the last time and trotted merrily into Ponyville, back towards the town centre and Princess Twilight's towering palace. The cloaked pony watched her go, then turned their head back to the front door in time to meet the startled expression of the small earth pony mare who'd just opened it, a watering can in her hoof, presumably heading to water the daffodils planted either side of the welcome mat.
"H-hello? Can I help you?" Asked the mare, watering the daffodils to her right whilst keeping her eyes fixed on the cloaked stranger.
The cloaked stranger smiled reassuringly, then realised that the effort was pointless with their face in so much shadow. Trying to shift their body language and tone of voice to appear less threatening, they replied faux-nervously, concentrating on putting their youth back into their voice after burying it for the conversation with Lyra.
"H-hi, miss. Is this where Featherweight lives? I, uh, we swapped cameras earlier and I wanted t-to bring his back... If that's okay? A-are you his mum? Is he home? I tried to find him in town but he wasn't where I met him earlier, so I wandered around for a while but I just got lost, and then I asked a pony for directions and she led me here, so I thought I'd found the place but then you came out and asked me if you could help me, and I probably should have just said yes, but I just went on this kind of rambling thing and I'm probably just getting on your nerves like I do everypony, so I guess I'll stop now, unless you want me to carry on? No? I'll stop now - oh, but I just went on again. Sorry, I'll stop now. Sorry."
The mare blinked a couple of times, then her face softened maternally and she set down the watering can, before heading over to the cloaked pony.
"That's okay, you don't need to apologise. You just startled me, is all - not many ponies go around in a cloak like that."
"O-oh. Sorry. I was just taking some photos of birds and animals and things, and I thought it would help if I had a cloak because then maybe I wouldn't startle them, but it didn't really help and now I'm scaring ponies as well as animals. I'm sorry, I mess everything up."
"It's fine, really... Anyway, you were right: I am Featherweight's mum, my name's Lightweight. He's got a friend over now, but he's always been more of a 'the more the merrier' kind of colt, so I'm sure he won't mind if you come in. Oh, and while we're getting acquainted, what's your name?"
"S-shutterbug, Miss Lightweight. A-are you sure he won't mind?"
"Absolutely. Now, enough standing around on the doorstep: come inside, Shutterbug. I'll just let him know you're here and you can go right on up."
Lightweight led the way into the house and 'Shutterbug' followed her in, waiting faux-nervously to one side as the older mare grabbed the watering can in her mouth and brought it inside, shutting the door behind her and setting the can down on a small table in the hallway.
"Featherweight!" Lightweight called, cupping her mouth with her hooves to better direct her voice upstairs, presumably to cut through the faint music audible from one of the rooms at the top of the stair case. She yelled again, a little louder, rolling her eyes as a door opened upstairs and the music spilled out into the rest of the house, a tidal wave following the lanky colt who appeared at the top of the stairs.
"What is it, Mum?" Featherweight called, not yet spotting the cloaked pony from her camouflaged position next to the winter coats beside the door.
"You've got a visitor. She says her name's Shutterbug, and you two swapped cameras earlier."
"Swapped cameras? Is she wearing a cloak?"
"Yeah, she is. You know her, then?"
"Yeah, Mum; I met her in town earlier."
"Okay, Feather. I'll just send her up to you, okay? I've got to get back to watering the daffodils." Lightweight turned to Shutterbug and smiled encouragingly, pointing to the colt at the top of the stairs. "See, I told you it'd be fine. Just go right on up, dear."
"O-okay." Shutterbug stuttered, shuffling up the stairs and meeting Featherweight's gaze with wide, faux-nervous eyes. "H-hey, Featherweight. I, uh, I brought your camera back."
"Cool," Featherweight replied, already turning to head back into his room, "Come on into my room, uh, Shutterbug, was it? We can talk there and I can introduce you to Scootaloo. Celestia knows the poor filly could use some company right now."
"I-if that's what you want." Shutterbug replied, following the colt more enthusiastically than before. The name 'Scootaloo' rung a bell, and if she was who Shutterbug thought, then Featherweight and his friends might be useful for more than just cameras.
*
Copperwing's room was much as Diamond remembered it from her unofficial visit the other night, from the hoofwritten sign on the door to the small cardboard box on the oaken shelves, but in the light of day new details began to make themselves known to her. On the wall directly facing the doorway was an A3 Royal Guard recruitment poster, and taking up the equivalent amount of wall space beside it was a series of small shelves filled with assorted metal figures and sculptures.
