//------------------------------// // Chapter 14: Silver // Story: Clean Slate // by Alaborn //------------------------------// Clean Slate By Alaborn Standard disclaimer: This is a not for profit fan work. My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic is copyright Hasbro, Inc. I make no claim to any copyrighted material mentioned herein. Chapter 14: Silver I stared at the gray filly standing in the foyer. Silver Spoon. Now that I heard the name, I recalled Miss Cheerilee saying she was my best friend. I could remember her image from a number of photographs. But I didn’t remember anything else. Apple Bloom walked past me, hastily grabbing her jacket. “Well, I’ve got lots to do in the barn,” she said before running out the door. Silver Spoon walked by me, wiggling her rear strangely. “Bump bump,” she started. I stared at her, confused. She abandoned whatever it was she was doing, and embraced me. “I’ve missed you so much,” she said. She stared at my head. “What happened to your tiara?” “I’m kind of not wearing it anymore,” I said. “Do you want to talk upstairs?” Silver Spoon nodded and followed me upstairs. She looked, I don’t know, a little displeased by the surroundings. We headed into my room, where her attention was drawn to my tiara, nestled in the case Apple Bloom had made for me. “Your tiara is damaged,” she said. “I didn’t notice, but I’m not surprised,” I replied. “Do you know what happened?” I asked hesitantly. Silver Spoon nodded. “I was still in Ponyville when... the accident happened. I visited you every day for two weeks, but you never got better. I’m sorry, Diamond Tiara, if I knew you had recovered, I would have written. I would have visited!” “That’s okay. I’ve had a lot of work to do. A long recovery.” “Is it true? That you don’t remember anything? You don’t remember me?” I shook my head. “I’m sorry, Silver Spoon. I haven’t remembered anything, any specific memory, since I woke up from the coma. I was holding out hope that maybe, with you being my best friend, you could help me remember something. But there was nothing. I didn’t even recognize you at first when you walked in the door.” “I’m not going to give up that easily. Come over to my house. Let’s relive our memories,” Silver Spoon suggested. “And I can repair your tiara.” We didn’t have anything planned as a family tonight, so I should be free. “That sounds nice,” I said. With Applejack’s permission, I headed out with Silver Spoon. That should also make things easier for Apple Bloom, who looked a bit uncomfortable when Silver Spoon walked in. I wasn’t sure where we were walking once we left Sweet Apple Acres, so I followed her lead. “What have you been doing, Silver Spoon?” I asked. “Miss Cheerilee said something about you attending a boarding school in Canterlot.” “Yeah, I am,” Silver Spoon replied, without much enthusiasm. “You don’t like it?” “I hate it,” she spit. “I hate wearing clothes all the time. The unicorns are all snobs. There are all these cliques I don’t fit into. All I have there are my studies.” That rant sounded like it was a long time coming. “Then why are you still there?” I asked. “My parents think it’s the right thing to do,” she replied. “They’re right,” she admitted. “What do you mean?” “My special talent is making silverware and other decorative silver items. My father can provide the silver, and I can provide the artistry, but somepony still needs to buy it. And they’re the type of ponies who live in Canterlot and throw extravagant parties.” “Is it worth being unhappy?” I asked. “Yeah,” she replied. “I hope so.” After a pause, Silver Spoon continued. “How is it, living on a farm?” “It’s okay. Everypony is so busy, but the chores I have to do aren’t so bad.” “Chores?” Silver Spoon interjected with a scoff. “The problem is, I don’t remember what my life used to be like.” “And what’s it like living with the blank flank?” Silver Spoon asked. I stopped. “Didn’t you notice?” She must not have noticed, because she looked surprised. “Lift up the edge of my jacket.” Silver Spoon did so. Seeing my left flank wasn’t enough to convince her, so she then looked at my right flank. “What... how... is that even possible?” she sputtered. “I lost my memory, including that part of me,” I said. “Well, I’m going to help you. Nopony should lose her cutie mark.” Silver Spoon fell silent. I could see her chewing her lip slightly. Without words, all we heard was the wind and the snow crunching underhoof. It wasn’t currently snowing, but the stiff wind blew the fallen snow into the air. Flakes swirled around us and landed on our jackets and in our manes. We turned off the town’s main roads. Soon, we were walking through quiet, tree-lined streets. Finally, we reached a particularly nice street; the painted street sign proclaimed it to be Melody Lane. It was a divided street, as wide as a boulevard, although clearly not because the traffic demanded it. Indeed, the snow was undisturbed, save for one set of hoofprints that must have been Silver Spoon’s. My hooves felt the street’s flagstones under the snow. My gaze was pulled to my right. Wrought iron fences separated