Chapter 7: Before the Storm
Snips decided to cut his recess short and get a little head start before the bell rang. The more he thought about his art project, the more he realized that his painting of the dragon-looking rocket ship needed work. After all, the art show was in three days, and the Sadie Hoofkins Dance was tomorrow! Cheerilee was kind enough to leave the art room unlocked for those who wanted to work overtime. “How ironic it would be if the one thing keeping you from unlocking your potential was a locked door,” she once said.
On his way to the art room, Snips harbored a secret wish that Diamond Tiara would be in the room working on her project, too. Although in public she was standoffish toward him, she was a whole different filly when they were alone.
When he arrived at the room, his heart skipped a beat when he saw a filly diligently working. Unfortunately, it was Silver Spoon.
She felt the presence of another pony in the room. She leaned over the side of her easel and her expression twisted into one of annoyance upon seeing Snips. “What are you doing here?”
Snip’s first instinct was to walk away, but his original goal was to begin working on his project before class started; seeing Diamond Tiara would have been a bonus. “Probably the same reason you’re here. I have a lot left to do on my art project.” Snips trotted right up to her workstation. “Mind if I have a sneak peek of what you’re doing?”
Silver Spoon turned her whole easel with canvas toward the unicorn and proudly gestured at her project. “Feast your eyes.”
Snips took a step back to take in what he was seeing. Her painting featured a pointy object with curvy diagonal lines all over it. “Is it supposed to be a drill?”
It was as if Snips had kicked a puppy. “No! It’s not a ‘drill’! Not even close!” Silver Spoon barked.
The colt inched backward to put safety space between them. “Then what is it?”
She pointed to the top of the painting and slowly lowered her hoof. “Duh, it’s a raindrop that is rippling. Can’t you see the ripples? See, raindrops make ripples in a pond, but the thing that causes ripples is actually rippling by itself. That’s ‘art’.”
Snips tried to make his eyes unfocused. Perhaps her artwork was one of those special three-dimensional pieces that require your eyes to blur in order to really see it. He squinted and opened his eyes as wide as they would go but no such luck. Her emphatic pointing wasn’t helping, either. “I’m sorry, but it looks like a drill to me.”
Silver Spoon turned her project back toward her. She took a hard look at it before she turned to Snips again. Her expression dropped. The bite in her voice was replaced with doubt, “Does it really look like a drill?”
Snips smiled at her. “Well, yeah, but don’t worry! It’s a really cool looking drill.” There was no trace of sarcasm in his words. A tiny blush appeared in Silver Spoon’s cheeks.
He continued, “You know, Snails and I are excited to be taking you and Diamond to the Sadie Hoofkins Dance. We really appreciate the two of you asking us to go.”
Silver Spoon eyed him to gauge his sincerity. “Oh, really?”
“Yeah, Snails has been telling me how much he has enjoyed spending time with you this past week. He says you keep him on his hooves.”
The gray filly snickered. “That I do.”
With his buck teeth, Snips bit his lower lip. “Do you mind if I ask you something, Silver Spoon?”
The gray filly braced herself. Please, Celestia, don’t let it be a creepy question. “What is it?”
“How come you and Diamond act differently when you’re alone with us?”
This was not the question she was expecting. “I’m sorry?”
“Whenever Snails and I are with you two around others, you’re not as nice to us. Why?”
The gray filly shifted her stance. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Well, I guess I should only speak for myself. I’ve had a lot of fun with Diamond these past few days, but she doesn’t act the same when other ponies are around. I’ll give you an example. Do you remember when Snails and I first carried your books home? When Diamond and I got to her place, I asked her if she wanted to hoof-paint and she agreed.”
Silver Spoon snapped to attention at the mentioning of hoof-painting. She tried to picture her best friend partaking in such a pre-school pony activity. The idea itself was not entirely unbelievable, but what was hard for her to swallow was the thought of Diamond Tiara hoof-painting, with Snips, and having legitimate fun. She leaned forward. “Is that so?”
Snips nodded. “Yup, she was skeptical at first, but she got into it once we started. I felt like I got to see a side of her that most ponies don’t get to see. I remember when I ate lunch with her she called me a ‘dolt-colt’. Obviously that’s not a nice thing to say, but she never called me anything like that when we were at her house. I want to know why she’s this way. Since you and Diamond are cut from the same cloth, I figured the same might be true of you as well. Do you act differently around Snails in public versus private?”
No part of Silver Spoon wanted to continue this conversation. Although she loathed Snails, her relationship with him was none of Snips’s business as far as she was concerned. She had to get rid of him. The question was how.
The next best thing happened. The bell rang.
Shoot. Talking with Silver Spoon cost Snips all his extra time to work on his project. Now he would have to double down during class. The good news was that Diamond Tiara would show up any minute.
Cheerilee came through the door and beamed at the sight of her students. “Hello, you two! Nice to see some ponies get an early start. I’ll be giving you all more time in class to work on your projects. Some of you really need it. The art show is right around the corner!” The magenta mare went to the classroom supply closet to retrieve her smock.