As Diamond and Copperwing hobbled into the room, they passed the larger oak shelves upon which the box labelled 'friends' sat, so visible to Diamond, despite all the other items cluttered onto the shelves, that it might as well have been glowing. Her eyes ran over the battered surface of the box for a moment, a pang of guilt striking her heart as she remembered her invasion of Copperwing's privacy, before she pulled her eyes away from it and focused on the rest of the room.
On the right side of the room was a sizeable cloud bed, above which were two Wonderbolts posters - pin-ups, Diamond realised with a blush - one of Fleetfoot lying on her stomach, with her head turned to blow a kiss at the viewer and her tail flicked to the side; the other of Soarin' lying on his back, wings at their full spread. The suits on both athletes looked a little tighter than Diamond remembered them being in other pictures she'd seen, and given how well they accentuated the musculature and... other features of the Wonderbolts, she had no illusions about it being anything less than deliberate.
Often, Diamond forgot that Copperwing was a year older than her, especially since she so often acted less maturely than her taciturn younger sister, but at times like this it was hard not to be aware of how much difference a year could make in a pony's mindset. Diamond hadn't long been comfortable admitting she even liked the way other ponies looked in ways other than platonically, but evidently her older friend was so relaxed about admitting that she was attracted to other ponies that she'd gone and put posters of two of them in suggestive poses on her wall.
Diamond manoeuvred them towards the cloud bed, noticing with a deepening blush that Copperwing's namesake had stiffened against her back the moment they'd started approaching the bed and its risque neighbours on the wall. Together, they made their way to the bed's edge, and Diamond noticed how the cloud, whilst providing little resistance, clung briefly to her hoof as she passed it through. It was, surprisingly, not cold at all, feeling a little like a mist in all but that regard. Instead, its warmth radiated softly into her hoof, accompanied by an infinitesimal buzz of static: it was an alien, but undeniably comforting, sensation.
Getting back to the task at hoof, she turned so that Copperwing was closest to the bed, continuing to provide support as her friend detached herself from Diamond's back and plopped leadenly down onto the bed, a little cloud of mist momentarily swirling up from the heavy landing. Diamond took the moment to turn back to Copperwing's room to take it all in in the light of day streaming in from the skylight, but her eyes once again landed on the box which, with its mixed associations, made her feel ashamed at herself and impressed at Copperwing.
"So..." Copperwing began, perched on the end of her bed. "...uh, this is my room. What d'you think?"
Diamond glanced about for a second more, then turned to her friend with a smile.
"I like it. It's very you, if you know what I mean? It suits you."
Copperwing shot her a wry grin. "Well, it is my room."
Diamond trotted over to the bed and sat down next to her friend, returning the grin.
"No way..." she began in mock surprise, "I thought this was Auburn's room!"
"Well, ya thought wrong, filly." Copperwing replied, putting on an accent Diamond couldn't quite place, before a coughing fit silenced her.
Diamond immediately reached for Copperwing's inhaler, offering it to her friend with a concerned look. When the fit ended after just a second, and Copperwing's breathing continued unhindered save for a little croaking, the pegasus waved the inhaler away, sending Diamond a grateful smile by way of thanks.
"I'm okay! I'm okay, Dee-Tee." She insisted, trying to assuage the worry in Diamond's eyes. "I just pushed my voice a little too far, that's all. Note to self: no stupid accents."
Satisfied that she really was okay, Diamond put the inhaler back and chuckled. "What even was that accent, anyway, Copper?"
"Celestia knows. It seemed like a good idea at the time."
"That's what they all say." Replied Diamond, imitating the gruff voice of a Royal Guard.
Copperwing giggled briefly, silencing the laugh with a hoof so as not to start another coughing fit. Diamond smiled without meaning to: the giggle was a magical sound, even when cut short. She found herself looking forward to the day when Copperwing was well enough to just giggle, without worrying about her throat.
Silence fell over the fillies, but it was a comfortable one. Copperwing unfurled a glimmering wing and rested it over Diamond's back, and Diamond smiled at the touch, leaning into her friend's embrace. After a little while, Diamond wrapped her foreleg around Copperwing's back, and the embrace shifted a little, with Diamond leaning closer to Copperwing and the taller filly moving to rest her chin on the top of Diamond's mane.
