//------------------------------//
// Crowning the Queen 
// Story: Hope Shines 
// by Bookish Delight 
//------------------------------//

Silver Spoon made her way through the thick of the Everfree Forest as quickly as she could. Every once in a while, she would take out a compass and a piece of paper from her miniature saddlebag.

The paper was old and frayed, and contained a crude, mouth-drawn map. Both were needed and welcome—the last thing she wanted to do was venture too far into the forest at night. But she knew it was a risk she had to take, as she skirted its borders.

So long as she stayed the course, it wouldn't be long before she found what she was after.





It was the middle of the evening, and Diamond Tiara hadn't come home yet.

Silver Spoon was one of the first to find out. Mr. and Mrs. Rich had come to her house, asking her and her parents if any of them had seen Diamond. Once they'd answered in the negative, she found out that they'd also checked with Miss Cheerilee. It was now officially an emergency—one which had to be kept quiet, of course, but which still had to be addressed with all available resources.

"Thanks so much for helping us look for our daughter, everypony," Filthy Rich said to all present outside the Rich estate. "I honestly have no idea where she could have gone. We've checked all of her favorite places—the school, Sugarcube Corner, Silver Spoon's house..."

"Even that little makeshift tent close to your castle she thinks we don't know about," Spoiled Rich said to Twilight Sparkle.

Twilight tilted her head and blinked.

"She... likes to pretend it's her castle," Filthy Rich said. "Can't say her heart isn't in the right place, but she'll grow out of it. Then she'll earn her own, of course."

"Of course. Not to worry, Mr. Rich," Twilight said. "I already have my friends checking every corner of Ponyville, on the ground and in the sky. We'll definitely find Diamond Tiara. Ponyville's small and she knows better than to venture too far beyond it, especially in certain directions, so there aren't a lot of places she could be, right?"

Silver Spoon and the Cutie Mark Crusaders looked at each other pensively. After some time, the four nodded.

"We'll do our own searching, too," Apple Bloom said, raising her hoof. "There are places in and around Ponyville that only really little ponies can get into. Our parents already know we're out here—it's why we're here seeing you instead of at home. Let's all look for her together!"

"Hmmm," Twilight said, hoof to chin. "I don't know..."

"They do have a point," Filthy Rich said. "Diamond and I have... well, let's say she's good at hiding from us when she really wants to. I'll take responsibility." He turned to the four fillies. "Stick together, and stay within the town where everypony can see you. Anywhere even close to the Everfree Forest is off limits. Understand?"

The four nodded, and Spoiled Rich took out a crystal from her purse. "If you find our princess, press on this. It will instantly alert us and lead us to your location."

Silver Spoon took the crystal and put it into her bag. "I understand, Mrs. Rich. And don't worry." She looked up. "You two aside, there aren't a lot of ponies who want to see your daughter safe and sound more than me."

Silver and Spoiled met eyes. For just a moment, the latter's softened.

"I know," Spoiled said. "Best of luck to all of us, then."

"To all of us." Silver walked away from the gathered ponies. "Come on, you three," she said to the Crusaders as she passed them. "We're doing this."

"Do you have any idea where she might have gone?" Scootaloo said as the three fillies followed behind Silver.

"Yeah, do you?" Sweetie Belle echoed. "I mean, I can't think of any time you and she haven't been together. Except for yesterday, of cour—"

"Quiet," Silver said, walking faster.

"Hey! We're helping you and your friend out here!" Apple Bloom said. "Besides, we just learned today that Diamond Tiara might actually not be all that ba—"

"I said, quiet!" Silver said, turning to face them.

The Crusaders clamped up.

Silver craned her head and looked past them. Twilight and the Riches had gone their separate ways, and thus were long out of earshot. "Follow me," she said.

Silver led the three behind the tent of a nearby closed shop stand, out of view of other ponies walking the streets. Once she was sure they were hidden, she looked at the Crusaders. "I already know where she is. At least... I'm ninety-nine percent sure."

"You what—" Sweetie Belle began, before Silver clamped her hoof over Sweetie's muzzle.

