Exchange of Spoons
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Prologue
Silver Spoon trotted through the beaten path with bag half her size on her back, bypassing the rustic but colorful homes of Ponyville. Her brand new glasses rested on her muzzle, their blue frames glinting in the sunlight.
Taking a glance at the surrounding architecture, she admired the traditional approach to the construction of this cozy little town. Wood may not be as sturdy as stone, but Ponyville more than makes up for it with creativity, she thought, comparing the different houses. While yellow, white and bronze colors seemed a bit repetitive, the creative design of each home had a certain undeniable charm.
Her peaceful trot came to an abrupt end as she tumbled for a brief second. Silver Spoon collapsed on the ground with her saddlebag falling into the dirt as her glasses slipped off her muzzle, dust covering the lenses.
As she stood up, dusting herself off, she noticed a raised pink foreleg behind her. Glancing upward, her sight began to focus on a rather blurry pink and white form. Racking her brain, she began to discern the identity of her assailant. Fortunately, she did not have to wait long, as a familiar cackle filled the silence. Diamond Tiara… She smacked away the offending hoof, growling.
“What do you think you’re doing?!” Silver demanded, staring at her aggressor’s form with as much hostility as she could muster.
“What, me? I’m not the clumsy one around here,” Tiara said as she pointed at the dusty blue glasses on the ground. “You should use rope or something so those glasses won’t fall off your face so easily. What if somepony accidentally stepped on them?” She raised her nose, dropping her foreleg as she did so. The crunch of breaking glass followed the action. “Oops.”
Unfazed, Silver Spoon approached her bag, rolling her eyes as she grasped the strap between her teeth.
Tiara approached as well, speaking with an innocent tone, “Your parents must be so disappointed to have such a clumsy daughter, constantly buying you new glasses to replace the ones you oh so carelessly broke.”
The grey filly opened her bag and pulled out a wooden box between her forehooves. Opening it, she took out her spare glasses before placing them on her muzzle, then sweeping up the leftovers of the broken glass and frames into the box. She placed the bag on her back and took a step forward, only to feel a tug on her tail. After looking back, she pulled her tail out from under Tiara’s foreleg.
“Don’t you have something better to do? Or is being a rich snob and a school bully what your cutie mark really means?” Silver asked.
“So says a less rich nerd playing in the mud with blank flanks,” Tiara snapped back. “I can do whatever I want, and I’m going to show losers like you your proper place.”
Silver Spoon sighed before trotting away. “You know what, Tiara. I think if you had a friend, you wouldn’t be so grumpy and rude all the time. Not that anypony would want to befriend somepony like you."
“Shut your mouth!” Diamond shouted, stomping in frustration. “Being a friend with some blank flanks who fail at everything, or that candy making pony who should be locked in a prison for annoying everypony with her terrible voice? No thanks, I’d rather have no friends.” She raised her head proudly and walked in the opposite direction.
“Are ya sure yer okay, Silver?” Apple Bloom asked as she walked by Silver Spoon’s side, her neck and back covered in bruises while fragments of a broken branch were stuck in her mane.
Silver Spoon smiled awkwardly, somewhat overwhelmed by the three pairs of concerned eyes being directed at her. “Of course I’m fine. I wasn’t the one shot from the catapult after all. You should be more concerned about yourself.”
“Eeyup, but yer the one who tried to catch me,” Apple Bloom pointed out. “And ya lost even more glasses.”
Scootaloo flared her wings and slowed her scooter so her friends could catch up. The white unicorn in the wagon behind her groaned as the jolt shunted her around. “Helping Apple Bloom was the easiest part,” Scootaloo said, folding her wings to keep pace. She glanced at Silver and added, “But when you and Apple Bloom tried to catch Sweetie Belle, you three rolled down a hill, bouncing between trees and slamming through bushes filled with all sorts of thorns.”
Sweetie Belle, who until now had been sitting in the back of the wagon next to Silver’s bag, yelped as she magically yanked the last thorn from her foreleg and threw it to the side. Now thorn-free, she levitated the bag with her magic and jumped onto the ground, quickly matching her friends’ pace, gritting her teeth for the first several steps. While her friends had crashed into the thorny bushes with their backs, she had been cushioned by her poor, throbbing legs and belly.
“You don’t need to walk, Sweetie Belle,” Scootaloo said, motioning back towards the wagon trailing behind her. “I can get you home, no problem. I’m the sole survivor of the C.M.C. after all.”
“Thanks Scoots, but I’ll pass,” Sweetie answered. “It’s not the worst that’s happened to us anyway. I’ll manage.”
