Crystal Academy had everything a student could hope for. It had the best teachers from both The Empire and Equestria. It had the best chefs to cater to the student's every need. The only schools that could compete with it financially and academically were Celestia's School for Gifted Unicorns and Canterlot University. As such, the school's recess area was very well constructed. It was the size of a park with half of the area being dominated by a cafeteria built like a five star café with lapis lazuli walls and spotless crystal windows with golden frames. The remaining space in the area was taken by a shady forest fenced off from the rest of the campus by steel cage walls enchanted to keep the trees from growing past the area. In a clearing in the forest, two students laughed as they enjoyed their scheduled break time together.
"No way," Sapphire giggled. "He really did that?"
"Yep," Opal nodded, taking a pull from his juice pack. "I still have no idea how he managed to find a parasprite nest. Those are usually rather hard to find given the swarm's nomadic nature."
She shrugged then said, "Guess Quartz's got a good set of eyes."
"And the sense of a drunk Griffin," he sighed.
"Maybe Ruby'll knock some sense into him," Sapphire smirked. "If not, I could give it a shot."
"As much as i would like Quartz to develop a sense of self-preservation, I don't think violence is the best option," he smiled.
"Have it your way," she shrugged. "But if he breaks my sis' heart, I make no promises."
"I'll be sure to warn him," he chuckled.
Sapphire smiled as she enjoyed a bit of her lunch, a rare sense of tranquility wrapping around her like a warm blanket as she enjoyed Opal's company. All the while, she mentally kicked herself for her previous stupidity. If she had just talked to him sooner then she would've done this months ago. It was almost enough to make her laugh at how sad that was in the grand scheme of things. But of course, reality has its own kind of humor and it's always the kind that has somepony as the butt of a joke.
"Ah, there you are, Opal Heart," said a familiar voice.
Red hot anger filled Sapphire as she turned towards the voice to see Platinum step out into the clearing from behind a tree.
"I have been looking all over for you," she said with relief, ignoring the venomous glare Sapphire aimed at her.
"I see," Opal said, face hidden behind a blank pokerface. "For what reason?"
"My father is hosting a party at the family manor next month," she said, tone prim and proper as she hid her own emotions.
That was one of the things that irritated Sapphire the most about the filly. Even with years of experience dealing with her sister's muted nature, she could't see past Platinum's pokerface. It was like trying to talk to somepony wearing a blank mask through a curtain, you could get a small trace of a hint as to what they think about something, but never enough to get a clear picture.
"I heard," Opal said evenly.
"Well, I was wondering if you would be attending."
"No," he said with a fine trace of venom in his tone. "My father will be, but I have other arrangements to attend to."
"I see," she said, giving Sapphire a brief glance. "That's a shame. Father would've loved to see our families bond in a less professional sense. It would've been a great benefit on both sides of the tether, though I suppose it would be hard for us to compete with somepony that has High Royal connections."
Opal furrowed his brow at that, but before he could respond, what little patience resided in Sapphire finally ran dry.
"What the buck is that supposed to mean?" Sapphire growled, rising to her hooves as she locked eyes with Platinum.
"There is no need to maintain the act," Platinum stated, meeting Sapphire's glare with her own level gaze. "Obtaining a HIgh Royal's favor is quite the bold and effective social move. With Princess Flurry Heart as an ally, there are few in The Empire that can oppose you or your sister. It is only natural that Opal Heart would choose to aline with you as opposed to my father or I given that fact."
Before Sapphire could respond, Opal took a step towards the Pegasus and said, "Do you really think that's the reason I want to spend time with Sapphire? Manure! I want to spend time with her because she's good company. Any kind of advantages I could get out of befriending her are irrelevant as I would've done so even if she wasn't friends with Princess Flurry Heart. To make such a baseless assumption is not only uncouth, but borderline insulting as far as I'm concerned."
Platinum blinked, but otherwise remained stone-faced as she said, "While a pretty sentiment, you can not fool me. Everything in the world is determined by value, gains, and losses and to claim otherwise is simple foolishness."
"Then I suppose I am a simple fool," Opal said evenly, placing a hoof on Sapphire's shoulder. "At least that way I have actual friends instead of resources."
