Silver Spoon awoke at sunrise the next morning, but could not quite find the energy to drag herself out of bed. As she lay staring at the roof, her mind recalled a memory from the night before. Fatigue made it hazy, and it seemed like a decade ago, but she slowly remembered the email she had received only 9 hours previously. Suddenly, she seemed to have a lot more energy.
Scootaloo and Silver Spoon both seemed distracted that day. To the untrained eye, it would seem like Scootaloo was being herself and Silver Spoon just had way too much sugar on her oatmeal. Cheerilee was a very well-trained eye. Others did not, however she noticed all the quick glances they shot each other during class. As the theories shot through her head like chocolate bullets, she noticed her students staring at her intently. She hurriedly checked the clock, and, to her horror, found that she had not said one word for ten minutes. Scootaloo and Silver Spoon didn’t notice.
“So, Scoots, you up for some more crusading today?” Apple Bloom asked excitedly, followed by Sweetie Belles’ “It’ll be so much fun!”
“Uh... not today girls...I have, uh... a lot of homework to do!” Scootaloo said with a very, very forced smile.
“Since when did you do all your homework... wait... since when did you do ANY of your homework?” Apple Bloom, living with the element of honesty herself, had become quite the lie detector, and had an instinctive knowledge that Scootaloo was lying.
“Umm... heylookisthatDinkyIgottagobye!” Scootaloo raced off, leaving her two counterparts coughing in the dust she stirred up. “Ah think something strange is going on, don’t you?” Apple Bloom inquired of Sweetie. “CUTIE MARK CRUSADER SECRET INVEST-“ Sweetie Belle cheered excitedly, before finding Apple Bloom’s hoof shoved into her mouth.
“Well?” Diamond Tiara asked Silver Spoon. “OH! Umm... what was the question?” Silver Spoon responded with a sheepish grin. “I said, do you want to come over to my place, and we can spy on those blank-flanks again!”.
“Umm... not today Diamond... I’m busy after school.”
“Busy doing what?
“Umm... uh... I’m busy doing... garden work! Yup, my garden got overrun by weeds the other day” Silver Spoon was rather proud of herself, knowing Diamond Tiara’s hatred of dirt and leaves. There was no way she would want to come and help. It was absolutely foolproof.
“Don’t you live in an apartment?”
Interestingly, when Diamond Tiara looked around, Silver Spoon was nowhere to be found.
“Now class, who can tell me what AI stands for?” Miss Cheerilee braced herself for the incoming onslaught of usually-wrong answers. “Apple Initiative!” “Amazing Incense!” “Ah Insist!” “Rainbow Dash!”
“Rainbow Dash doesn’t start with AI, you penguin!”
“Aainbow Iash can start with whatever she wants!”
“CLASS!” Miss Cheerilee raised her voice, to be heard above Sweetie Belle’s and Scootaloo’s bickering. Somewhere, deep in her mind, she couldn’t help thinking that one day, something romantic would happen between them.
“Now class, we’ve got 5 minutes until the bell, so I’d like you all to pack up your things, and get ready to leave.” At that exact moment, Pinkie Pie decided to fall off the ceiling fan. With a magnificent dive over her desk, Cheerilee managed to almost catch Pinkie Pie... who had just begun to float, 3 centimetres above her outstretched hooves.
As 18 fillies jostled each other to get out of the school, two fillies sneaked out the back door, one of them stumbling over their own hooves. As Scootaloo struggled with the door, misunderstanding ‘push’ as ‘pull’, Silver Spoon left her hiding spot behind the bookshelf, and went to help open that damned door. Following them, unbeknownst to each other, were Diamond Tiara, Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle.
“So umm... you wanted to talk to me?” Silver Spoon asked, quietly. “Well, yeah.” Scootaloo realised quite suddenly, that she really hadn’t thought this out. As Scootaloo wondered what she was going to say, Silver Spoon threw her a lifeline.
“Well, can I tell you why I was sad?” Silver Spoon boldly took control of the conversation, somehow keeping that element of shyness. “Yeah, sure!” Scootaloo began feeling a little bolder, now that she didn’t have to steer the conversation.
“Well, Diamond Tiara was being really mean to you guys, and she was forcing me to help her, and if I didn’t, she said she was going to beat me up and...” As Silver Spoon poured her heart out, she failed to notice Diamond Tiara walking up behind her.
“And then we went home and ate ice-cream, isn’t that right Silver Spoon?” Diamond Tiara spoke through clenched teeth. “Umm... not really.” In their short conversation, Silver Spoon had decided to finally stand up for herself.
“Why are you talking to Scootaloo? She’s just a pathetic blank-flank.”
“HEY! Leave our friend alone!” Apple Bloom and Sweetie Belle simultaneously decided to make themselves known. Scootaloo looked around, panicking at the amount of ponies that all appeared.
“Why? What’s she going to do to me?” Diamond Tiara taunted them, her face one of a pony who knew she had them trapped. “Oh, that’s right! Scootaloo doesn’t know about her disease yet does she?”
Scootaloo finally decided to speak up. “What disease?”
The ensuing silence spoke for itself.
Seven minutes later, everypony there was screaming at each other, except for Scootaloo. Scootaloo was crying in the corner, after a reluctant Apple Bloom explained everything that Cheerilee had explained to the class on Wednesday, while Scootaloo was at her dentist appointment. As she struggled to get her head around it all, the others continued fighting.
“How could you? Cheerilee asked us not to tell her!” Sweetie Belle screamed in Diamond Tiara’s face. “Well, Apple Bloom is the one who explained it to her!” Diamond Tiara knew she had screwed up, it was her own pride and stubbornness keeping her arguing.
“Well, it’s your own damn fault that Ah even needed to!”
“Silver Spoon, you saw what happened. It wasn’t my fault right?” Diamond Tiara pleaded, in a last-ditch effort to save face.
“No. It was your fault Diamond, and I don’t think we can be friends anymore.” Silver Spoon humbly turned to look at the Cutie Mark Crusaders. “Do you guys mind if I come with you?” Silver Spoon asked them, ears flattened. “Well, sure.” “Now, let’s get Scootaloo back to her place.”
As Scootaloo, Apple Bloom, Sweetie Belle and Silver Spoon walked off, the last filly looked around. A small tear fell down her cheek, as Diamond Tiara was left alone by Silver Spoon, for the first time in years.