"D-Diamond?" Asked Copperwing, nervousness creeping into her tone as she broke the silence for the first time in ten minutes.
"Mm-hm?" Diamond responded, her head still tucked under Copperwing's own.
"Could you... do you mind just holding me like this for a while longer? I-I just-"
"It's alright," interrupted Diamond, needing no explanation, "I don't mind at all."
"Th-thanks, Dee-Tee."
"No problem, Copper. It's been a tough few days for you, you deserve to just relax."
"Thank you." Copperwing repeated, her voice quavering a little, the last words spoken by either of them before the silence fell over them again, comforting and soft as a warm blanket.
As the minutes went by, Diamond noticed Copperwing's embrace loosen and her yawns increase in frequency, until finally, after a long period of silence, Diamond realised the pegasus had fallen asleep. In no hurry to escape her friend's hold, Diamond let her dozing friend snooze on undisturbed, before carefully disentangling herself from the pegasus and easing her down onto the bed. Now that Copperwing was lying down, Diamond carefully tugged the trapped covers out from under her friend and, slowly but surely, freed them, shifting them over to one side of the bed where they wouldn't be in the way. Adjusting Copperwing's hooves so that they no longer hung over the edge of the mattress, she grabbed the covers in her teeth and pulled them up over the sleeping filly, stepping back for a moment to appreciate her handiwork with a smile.
It was only when Diamond set about the final task of tucking Copperwing in that the pegasus was roused from her sleep, staring bleary-eyed at the other filly in confusion. Diamond was quick to soothe her, taking the tiara from Copperwing's head and placing it gently down on the bedside table so that she could stroke the older filly's dull blonde mane comfortingly.
"Ssh," Diamond whispered, her tone maternal, smiling as her friend started to slip back into sleep's warm embrace. "Get your rest, sleepyhead."
Despite her best efforts, Copperwing seemed to hover on the brink of sleep without quite succumbing to it, until Diamond, blushing crimson, tried one last-ditch effort. Steeling herself even as her face turned an impressive shade of beetroot, she took a deep breath in and began to sing Copperwing a quiet lullaby.
"Hush, now, quiet, now, it's time to rest your sleepy head. Hush, now, quiet, now, it's time to go to bed."
Diamond embarrassment only rose as she sang, but it worked. A contented, slightly goofy smile spread across Copperwing's face as her body went limp and her eyelids fluttered shut. Not wanting her to wake up, Diamond sang on until she was absolutely sure Copperwing was asleep, before smiling gently down at her. As she finished singing, a subtle yet appealing impulse made her lean closer, and after a moment or two of indecision, she moved her lips the rest of the way to plant a gentle kiss on Copperwing's forehead. Stunned at her own nerve, Diamond stared down at the sleeping filly for a moment, before hurriedly leaving the room. If Dinky and Auburn found out what she'd just done, she'd never live it down.
*
Featherweight entered first, leading Shutterbug into a small but homely bedroom dotted with photographic paraphernalia. Three cameras of varying sizes and styles rested on a shelf, while two entire walls and the ceiling were devoted to pinned-up pieces of Featherweight's photographic handiwork: one of the walls sported purely nature and geographical photography, the other featured urban scenes and ponies posing for the camera, but most impressive was the ceiling, which was invisible beneath a mosaic map of the night sky built up from countless individual photos. Lowering her view from the photos, Shutterbug spied a small bed shoved into one corner, beside a compact wardrobe, and behind a defeated pegasus filly with small wings and a baseball bat cutie mark.
"Scootaloo?" Featherweight asked, catching the pegasus's attention. "This is Shutterbug, she's a... friend of mine. She and I need to talk about some things, and then we can get you both introduced properly, okay?"
"Whatever." Scootaloo replied morosely, dropping her gaze back down to the carpeted floor and crumpling into a formless pile of pony.
"You sure you're okay, Scootaloo? I can talk to Shutterbug some other time if you're not comfortable with her being here."
"I'm fine, Featherweight!" Scootaloo snapped, her body tense for a moment before it collapsed again into apathetic limpness. "I'm fine, just... just let me be for a bit, alright?"
Featherweight's ears pinned back at the shout, but rose again as he sighed and pushed a little more sympathy into his face and tone. "Okay. Just tell me if you need anything."