Sapphire smiled in the face of such a simple act of kindness as she locked eyes with Platinum. The Pegasus flinched slightly, internally surprising Sapphire as she waited for a response.
"Say what you want, but I know the truth of your actions. Even if you refuse to."
With that, she turned and walked away from the pair. As she did, Sapphire swore she saw a stray tear slide down her cheek just before the shade of the trees could hide it. She froze as she struggled to process what she saw, her mind torn between shock and wondering why she cared as she sat down next to Opal to enjoy what was left of their lunch break in peace.
***
Alto frowned as he watched Sapphire work, a light series of tinks filling the cave as she used her tools to shape a hoof-sized piece of stone as she saw fit. Ruby sighed as she watched her sister, while Flurry gave her a worried frown.
"Are you okay Sapphire?" Alto asked, taking a seat next to her. "You seem to be on edge."
"I'm fine," she growled, straining to keep her temper reined in as she worked.
Alto bristled at that, but refused to let his instincts dictate his actions as he said, "No you aren't."
Sapphire's head snapped towards him, a harsh glare piecing through him like a spear as they locked eyes. A long stream of swears formed on her tongue, but they all died the second she opened her mouth. The fear and concern in Alto's eyes shocked the anger out of her, replacing it with shame as she let out a rueful sigh.
"Some crap happened at school today," she frowned as she went back to her work.
"School?" Alto asked, his fear fading away with his friend's rage. "What's school?"
"It's a place you go to to learn about things," Flurry explained, taking a seat next to Alto and draping a wing across his back.
"What kind of things?" he asked.
"Reading, writing, math, history, and a bunch of other things," Flurry smiled.
"Oh," he said, staring at Sapphire's work. "What happened?"
Sapphire sighed, then said, "I...don't want to talk about it."
"It has something to do with Platinum, doesn't it?" Ruby asked.
The blue Earth Pony froze, then frowned as she nodded.
Seeing the confused look Alto was giving everypony, Ruby took a seat next to Flurry and explained.
"Platinum Scales is a classmate of ours. While she isn't a bad pony, she has a rather narrow view of the world."
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"When she looks at something," Ruby continued. "She only sees its value and what it could get somepony in the future. Anything else is nothing but a distraction or irrelevant to her."
Alto seemed to understand a bit, but Flurry could see that he still didn't quite get it.
"Remember the Star Berries and how I told you about how valuable they were?" Flurry asked.
He nodded.
"That's how Platinum sees everything. If she was here, she'd be trying to convince you to sell the berries and crabs because of how rare they are. Then she would try to get you to let ponies use your spring to make another profit."
Alto frowned at that.
"Explain how that doesn't make her a bad pony," he grumbled.
"Because she would believe that she'd be helping you," Ruby sighed, earning the attention of the rest of the group. "You see, she legitimately wants to help ponies, but severely lacks the social skills necessary to know that her actions could be seen as malicious or manipulative."
"Can't she learn?" Alto asked.
"Doubt it," Sapphire grumbled, returning to her carving. "Her folks did a real number on her from what I saw."
"Sapphire!" Ruby snapped, glaring at her sister.
"What?" Sapphire groaned, not taking her eyes off of her project. "I'm just saying what you're all thinking."
Alto looked back and forth between the two fillies in confusion. Flurry sighed as she tried to explain.
"Platinum's dad is an expensive lawyer and her mom's the head of one of he biggest banks in The Empire. They married each other so they could improve their social standing and finances."
"Does that mean they have a narrow view of the world too?" Alto asked.
"Very narrow," Flurry frowned. "My mom oversaw their wedding and told me she didn't sense any love between them. Everypony thinks that they only had Platinum so they could have somepony inherit their resources or add to what they already have."
"They don't love her?" Alto asked, a trace of pain coloring his tone.
Everypony froze for a moment at that, then frowned as they all debated as to what answer the question with.
"I.....Don't know," Flurry frowned, staring at the ground.
"I like to think they do," Ruby said somberly.
"If they do, they have a really shitty way of showing it," Sapphire sighed, putting her tools down and locking eyes with her friends in turn.
"What do you know Sapphire?" Ruby asked, raising a brow.
"Just that she has a really screwed up view of friendship," she said.