"Why do you three have to be so loud about everything?" Silver hissed. "This is exactly why Diamond and I give you so much grief!" After some thought, she removed her hoof and added, "Well, one of the reasons. We started making an itemized list once, at Twilight's suggestion, but we realized had to stop at a hundred or we'd be there forever."

Apple Bloom snorted. "Gee, it's sure nice to see you and Diamond Tiara follow such noble causes."

Silver sighed. "I... appreciate the three of you coming along to help. You didn't have to. Especially after all that grief." She closed her eyes. "So, here's the cover story, in case anyone sees you while I'm gone: I broke away from you, in a fit of being the 'spoiled rich girl' I usually am. So, you three are now scouring Ponyville looking for both Diamond and me."

The Crusaders gaped as the words slowly sank in. "That's... not what's really about to happen, is it?" Scootaloo asked in a soft voice.

Silver huffed. "Not exactly in that way. But it's a story that anypony in this town will buy," she said, just as softly. "And we all know it. So, use it."

The Crusaders stared at her in silence. Finally, Apple Bloom spoke, placing a hoof on Silver Spoon's shoulder. "We'll be safer if we stick together," she said. "You know that, right?"

"I know." Silver Spoon looked into each of the Cutie Mark Crusaders' eyes with determined ones of her own. "But if you stick with me, I'll take you down with me. I'm the only one who can be there when she's found. Because I know how we got to this point."

Silver took the crystal out of her bag, staring at it just as determinedly. "And I'll bring her back. I promise."

She put the crystal back in her bag and ran off, listening for the sounds of multiple sets of hooves following her.

They never came.





The memory faded as Silver rolled up the map, and put it and its compass back in her bag. She knew where she needed to go now. More memories flashed as she ran around thick tree trunks. More reactions, more emotions.

Seeing Diamond distraught after not winning the class president election, initially, had suited Silver just fine, especially after she'd snubbed Silver on the way there. It wasn't the first time she'd been ignored, but it was the first time Diamond hadn't even let her get her idea out there before shooting it down—admittedly, always with a better or more ambitious one whenever that happened.

It was one small part of the understanding between them, but yesterday had been the only time Diamond had ever overstepped it. So, just that once, she'd been fine with seeing Diamond get her "just deserts." Diamond needed it, Diamond deserved it, and Silver didn't need to follow her drama anymore. She'd known Diamond for years, kept all her secrets, stuck beside her anyway, and that was her thanks? Far as she was concerned, things were square, and over, between the two of them.

Or so Silver thought.

Not long after that, Silver saw Diamond and her mother having one of their usual spats. Speaking of drama. Rarely, though, had those spats happened in public, in full view of everypony. That was pretty new. She stayed out of sight because she saw the blank flanks looking on, too—and because after witnessing them the first few times for herself months ago, she knew better than to jump into those storms as they were raging.

Meaning that, consciously or not, she found herself trailing Diamond after that... all the way to Ponyville Bridge.

It occurred to Silver Spoon that she'd never heard Diamond actually sing. On top of that, for all that she'd complained about her family... she'd never heard Diamond talk about herself like that. About her heart. Her dreams.

Silver had never heard Diamond bare herself before. Of course, she would do it when she thought absolutely nopony was looking. Silver considered feeling slighted, but more than anything, else, she felt...

Well, annoyed more than anything else. Darn it. Why did she have to always care so much? What was it about Diamond that she couldn't walk away from?

She'd decided that she would have to force herself to. It looked like Diamond was about to become friends with the blank flanks anyway. Not that Silver cared. After all, Diamond certainly hadn't.

And then, the next day, in front of the whole school. Diamond did the one thing Silver never expected: she stood up to her mother. The same mother who had humiliated and embarrassed Diamond so many times, and caused countless temper tantrums in front of Silver when her bedroom door was closed. In defiance of all of that, Diamond had finally put her hoof down.

Once her mother had walked away, Diamond smiled. Smiled at everyone. Smiled at Silver.