the road from the estates beyond, and beyond the fence, bushes, and dormant trees, I saw a dark home. I paused, staring at the still beautiful building. I didn’t know why I was feeling sad. Silver Spoon nudged me. “Do you miss your home?” I started to correct her, that my home was Sweet Apple Acres, but then I understood what she meant. This used to be my home. It would make sense why we were friends, if we were the same age and lived on the same street. “It’s strange. I don’t remember anything about this house, but I feel sad seeing it like this,” I observed. “My home is at the end of the street. Hopefully, I can make you remember something.” The gate of Silver Spoon’s home sported a decoration; a circle with a trio of metal ingots was shaped in the wrought iron. It looked like a cutie mark, and probably was. Silver Spoon opened the gate and brought me into her yard. Obviously, Sweet Apple Acres was larger, but the yard made the property look enormous. Like my old home, there were plenty of trees and bushes, beds that probably held flowers during the warm months, and decorative walkways. That was clearly different from my new home, where the space not devoted to apple trees held crops or wells or sheds. And Silver Spoon’s home itself was huge. The house was three stories tall, with large windows and double doors that looked sized for a barn. As we approached the doors, they swung open, a trace of yellow-green magic visible on the door handles. Beyond them, a uniformed unicorn butler waited. “Welcome home, Miss Silver Spoon,” he said, levitating a towel over to her. “And a good day to you, Miss Diamond Tiara.” He provided me a towel as well, and then levitated Silver Spoon’s glasses, cleaning them and drying the condensation that had formed as she entered the warm house. “Thank you, Proper,” Silver Spoon said. “Make sure there is another place setting for dinner tonight, and make something our guest will enjoy.” “Of course, Miss,” the butler replied. He hung up our jackets and took the used towels away. “My room’s on the third floor,” Silver Spoon said. I looked up the broad stairway. Four times as wide as the one back home, carpeted, with decorative bannisters on both sides. Not an efficient use of space, but definitely beautiful. Once I saw it, I guessed Silver Spoon’s bedroom was as large as all the rooms of the second story of the farmhouse, combined. Her bed was bigger than the two beds in my room, and was covered with a dozen pillows. The rest of the furniture in the room was rather ornate, with more pieces than were probably necessary. I had no idea how anypony could fill all those drawers. Silver Spoon pulled a large book off one of the shelves and placed it on the bed. It was a photo album. “There are a lot of good memories in that book. I hope you can remember them,” she said. I took a seat on the bed. Before opening it, I observed Silver Spoon as she sat down, placing my tiara in front of her. She then pulled out a number of tools. I didn’t recognize any of them, but they sort of looked like miniature versions of tools Apple Bloom would use. My friend bent the metal of the tiara back into shape, buffed out scratches, and cleaned it thoroughly, using a variety of brushes and cloths. As she focused on polishing the tiara, I pored over the photographs. It looked like I was in about half of them. I recognized a few places around Ponyville, but I didn’t remember what we were celebrating at Sugarcube Corner that day, or what activity had us in the basement of the school. Some of the pictures of the two of us included my father. Others included a mare and stallion with a definite resemblance to Silver Spoon. These were mostly vacation pictures. It looked like we were having fun. “Are you remembering anything?” Silver Spoon asked. I shook my head. “No. But they look like good memories.” “They are,” Silver Spoon said. She climbed on the bed next to me, looking over my withers. I pointed to one vacation photograph. It featured the two of us, trying to enjoy a picnic, but we were surrounded by rabbits, of all things. “What’s going on there?” I asked. “That was our vacation to Coney Island. I think you saw the rides and attractions in the earlier photographs. There, we were trying to eat lunch, but the island’s namesake rabbits are pretty aggressive about stealing pony food.” Silver Spoon smiled. “What did it cost us?” I asked, also smiling. Her smile was infectious. “Two sandwiches and all of our carrots. I didn’t mind the carrots, but I wanted that daffodil and cream cheese sandwich!” Coney Island. I recognized the name, recognized that there was a famous amusement park, but couldn’t remember ever being there, even with this photographic evidence. Hmmm. Coney Island was near Manehattan. “I’m actually going to Manehattan later this week. Applejack is taking me,” I commented. “Why?” asked Silver Spoon, perplexed. “To see family. I’m being treated just like any other Apple now.” “Like, doing chores?” Silver Spoon scrunched her face. “Yes, where I can,” I said. “I can’t believe that Diamond Tiara is doing chores like some common pony,” Silver Spoon