With that, she told them about what happened during Recess. Ruby's brows shot to the top of her forehead while Flurry's jaw hit the floor. A somber frown decorated Alto's face as she stared at the ground, several thoughts running through his head as he tried to make sense of his new friend's tale.
"She really does have problems," Flurry gawked. "How can she be so clueless about making friends?"
"I wish I could plead ignorance, but the answer is as plain as day," Ruby frowned, staring at the ground.
A heavy silence settled into the cave as they processed what had been told. Then, Alto seemed to come to an agreement as he nodded and stood up.
"Sapphire," he said, grabbing the filly's attention. "Are you sure she was crying?"
Sapphire blinked, then said, "Maybe? I could't really tell. Why?"
Alto nodded, then resolutely said, "Teach her."
"How to cry?" Sapphire asked, the confusion on her face mirrored by the other fillies present.
"How to make friends," he said, a soft smile gracing his muzzle.
***
Platinum Scales walked with purpose through the elegantly decorated halls of her family's estate, her hoofsteps clopping hollowly off of the surrounding oak walls and marble floor. Tall cathedral windows let in light from the outside world that flooded the building with light all the way to its hight vaulted ceilings. A sliver of melancholy entered her posture as she took in the empty silence around her. Her mind drifted to the organized chaos that was Crystal Academy and all the ponies there. The tiniest traces of a smile graced her muzzle as she pretended to walk through the private school's halls instead of her own home's. The illusion broke when she found herself standing in front of the doors leading to the dinning room. Her stomach lurched as she stared at the door, gulping as she reached for the door. As she turned the nob, she purged her features of even the slightest trace of emotion before entering the room beyond.
The dinning room was a massive fifty-by-thirty room furnished in the same oak and marble as the rest of the manor with a twenty foot long ornate wood table at its heart. The table had three place settings, one on each end with the remaining set in the middle on the side that faced the doors. The wall opposite the doors was dominated by two large windows covered with thin silk curtains that failed to keep out the the rays of the late afternoon sun. As she took her seat at the table, she noticed the two most important ponies in her life at their places on either end of the table. A milk-white Unicorn Stallion with a metallic gray mane and tail sat to her left, his gray eyes scanning several sheets of paper held in his magic grip. A light-green Pegasus mare with a mane and tail colored a darker shade of green sat at her right, her teal eyes tracking her daughter.
"You're late," the mare said evenly.
"My apologies," Platinum said, tone hollow as she picked up her utensils. "Sherbet and Sunday needed help with their homework. I am better at math then them and thought they could use the help."
"Indeed," the stallion said, not taking his eyes off of his paper work. "Those two have the makings of running a large ice cream company someday. A small corporate ally, but an efficient one if your tutoring gleans the correct results."
"Thank you father," Platinum nodded, taking a bite of her salad.
"Be that as it may," the mare added. "You live by a very strict schedule. Do be sure to better prioritize your time in the future."
"Yes mother," she nodded. "I will."
"Good," Platinum's mother said, a hint of finality in her tone. "Now hurry and finish your dinner. Your self-defense teacher will be arriving soon and I will not have you move any further behind schedule then you already are."
"Yes mother," Platinum said, a familiar empty pit forming in her stomach as she ate.
***
The air was alive with the sound of motion, a wide open ballroom the stage of a fierce battle between two ponies. Hooves clacked across a large black and white checkerboard styled marble floor as the two ponies dueled, one a young Pegasus while the other was a black cloaked Earth Pony. The dance-like movements of their strikes were reflected in the polished shine of the black oak walls and polished silver panels on the room's vaulted ceiling. Platinum panted heavily, breaking away from her opponent in a low crouch with a wide smile. Strapped to her wings were a pair of wing covers made of navy-blue mithril fibers with a wooden covering affixed to the front of her wings. Her heart pounded in her chest as a wild thrill flooded her body like a drug. Gone was the mask she wore in the face of her suffocating life. Now she could be her real self.
"Your movements are too wild," her teacher said, her tone calm and casual. "Focus."
"Understood!" she cried, then charged towards the mare.