Turning from Scootaloo, Featherweight crossed over and sat down on the other side of the room, gesturing to Shutterbug to do the same.
"Alright," he began, "I'm guessing you want your camera back?"
"For now, yes," Shutterbug replied, "but not forever... if you're willing to do me a favour."
Featherweight frowned. "What sort of favour could be worth a camera like that?"
"I took some photos with your camera. They're important to me. Very important. I want you to get them developed and write to me when you have them. Don't let anypony see them, and don't lose them, and I'll give you my camera."
"What's so important about these photos?" Asked Featherweight cautiously.
"That's not your problem. Are you in?"
"No. Tell me why you need these photos so badly, and I'll consider it. Between your stalker getup and all the secrecy, this is sounding all the wrong kinds of shady."
Shutterbug considered this for a moment, fiddling with Featherweight's camera, then sighed.
"Are you familiar with a filly by the name of Silver Spoon?"
Featherweight's expression grew angry in an instant, the expression appearing alien on the colt's usually peaceful face.
"Yeah, I know her. Little bitch damn near ruined the lives of half the foals in our year, she and the filly she blackmailed into a bully, Diamond Tiara. She got kicked out of school a while back after a fight - good riddance - and nopony's seen her since. What do you want with her?"
"She was back in town today. I have reason to suspect she's planning some kind of revenge on somepony - or ponies - in Ponyville. I don't know if my photos will be any use, but I'm hoping I can work out what she's planning and stop it before she gets too far with it."
Featherweight thought about this for a while, before continuing his pattern of cynical insight and asking more questions.
"How do you know about Silver Spoon, anyway? You're not from round here, but you knew she was here even though nopony in town said anything about her being back. And take off that hood, it's starting to creep me out not being able to see your face."
Shutterbug complied, pulling the hood back to reveal barely any more of her face than was already visible. A balaclava hid most of her features, while a pair of matte-painted mirrored sunglasses cloaked her eyes. Her ears and muzzle were grey where they protruded from the balaclava, and the shape of her jaw suggested that she was at least a year or two older than Featherweight. Her mane, as far as its colour and shape could be discerned through the hair net surrounding it, was silvery and shaped into a bun at the back of her head, the only bit of hair not hidden beneath her headwear.
"There, hood off. Better? I hope so, 'cause that's all you're seeing today. Say, do my favour and I'll take the glasses off next time. I know Silver Spoon, because out of all the lives she's ruined, I think I'm the worst off for it of anypony. Whatever she's planning, she's going to hurt more ponies like she hurt me. I couldn't stop her when she turned my life, or your life, or Scootaloo's life to Tartarus, but I can stop her this time. I can't just stand by and let it happen again. That enough explanation for you, Featherweight?"
"You've got history with Spoon? Join the club, sister." Featherweight cracked a wry grin at Shutterbug, who smiled in response. "So you're after revenge? Is that why you're so dead set on keeping your identity secret?" - Shutterbug remained silent - "I think you don't want to be recognised because if she finds out you're here, she could still hurt you. I bet Shutterbug's not even your real name."
Shutterbug shrugged. "It's as good a name as any. Back to the point, are you in?"
"I'm in," began Featherweight, "on one condition."
"And what would that be?" Inquired Shutterbug, impressed by the colt's refusal to simply do what she said even for such a spectacular prize.
"You don't just push me out once you've got your photos. One day's worth of photographs isn't going to pass muster if you want to prove anything, unless they're really good. Photography's my talent, and I'm beginning to doubt it's yours - let me help you. You aren't the only one who wants revenge, and I can be here in Ponyville permanently - you have to come down here, and if Spoon slips by you, you might completely miss something big. With me helping, you can worry about the Canterlot end of things, and I can worry about down here."
Behind her sunglasses, Shutterbug blinked in genuine surprise, the emotion so strong it disrupted her previously confident demeanour.
"Did... did you just guess where I live from my accent?" - Featherweight nodded - "Huh... And I thought I had it pretty well hidden. You're scarily observant, but guess it does back your point up. Fair enough, I believe that you can help me. So, do we have a deal?"
"We have a deal." Agreed Featherweight, spitting on his hoof and extending it to shake on their agreement.
Shutterbug grinned and spat in her own hoof, shaking Featherweight's with vigour and standing up to leave. Snatching her camera up off Featherweight's shelf, she dropped the colt's own into his hooves and slung hers around her neck. Realising that she was about to depart, Featherweight hurriedly stood up, rising to his full height and dwarfing the smaller filly.