Directly at Silver. With a smile that Silver had seen so many times before.

It was a smile that, of course, fooled everyone.

But Silver knew what it meant.

She'd had to calm Diamond down from that "smile", more than once.





Silver reached the spot marked on the map.

In front of her sat a large tree stump, twice her size, and covered in vines. Of course, it was—she and Diamond hadn't used it in almost a year. She pulled the vines away, revealing a rope handle. She pulled it up, wedging the stump open and revealing a hollow more than big enough for a filly to jump to.

Silver did just that, pulling the stump closed over her, and sliding down a twisting path which always threatened to make her nauseous if the ride down ever lasted five seconds longer than it always did.

But as usual, it was over soon enough. She popped out the other side, into a forest clearing. A short distance front of her was an expansive lake that sparkled majestically under the moonlight.

In front of that lake, sat a large log, and a single small pony sat on that log, with a crown serving as a dead giveaway to that pony's identity.

If Diamond Tiara heard Silver approach, she didn't let on that she did. She stayed where she was the entire time as Silver slowly trotted closer, until Silver was directly behind her—close enough to place her foreleg on Diamond's shoulder.

"Diamond?" Silver said.

Diamond didn't move, continuing to slouch with ears drooped as she sat.

Silver walked around the log, until she was standing in front of Diamond. She studied her friend's expression—it was as exactly as she feared. Even solitude from her parents wasn't helping. She looked completely stricken by pain and fear, her lips slightly parted, her eyes wide and glassy as they stared through Silver Spoon, across the lake, probably clear across to Canterlot.

Silver Spoon stepped forward, squatting on her hind legs. Slowly, she wrapped her forelegs around Diamond Tiara. Diamond didn't resist. Silver gently pulled, until their bodies were close and pressed together.

She felt Diamond shake, pulled back just a bit to let Diamond see her face, and brought her hoof up to Diamond's cheek. "It's okay."

Diamond shivered in Silver's grip.

"It's okay," Silver said again, re-embracing her. "I'm here. It's just us, and no one else. No one will see or hear us until we say so. No one will see you."

Diamond hiccupped. Short, quick sounds escaped her throat. She was still resisting the inevitable, resisting what Silver clearly knew she wanted, but that Silver knew she couldn't avoid for much longer.

Silver Spoon decided to do what needed to be done. To say what needed to be said.

"I'm not angry at you. I never was. I love you, Diamond Tiara. And I forgive you."

A longer sound this time, before Diamond clenched. Silver cuddled Diamond close, leaning in to whisper in her ear:

"Let it out."

And Diamond did.

She opened her mouth with a sorrowful moan, loud enough to echo across the lake, loud in Silver's ears—but Silver didn't care. Even more followed, some high, some mewling, some cut short by a need to breathe. Silver soon felt the onslaught of tears slowly cover her shoulder hair, rivulet by rivulet, as Diamond shook and jerked uncontrollably in Silver's forelegs. Every so often she would hear Diamond try to form words, or try to say Silver's name, only for her to loose a new high-pitched wail, and cry harder.

Silver stroked Diamond's mane. She rocked her, she whispered words of reassurance, letting Diamond know it was okay, encouraging her to keep letting it out until it was all out. In time, her own tears fell, trailing down Diamond's coat. She took off her glasses, sobbing with her friend. The two hugged each other tightly in the moonlight, letting out secret sorrows that they'd both held in for years.

Neither of them knew how long it took for them to finish their lament. It could have been five minutes, or fifty. But eventually, the sobs became less frequent. Their hugs became tighter, became closer, turned to nuzzles against each other's cheeks.

"Thank you, Silver," Diamond whispered, barely avoiding choking on the words. "Thank you so much."

"Of course," Silver said. "I'm just so sorry I left you."

"I don't blame you one bit. You left me when you needed to," Diamond said.

"No," Silver replied, shaking her head. "I left you when we needed each other."

That got a sobbing giggle out of Diamond. "I don't deserve you, Silver. I never did."