said. “What’s wrong with that?” I asked. “Duh. We’re better than that,” Silver Spoon said. When I didn’t react, she continued. “We’re rich! Your dad was the most successful retailer in all of Equestria. My father supplies most of Equestria’s silver. Chores are for less important ponies.” “I want to be like my father,” I said. “From everything I’ve heard, he’s everything a pony should be.” I sighed. “But he didn’t save Equestria from Nightmare Moon. Or Discord. Or Queen Chrysalis.” “Pfft. It’s easy to be brave when you’ve got these super-powerful artifacts,” Silver Spoon said. I thought about relating Applejack’s personal experience in facing Nightmare Moon, which started before she got her Element of Harmony, but passed. There was something less confident about Silver Spoon’s response. I didn’t want to end up in the middle of a battle between my old friend and my new family. Fortunately, we were called to dinner before that could happen. Dinner was served on a beautiful and ornate table that looked big enough to seat the entire Apple clan. Okay, more like a fourth of them, but it was still a big table. Its size was wasted as Silver Spoon’s parents sat next to each other at one end of the table, while the butler led us to seats at the opposite end of the table. “Diamond Tiara, this is my father, Silver Strike, and my mother, Silver Platter.” “It’s nice to see you again,” I said. “And thank you for your hospitality.” I noticed the three silver ingots on Silver Strike’s flank matched the cutie mark on the gate. Our meal started with a fresh salad, more exotic than what I had been eating back home, with a slightly more bitter flavor. The vinaigrette balanced it perfectly. The greens were fresh and crisp, reminding me that I hadn’t seen fresh greens at home for a few weeks. Dinner was levitated into the room by another unicorn servant. The butler lifted the silver cloche over each of our plates. “Medallions of hay and braised root vegetables,” he announced. Again, I was impressed by the flavor of the meal. I liked the food the Apples prepared. They used ingredients and seasonings well, especially with apple dishes. If I had to guess, this meal was made by somepony with a special talent in cooking. There were at least a half dozen spices playing across my palate. I couldn’t name them, but they all seemed essential to the final meal. After the dinner plates were cleared, conversation picked up around the table. Silver Spoon’s parents politely asked about how I felt, and what I had been doing over the last few months. I didn’t want to talk about my recovery that much. I mentioned a little bit about cider season and zap apples. About the only thing that caught their attention was how I met the current head of Barnyard Bargains. I decided to build on that. “I met with my father’s lawyer, Legal Plan. I think my father taught me a lot about the business, and I hope to leverage Legal Plan’s insight to keep a close eye on my future.” I pointedly did not talk about working at Barnyard Bargains. Finally, we had dessert. A yellow cake with a golden ring of fruit and a cherry was placed in front of me. My heart started to race. “Pineapple upside down cake, Miss Diamond Tiara,” the butler said. I looked at the small silver fork placed by the cake. I was definitely motivated to hold it properly. All of my physical therapy was leading up to this day! I picked it up in the pastern of my right foreleg, using the hoof of my left foreleg to make sure it was held snugly. I was rewarded with the taste of delicious pineapple and cake. The pineapple candy I made at Twist’s house was good, but deep down, I knew the flavoring was artificial. This was the real thing. It might have been softened by cooking, but it was still real pineapple. Dinner left me with a full stomach, but there was something nagging me. I didn’t enjoy dinner with Silver Spoon’s parents. My interactions with them lacked the warmness of the interactions with my family, even though they knew me longer. Once we were back in Silver Spoon’s room, I felt safe to ask a question. “Did you tell your parents you were bringing me over today?” “No, why?” “How did you hear I recovered from my coma?” I asked. “I ran into some of the other fillies in town. Then, at Sugarcube Corner, Pinkie Pie was happy to fill me in with all the relevant details, and a lot more that weren’t relevant at all.” “How long have your parents been trying to get you to go to that school in Canterlot?” I asked. “For as long as I can remember,” Silver Spoon replied. “I think they tried to get your parents to send you to the same school. But your father loved Ponyville too much to send you away. And I... I just wanted to go to school with my best friend. I... I guess that’s over now.” “It doesn’t matter what your parents think. I still want to keep in contact, Silver Spoon,” I said. “If I can’t ever recover my old memories, then we’re going to have to make new ones.” “I’m not going to give up on my new school. But I promise to write. I’ll get you your memories back,” Silver Spoon said. “And your cutie mark. Step by the mirror.” I did so. Silver Spoon