"Hey, uh... When will you be back to collect the photos?" he asked. "Or did you want me to deliver them to you?"
"I'll be in touch." Shutterbug said unhelpfully, her smug grin visible even after she pulled the dark hood back over her face. Turning gracefully on the spot, she strutted confidently out of the room, leaving the colt behind her.
After a moment, her voice echoed back out from the landing with an audible smirk. "I look forward to working with you."
"Yeah." Featherweight stammered.
"Oh, and one last thing: see if Scootaloo would be interested in helping stop Spoon. I can think of a few jobs I could use her for, and why should we keep all the revenge to ourselves, right Featherweight?"
"Right. Okay... goodbye, Shutterbug!"
"Ta-ra, Featherweight. I'll be back."
Her hoofsteps echoed down the hall, then shifted into an audible clopping sound as she descended the stairs. A moment later, her voice could be heard, giving a faux-nervous thank-you to Lightweight for having her, then with a politely soft closing of the door, she was gone. Behind her, the filly left a curious photographer, a confused, depressed pegasus filly, and a mother hoping upon hope that this lovely little filly would be the one for her darling little colt.
Slipping out into Ponyville, Shutterbug pulled her hood up, checked the time on a battered wristwatch hidden in her left front sleeve, and pulled out Lyra's pamphlet. Orienting herself based on the map on the pamphlet's back, she set off towards the 12-Bar: Shutterbug's day might be over, but Spirit Song's was just beginning.
*****
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Her
Her
Shaking her head, she stared.
She supposed to be one pony, right ? Or has she got schyzophrenia ?
No description of the chamber at all, like a blank canvas, is it a meta-joke stating Copperwing is a bland character ?
For God's sake, just kiss already.
Silver Spoon's twin sister. What did I win ?
7040226
The use of 'they' was intentional, since I didn't want to reveal her gender until one of the characters in-story made a note of it. I'm using the singular version, as in 'somebody left their wallet on this bench', which is quite often used when referring to someone whose identity is unknown, like the cloaked pony was at that point.
As for Copperwing's room, hilarious as I found your comment, the lack of description was a mistake on my part and not a deliberate effort at a meta joke. I'll fix that ASAP, since that's a pretty glaring omission.
But where would the fun be in that? So much more satisfying to drag it out for another thirty chapters, right?
Close, but no cigar. Really close, actually, but wrong on one minor detail (I'll let you work out which one that is). She does share part of her name with Silver Spoon, so she shouldn't be too hard to find in the MLP wiki list of background ponies, if you're up for a little challenge. In any case, have an internet cookie for almost cracking it on your first try.
7312099
Welcome back! Glad to see you're not dead.
The revision was partly due to the general reaction of the original's violence, and partly due to a change of plans. Two main complaints surfaced in the comments after I put that chapter up the first time: that the violence was too sharp a tonal shift (for most readers, at least) and that the story seemed to be getting off track because Silver hadn't been a particularly big part of it for a long while. I had been planning on having Diamond deal with the CMC's conflict, but considering how many people were asking about Silver, as well as how long that arc would take to complete and free me up to bring Silver back, I changed direction towards a plot arc with Silver as the antagonist, and retconned the CMC's fight to be less over-the-top and less prominent in the story. It's still going to play out in the background, but it's no longer Diamond's concern.
Scootaloo did still get her cutie mark, or at least she was supposed to (I may have messed that up). Actually going over it might be a detail I left out, but it should come up in the future whatever the case. With the rest, I must admit even I don't remember what I added or changed and what I left the same, and since I think I overwrote the chapter on-site, I don't have a copy of the original. Downside to writing straight onto FimFic like I do is if you change something and then wish you hadn't, you're a bit stuck.
If by the pony Silver was with, you mean the cloaked pony, then yes, their motivations do get expanded on considerably in later chapters, and to an even greater degree in the next few to be uploaded. Hopefully it wasn't irritating to try to follow, though - it was supposed to be mysterious, not annoying.
Great to have you back!
7312474 Thank you! It's good to be back.
I've checked my downloads and it seems I've not saved a copy neither. What worries me is that if this is not retconned it just feels really weird to have it focused in the story, and it was already weird with their shift from accepting and tolerating to straight up not wanting anything to do with DT anymore. It certainly takes up focus and time away from stuff that does affect Diamond directly and whatever plans you have in store for Silver now with her return.