"I know." Silver pulled back just a bit, staring at Diamond's puffy eyes with equally puffy ones of her own. "But you're stuck with me."

Before she knew it, Diamond had leant forward, pressing her muzzle to Silver's cheek. A heady warmth pulsed in Silver's heart, leaving her happier than she already had been that she'd taken this chance.

"That makes me so happy to hear," Diamond said, before leaning back in and whispering in Silver's ear. "Best friends forever?"

"Best friends forever," Silver whispered back, now feeling like the entire week had been worth it.

Diamond broke the hug, and sighed, loud and long. "I needed that. Not just you, I mean, just..." Diamond gestured around herself. "This. I needed to get away, but I thought I could do it alone and be fine." She looked to Silver, her eyes sparkling, her cheeks pink. "But I'm never fine without you. All the way back to when we first met, you got me. You understood me. I only wish I took as much time to understand you. But I guess it's not too late to start, is it?"

Silver blushed as she looked at Diamond, fighting an almost uncontrollable light-headedness. "Take your time," she said. "Like I said, I'm not going anywhere."

Diamond giggled. "Good."

Diamond got up from the log and walked over to the lake. Silver followed. The two stared at their reflection, which, much like the lake itself, shimmered from the moonlight above.

Diamond closed her eyes. "Never lose your strength, or your nobility," she said, as if quoting a mantra. She opened her eyes. "One change from the usual, though."

Silver watched the reflection of Diamond Tiara take off her crown, and put it on the reflection of Silver Spoon's head. She gasped, and smiled wide. "I'm the princess tonight?" she asked.

"No," Diamond said, smiling back. "Something more."

The warmth in Silver's heart spread throughout her entire body. She relished it, and the silence, for a long while, before an idea occurred to her. "Want my glasses?"

"No," Diamond said immediately.

Silver laughed. Diamond did as well, soon after, before adding, "But I wish I had a camera crystal here."

"Oh!" Silver ran back to her bag, and procured the crystal, bringing it back.

"Is that one?" Diamond asked.

"No," Silver replied. "But..." She took a deep breath. "It'll let us get to a place that has one."

Diamond sighed. "I guess I have to go home sometime, don't I?"

Silver nodded. "Everyone's looking for you. Including the bla—" She stopped herself. "Uh, ex-blank flanks."

Diamond laughed again. "That'll take a while to get used to. Especially since I owe them, now."

Silver nodded. "You and me both."

"We'll have to talk to them later, I guess," Diamond said.

Silver grinned slyly. "When we feel like it?"

Diamond looked at Silver, matching her grin with a tiny squeal. "You're still the only one who gets me."

The two sidled close, warming each other in the night.





"So, what are you going to do?" Silver asked as the two walked back to Ponyville. "I mean, about your mom?"

Diamond threw up her foreleg, then let it flop back to her side. "I don't know. When I told off my mom? I thought I'd be scared! But instead I was just angry. Angry at all the times... well, you know. But now? Now I'm scared." Her voice slipped to a weakened whisper. "I'm really scared, Silver."

She took out the crystal from Silver's bag and looked at it. "I already know the kind of pony I want to be. But it's not going to be easy. If I survive tonight, I..." She looked up into Silver's eyes. "I could really use a friend while I work towards being that pony."

"What a coincidence," Silver said. "I could really use a friend while I work towards being the pony I want to be, also."

Diamond nodded. "I promise, I will be. Still..." Diamond looked away. "I wish I could tell you I'm going to be the same Diamond you became friends with back then. But... I don't know."

Silver placed a hoof on Diamond's shoulder. "You were Diamond Tiara back then, you've been Diamond Tiara since I've known you, and you'll be her in the future. A diamond is unbreakable, right?"

Diamond smiled. "And this was why I always kept you around." She took a deep breath, then exhaled. Both fillies took hold of the crystal, their hooves clasped together.

"Ready?" Diamond said.

"Always," Silver said.

"One..." Diamond chanted.

"Two..." Silver continued.

They pressed their hooves together, and the crystal with it, and said in unison:

"Three."