stood near me, holding my tiara in her mouth, protected by a fine cloth. She placed it on my head, adjusting its position. She frowned at how I looked with both my tiara and my bow, so she tugged at the ribbon. I gasped. I felt like I was denying Apple Bloom’s sisterhood and Sweetie Belle’s thoughtful and generous gift. But Silver Spoon just wanted to help me. As my mane came loose, Silver Spoon attacked it with her hairbrush, looking for a style that would go well with the tiara. When she finished, it looked good. And my tiara looked beautiful. “So you think my parents are trying to get me to move on from our friendship?” Silver Spoon mentioned. Silver Spoon introduced me to her parents, as if it were our first meeting. Obviously, it wasn’t our first meeting, though it was to me. They didn’t view this introduction as unusual. That suggested they knew about my accident and partial recovery. But they didn’t tell their daughter. Her parents really want her to make connections in Canterlot. I stopped her from doing that for years. It all adds up. “That’s exactly what I suspected,” I said. “I’m glad you didn’t see the scene here when I learned you were awake. I was... rather upset. The door to my bedroom had a dent in it from where I kicked it shut.” Silver Spoon looked upset, but shook her head. “Enough about me. I’m here to help you.” Silver Spoon pointed to my reflection. “You saw through my parents. That’s your talent, knowing ponies. And in knowing ponies, you know how to lead them. That’s what your tiara represents. You should be in charge because that’s your talent!” My friend’s words made me feel confident. “I want to run Barnyard Bargains. Even Applejack thinks I’ll be doing that. But I don’t know as much about the business as my father did.” “But you don’t need to know everything to be in charge! I can’t bake for anything, but that didn’t stop me from getting Proper Manner to organize a dinner with your favorite dessert!” She smiled. “Besides, if you got your cutie mark for knowing about Barnyard Bargains, you’d have that wooden sign on your flank. Trust me. Your tiara is a much better cutie mark.” “Hey, that Barnyard Bargains sign is historic!” I said, smiling. Silver Spoon snorted. “Whatever. Say, do you know how to run a newspaper?” I thought about it. “I don’t know much about newspapers,” I said. She placed her hoof on my tiara. “But you ran a newspaper. Remember?” I shook my head. “About a year ago, Miss Cheerilee put you in charge of the Foal Free Press, the student newspaper,” Silver Spoon said. “And you made it the talk of the town! Adult ponies were lining up to buy the newspaper.” “Really? How?” “You included the best gossip column this town has ever seen. You found what this town had been craving! And you got the blank flanks to do the dirty work. That’s like a win-win-win!” Silver Spoon said. “I don’t know. That doesn’t sound nice,” I said. “Yeah, that’s what Miss Cheerilee thought,” Silver Spoon said. “Most ponies were more than happy to read the column, until they found themselves the subject of one of Gabby Gum’s revelations.” “Did I reveal one of your secrets?” I asked. “No, and I’m very glad you didn’t.” “Like what secrets?” I wondered. Silver Spoon smiled. “I’m not telling. Consider that a little motivation to recover those memories.” Silver Spoon again touched my tiara. “What I’m saying is you have a natural talent for leadership. Do you think there’s any other foal who can claim the accomplishment of making a student newspaper the most widely read newspaper in town? That was you. It took a lot of work for you to see your talent the first time. Please remember who you are, Diamond Tiara.” Staring at our reflections in the mirror, I reached out a foreleg and pulled Silver Spoon into an embrace. “Thank you, Silver Spoon.” She made me feel good about myself. I felt warm, but not in the one place that mattered. My flank remained blank. It was late, so it was time to head home. Silver Spoon donned her jacket, so that she could walk me out of the neighborhood. “Your parents seem obsessed with status. Why do they even live in Ponyville?” I asked Silver Spoon. “It’s the silver mine. The vein of silver my father discovered, and still his biggest strike, is in the Ghastly Gorge region. Ponyville is the nearest town, so that’s why we live here,” Silver Spoon explained. “Oh,” I said. Silver Spoon gave me another hug. “I’m so glad I got to see you again, Diamond Tiara. Let’s keep in touch.” “I’d love to,” I replied. “Have a safe walk home.” As we separated, I was again alone with my thoughts. The moonlight reflecting off the snow reminded me of the luster of silver. And the tiara, still on my head, reminded me of how close we had been. Silver Spoon’s attitudes, and the way she thought, were different than the Apples. And I’m sure her perspective on events in our shared past were different than Apple Bloom’s. I was glad for her help today. She told me what she saw in me, what my talents were. And clearly, she helped me uncover my special talent. But I remained worried that I didn’t use those talents well. Did I get my cutie mark too soon?