A single flap of her wings added more speed to her charge, leading to her moving into striking distance in a matter of seconds. Her teacher stepped back just out of reach of Platinum's strike as she slashed her wing at the mare, only for the Pegasus to disappear a moment later. The mare slid to her left to avoid another swipe from her student's wing. A small burst of air was the only clue as to what Platinum's next move was and she reacted by putting a foreleg up just in time to block a wing strike to her head. Platinum flashed her teacher a wild smile as she pulled her wing back from the gold-coated foreleg and disappeared. The Earth Pony danced around all of Platinum's strikes, each attack quickly followed by a change of direction and angle as a futile attempt to confuse the mare's defenses.
"You need to plan your strikes," she said, casually dodging another strike with a simple head-tilt. "While the Pelting Storm style requires one to constantly change position, none of your attacks should be instinctual. Know what you want to hit as you are trying to hit your first target."
"Yes Miss Gold!" she said, aiming for two separate parts of her teacher's body as she plotted how best to get to them.
Platinum's movements slowed slightly as she tried to incorporate her teacher's words into her actions, but remained just as relentless. At the same time, her smile refused to leave her face. How could it? It was the one time each day that she could be free. While she trained, she didn't need to worry about how she carried herself or what others thought of her. Companies? Business? Alliances? None of that mattered. For her, the only thing that mattered at that moment was her form and the thrill of using her skills in combat. All for the sake of her truest dream and ambition.
Platinum took another boosted charge at her teacher and brought her wing up for a neck strike from the front. At the last second, Gold caught the wing with her hoof and used her free hoof to grab the young mare's barrel before she flipped her onto her back. Platinum gasped as the wind flew out of her, eyes wide as she stared up at her teacher who firmly pinned her in place with a forehoof.
"And finally," Gold added calmly. "Never be predictable."
Platinum laid panting for a few moments, then smiled as she laughed deeply.
"H-How did I do?" she panted
Gold smiled as she removed her hoof, then said, "Better, but your form was a bit sloppy. Did something happen recently?"
Platinum's smile faded.
"Yeah. Opal said he wasn't going to father's party."
Gold frowned.
"That is Radiant Heart's foal, correct?"
Platinum nodded, then pulled herself to her haunches.
"He's one of the only noble foals around my age that I can talk to, so I was hoping he would come to the party."
Gold sat across from her student as she let her vent, her orange eyes heavy with sympathy as they peeked past the hood of her cloak.
"Did he say why he wouldn't be coming?"
"Yeah," Platinum sighed, staring at the ground. "He want's to spend time with Sapphire Trail."
"I see," Gold frowned. "What of your friends from school?"
"That wouldn't work," Platinum grumbled. "It's a noble's party. You have to be part of a noble family to attend."
Gold nodded in understanding, her distaste for the alienating nature of The Empire's high ranking families barely hidden behind the shadows of her cloak's hood.
"It's not fair," Platinum whimpered as more of her bound emotions manifested. "How can I compete with somepony with High Royal connections? I could amass the resources of the entire Crystal Empire and it wouldn't even come close to what Sapphire could give him and no matter what I do, I can't get Ruby Strokes and Sapphire Trail to aline with me. I even keep the bullies away from them, but they still avoid me."
As she talked, tears started to pour down her face in a steady stream. When she locked eyes with her teacher, a look of desperate fear was plastered across her face.
"What am I doing wrong Miss Gold? What can I give them? I don't know what to do and it terrifies me!"
Gold pulled Platinum into a gentle embrace and the flood gates burst for the young mare as she balled into her teacher's golden coat. They stayed like that for several minutes, Gold gently stroking Platinum's back as she cried herself out. In time, the teen pony ran out of tears as she pulled herself out of Gold's embrace.
"Better?" Gold asked, a kind smile gracing her muzzle.
"Yeah," she nodded, sniffling. "Thank you, I really needed that."
Gold nodded, then frowned as she said, "You cannot keep going on like this. Keeping your heart sealed outside of training isn't healthy, no matter how strong a pony may claim to be."
"I-I know," Platinum said, raising to her hooves. "But I don't have any choice. As long as I live under my family's roof, I must abide by their rules. To do that, I need to keep up the act."
She again locked eyes with her teacher, her face void of emotion and posture the definition of elegant poise in spite of the sweat covering her coat. With a flash, her training wing-blades morphed into navy-blue bracelets on the base of her wings as she folded them to her sides.
"If I plan to join the Royal Guard, I will need all the resources I can get."