Silver Spoon looked at her unicorn friend with a smirk. “Exactly! I don’t even need to clean the tree sap from your fur this time around,” Pausing, she chuckled, “for the third time this week. In other words, progress.” The girls chuckled, recalling the numerous baths they had been subjected to. “Besides, we should go to my place first. I can get you some bandages and chocolate tea and... is something wrong?” she asked while noticing that her friends had slowed down and were now looking to the side nervously.
“No need to waste bandages on this,” Sweetie Belle said hesitantly.
“Ah heal fast,” Apple Bloom pointed out.
“And I need to work on fixing my scooter,” Scootaloo said with a fake smile.
“Excuses,” Silver Spoon said with a frown. Her ears drooped a moment later as she turned to her friends. “Whenever I want to invite you to my home, or ask if I can get you something, you start acting all nervous.” Staring at her friends, she asked, “Please tell me why. Did I do something wrong?” As the silence maintained for several seconds, each crusader rubbing their wounds nervously, she asked, “Don’t keep me in the dark... pretty please.”
Apple Bloom sighed. “Fine… Ah’ll tell.” She stood up and walked forward, her friends following suit. “Ya already did so much for us in the past, and Ah feel bad for not repayin’ favours.”
Scootaloo continued, “I can’t even count how much it had to cost you and your parents for all the medical support you’ve given us during our crusades.”
Sweetie Belle added, “Not to mention how you paid to cover for… for our unintentional damage. We‘ve caused quite a lot of collateral damage while searching for our cutie-marks.”
Silver Spoon kept walking next to the crusaders as she raised an eyebrow. “Isn’t that what friends do?”
“Well,” Scootaloo started. “Ever since you became a crusader, you spent lots of bits to help us, and maybe even more on repairing your glasses.”
“It don’t feel right,” Apple Bloom said.
“We like you as a friend and fellow crusader, not for all the bits you have,” Sweetie Belle pointed out. “We wanted to prove that our friendship is honest… Not just to you, but to ourselves.”
Silver Spoon took off her third set of glasses today and wiped a tear from her eye. “It… it’s so sweet of you.” She hugged her friends before placing her glasses firmly back on and resuming her walk. She was about to pick up her bag from Sweetie’s levitation field, but Scootaloo beat her to it. “I appreciate the gesture, I really do, but don’t you think that health is worth spending a few bits?”
“You may have a point, but you’ve got a fair share of bruises and cuts on your own,” Scootaloo said, pointing at her marks left by thorns across the grey fur and damaged mane. She continued in a joking tone, “Keep bandaging ours, and you won’t have enough supplies to tend to your own. We were just concerned, that’s all.”
Sweetie Belle kept limping as she said, “The charm of being a crusader.”
“Well… it does have its downsides,” Silver Spoon pointed out. “But it‘s still fun. No bits can buy experiences I had with you as a crusader.” She looked at her cutie mark and continued with a slightly saddened voice, “Don’t feel bad if I use bits my mom gave me to help. It feels better to help friends than if I spend them on myself.” She rubbed the back of her neck. “When you pointed out how spoiled I was a long time ago, you weren’t wrong.”
“Sorry about that,” Sweetie Belle said, now walking between two lines of creative homes as passing ponies kept giving them the usual worried glances.
“No need to apologize for being right. My parents always gave me whatever I wanted. The least I can do is to help you find your cutie-marks.”
Sweetie Belle pointed at the spoon on Silver’s flank and said, “And we’ll help you find out what your cutie-mark means.” She shook her friends’ forehooves and ran towards Rarity’s boutique. It didn’t take long for the crusaders to hear a mix of panic and lecture from Sweetie’s older sister.
With the farm as their destination, Silver Spoon spoke up, “It feels odd.”
“Odd?” Apple Bloom asked.
“You girls try to get your cutie-mark to find out your special talent. I got my cutie-mark, and still haven’t figured out what my special talent really is. I’m one weird crusader.”
Scootaloo chuckled. “Totally. You must’ve been really distracted. Maybe visiting the spa was too important to notice how you got your mark in the first place.”
“Or maybe my special talent is being spoiled,” Silver joked before looking at her residence nearby, which was the second biggest mansion in Ponyville. “Are you sure you don’t want me to get you bandages? My home is nearby.”
“Nah, Ah pass,” Apple Bloom said. “Apples are tough, few cuts and bruises are nothin’.”
“Alright, see you tomorrow, and don’t forget about your presentation,” Silver Spoon reminded her friend, who groaned at the mention of homework. Scootaloo returned the bag she was carrying and placed it onto Silver’s back, who gritted her teeth as the extra weight pressed against her cuts.
She waved at her leaving friends and began walking home, her senses sharpening as she scanned the area for Diamond Tiara. After reaching the gate of her residence with no bully in range, she sighed and approached her parents’ guard. A very tall, bronze earth pony greeted her, his black mane slicked back to accent the iron gate on his flank. “Hello, Gatekeeper.”