If the CMC and Diamond aren't going to interact then it will eat up your time trying to work this into the story, it was put out there so ignoring it won't do anyone any good. Especially not the readers. I mean I could see Scootaloo needing a friend, or Apple Bloom broken as to how to get her friends back together. Who knows. It will play in the background but it'd be nice to find some clever way to at least make it relevant given the amount of focus it was given. Sweetie must have been going through some estrus pains or something cause her bitch level was through the roof, maybe she has the hots for Scoots and gets jealous of RD? I don't know, I'm being stupid right now. Much like Sweetie I suppose.
Still, keep doing your best. I'll keep looking out for more chapters as per usual.
Far as the mysterious stuff, well it was more my mind trying to make sense as to her allegiances. That's just something I'll have to see in later chapters.
P.S. Always a good idea to save a copy of your works pre-editing in a notepad. If not Googledocs. It helps a lot. Just make sure to make a folder for said notes and mark each chapter with revisions like "Ch7R2" which is Chapter 7 Revision 2.
7345551
Well, I wouldn't say the CMC thing isn't going to go anywhere, just that it's not the driving conflict for this arc. I'll explain below, but also try to avoid any major spoilers because I don't know how far you've read through.
The story for this arc is going to alternate between Diamond and her friends, and the cloaked pony, Featherweight and Scootaloo. The cloaked pony's group is the one which knows Spoon's back and figure out her plan, whereas Diamond's group only knows that something's going on but don't know Spoon is back, or not initially at least. The swapping between groups will finish when Spoon finally makes an appearance in the open, but for the time being there are two sets of main characters.
While Diamond won't be interfering in the CMC's situation besides some interactions with Scootaloo, the cloaked pony's group includes one of the CMC (Scootaloo), so it would be nigh impossible to avoid dealing with it.
Rest assured that the plot line will be dealt with, even if it's not Diamond who does all the work sorting things out. Scootaloo is separated from the others in the CMC, so Diamond could still deal with things on the Sweetie and Apple Bloom side while Featherweight acts as Scootaloo's friend and tries to help from his side.
There will be explanation and a conclusion to all this, it just won't be the huge thing it was previously going to be. The latest chapter should do a fair bit to show where things might be headed, although there is one thing I need to edit there.
Between the Spoon thing, the ongoing arcs (about Auburn, and between Diamond and Copper), and the CMC, there isn't the room to give the CMC thing the centre stage the way it was planned to, hence toning it down but not cutting it.
In any case, I can only write the story and see what you think. I hope things go as smoothly as I think, but for now I can only reassure and hurry the next chapter along.
Anyway, glad to have you back, and the story's path will be more obvious from the next chapter, so hang on and things will make more sense soon (I hope).
7345697 I've read it all story-wise. Including revised chapters. But yes, I would like to avoid spoilers. I do trust in you to do the right thing. You just mentioned that it'd be done in the "background" and have no part in the story, that was my understanding with the "not Diamond's concern" which made me think you were abandoning the issues introduced for the most part. Which I thought would have been a shame if you had.
Glad to see that won't be the case though since, I thought at least, it'd be nice to see you tackling the long overdue inner conflicts that occurred with the CMC that came from helping DT and it coming full circle with DT helping them out in an equally helpful way I suppose. Even if the core issues may or may not have been a result of DT or whatever, idk. I don't know. I just thought they would eventually all join up at some point and maybe a scuffle or misunderstanding or two along the way. Like things would go down, maybe Silver would get involved, possible rejoining to help a friend and stuff would happen to help tackle a real threat.
In short, the original conflict vs what went down in the revisions was just so different than before. Not a bad change since the tone was a bit of a shift to raise the violence that high especially with no one knowing why Sweetie was being a bitch to Scootaloo saying such things to her now former best friend. Lots of unanswered questions with those three have been piling up is all. Glad to see we'll get something into it all through Scootaloo and the mystery pony.
P.S. I'm still very much loving the story so far. I can only comment on things a reader is given on a word by word basis so don't worry much. I'm more than eager to read more now that I can do so in relative peace. And thanks, again, it is good to be back. Still have a lot of catching up to do on so many things on here including the group but I'll always make room for this adorable story.