“Oh, Mistress Spoon, welcome back,” he said before opening the gate, the hinges well oiled. He raised an eyebrow after noticing a few small cuts on the filly’s face. “I suppose the crusading was eventful today.”
“As eventful as catching a friend shot from a catapult can be,” she responded, causing the gate guard to chuckle.
“Should I assume that no environmental damage was involved?”
“Luckily there wasn’t, and to answer your next question, no tree sap cleaning emergency today.”
“Good to hear,” Gatekeeper said as he pointed at the tall door. “Your parents are currently listening to a private concert in the music room.”
“Thanks for the warning. I better bandage myself before my parents panic or something.” She opened the saddlebag and took out a few bits before showing them to Gatekeeper. “Thanks for the warning.”
He gently pushed the bits away and shook his head. “Naaah.”
“Not want a tip? How about a smile instead?” Silver asked before shooting the Gatekeeper a warm smile, of which he gladly returned.
“Mom, I’ll be fine,” Silver Spoon said while lying in her abnormally large bed, which was an even larger waste of space considering it was just for a single filly. She pointed at her bandages and continued, “These are just minor cuts, I don’t need to go to the hospital.”
The tall, grey earth pony with a long, golden-like mane shook her head as she examined each bandage, wondering what kind of wounds may be hidden beneath them. A feather in a bottle of ink cutie-mark decorated her flanks. “Don’t lie to me, sweetheart, whatever happened to you must hurt.”
“Just a little,” Silver Spoon said hastily. “It’s nothing to worry about, please, believe me.”
The mare frowned. “I told you countless times not to play with those... crusaders.” Shuddering, she took a spoon from a teacup and blew on it to cool it down before moving towards her daughter.
“Mom, please don’t treat me like a newborn filly, I can drink tea on my own,” Silver responded, now observing the numerous snacks on a nearby table next to the tea with an illuminating gem serving as a nightlight. The room itself was large, and was filled with more junk than any normal filly would have: a sofa, some cupboards for clothes, toys in the corner of the room, a private sink with cosmetics, powder, a comb, and a mirror for so called morning beauty routine. I wonder if Rarity has something similar in her room. I should ask Sweetie Belle next time around. Elegant curtains with ribbons were visible across two windows, the stars and the moon perfectly decorating the night sky.
“You’ll always be my little daughter to me.” She stroked her daughter’s mane, who frowned and crossed her forelegs. “If it was not for my husband, I would not allow you to interact with those troublemakers. They are a terrible example for you.”
“They aren’t… well… maybe a little, but they are good ponies and loyal friends.”
“They are loyal only to your bits. Elites like us should never trust common ponies.”
Silver Spoon pushed away the stroking forehoof of her mother before hitting a nearby pillow in frustration. “Stop talking like we’re better than them!”
“Oh, but we are,” her mother responded, unfazed by her daughter’s shouting. She pointed at herself and crowed, “My novels are very popular with most of the Canterlot Elite, and your father leads construction of luxury blimps fueled by magical gems. We are far superior to a farm family, and whatever the parents of that flightless filly are doing.” Her daughter growled. “I suppose Sweetie Belle’s older sister is a saving grace. If only she took after Miss Rarity more, then she would be a fine companion for you.”
“Are you done insulting my friends?” Silver asked, her patience at its limit.
Her mother stomped and said with a firm tone, “You are clearly not thinking straight. You must have caught a cold or something from being outside all day. I forbid you from going to school until you are feeling better. I’ll send the butler to inform Miss Cheerilee about your condition.”
“What? You can’t!” Silver Spoon shouted, sitting up in shock and fixing her mother with a pleading stare. “I’m feeling fine, honest. I can’t miss school because of a few bruises.”
The taller mare stood up and walked towards the door, now glancing at her daughter from a distance. “I will hire a tutor so you will not fall behind with your education.” She sighed. “And to think you were such a good daughter, always listening to your parents, and now, look at you.”
Silver Spoon’s ears dropped. She looked to the side, unable to meet her mother’s disappointed stare.
“You would be so much better befriending Filthy’s daughter, who, unlike your mud playing friends, comes from a proper family. Instead, you embarrass us in front of the Riches.”
“But Diamond Tiara is a bully!”
“I don’t want to hear anymore of your lies, child. Goodnight.”
After the door closed, Silver Spoon sat and whimpered. ”Surely, today could’ve gone better.” She covered the illuminating gem and buried herself under the quilt as her head sunk into the pillow. The comfort did little to ease her worries.
She closed her eyes, unaware of someone’s presence peeking inside by the window.