Ponies started to filter into the classroom. They assumed their positions at their respective easels. One pink filly eventually popped in through the doorway, catching Snips’s eye. He brightened up and headed toward her. “Hey, Diamond! Silver Spoon and I were just talking about you.”
“Were you now?” She met him halfway. Silver Spoon could have sworn she saw her best friend smile when Snips approached.
The little unicorn continued. “Yeah, we’re all going to have a great time at the dance tomorrow night.”
Diamond Tiara almost smiled, but she caught herself. In the corner of her eye, she saw Silver Spoon paying close attention to her. She turned to Snips and frowned, “Just make sure you don’t embarrass me, dolt-colt.”
Snips was going to say something, but Cheerilee stepped between them. “Excuse me you two, but class has begun. Please go to your stations.” She addressed the rest of the class. “Alright, my little ponies, before we begin I have the most wonderful news! I just finished signing a deal that will help add spice to our upcoming art show. We’re going to have a celebrity judge from Canterlot!”
Diamond Tiara gasped. “A celebrity judge?”
Silver Spoon hopped in place. “From Canterlot?”
“Yes, and that judge will be…” Cheerilee paused for effect, “…the one and only Photo Finish!”
Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon instantly locked eyes. We just saw her!
Cheerilee surveyed the classroom to see the different reactions among the students. While there was a diversity of emotion, the overall tone was dread. “I know some of you may not want to participate in the art show. If you don’t, then come and talk to me after class. Don’t let Miss Photo Finish’s reputation scare you. She and I had a long discussion about how you are still students and are not professionals. She was very understanding of this and, in fact, excited about coming here to judge!”
Silver Spoon had a faraway look in her eyes. “A pony who judges others for a living; Sounds like a dream job if ever there was one.”
“There’s no new material today. Please use your time to work on your projects.” Cheerilee’s stomach gave a sudden gurgle. Her face flushed with pink as her knees weakened. “I’m so sorry, but you will have to excuse me. I must have eaten something that does not agree with me. I’ll be right back.”
Most ponies in class still had a way to go before their projects were anywhere close to being complete. Diamond Tiara, on the other hoof, was nearly finished. The only thing she needed to add to her landscape was clouds. Of course, clouds can be tricky. Most everypony expects them to be painted as white fluffy pillows. No, Diamond Tiara needed to be more advanced. Her clouds needed color depth and vagueness of shape, which meant that they had to be stratus clouds.
Diamond checked her easel. I need a round bristle brush for this. She turned to the counter where the jar of brushes sat. After inspecting each one, she still couldn’t find what she sought.
With Miss Cheerilee out of the room, the pink filly felt more comfortable being herself. She marched to the classroom center and bellowed, “Hey! Who has the round bristle brush? I need one, now!” She captured the attention of everypony in class, each looking confounded by her sudden outburst.
Diamond continued, “Look, it’s not my fault you slowpokes are taking forever with your little projects, but I’m almost done and want to finish today, so which one of you has it?”
No pony spoke. She scanned across each of her classmates’ faces; one of them was bound to have a guilty look that would reveal possession of her brush. She fired an accusatory glare at Twist, who looked at her in return saying, “Don’t look at me; I’m not even using a brush!”
Over the confused silence, Diamond Tiara heard the sound of a little pair of hooves trotting. Snips emerged from behind an easel. In his mouth was the round bristle brush.
He placed the brush on her easel. “Here you go, Diamond. I’m sorry for hogging it. I was finishing the paneling on my rocket ship. Dragon scales are a lot harder to paint than I thought they’d be.”
Diamond Tiara’s energy deflated. “Oh, I see. So, um, are you done with it?”
“Eh, not really, but you can have it. There’s other stuff I can do in the meantime.”
By this point the rest of the class resumed working. The pink filly took the brush from Snips. She just looked at him. A part of her wanted to reach over and give him a hug, but, once again, in her peripheral vision she felt the weight of Silver Spoon’s stare.
Cheerilee came back into the room looking ruffled. “Sorry for leaving you all,” she said, readjusting her smock. She muttered, “That’s the last time I allow Big Mac to pack my lunch.”
The remainder of the class continued without much happening, with the exception that near the end Diamond Tiara shouted, “Done!” She was the first pony to finish her artwork.
Cheerilee walked over and inspected Diamond Tiara’s canvas. “Wow, Diamond, this really is wonderful! These clouds you’ve added really give character to your sky. The round bristle brush was an excellent choice for them.”
“Thank you,” she said, loud enough for the other ponies in class to hear.
“However,” Cheerilee added, “I want you to know that true artists are never truly ‘done’. Are you sure you’ve finished?”
Diamond Tiara did not give her teacher’s question any serious consideration. “Absolutely,” she said, wiping her hooves together.
Cheerilee smiled in return. “Okay, but you have my permission to make any additions or adjustments if you change your mind.”
The bell rang and class was over. A line of desperate ponies formed in front of Cheerilee’s desk. Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes as she was leaving the room. Those talentless twits. She halted for a moment when she saw Snips in that line. He didn’t finish? A pang of guilt washed over her for using the round bristle brush for most of the class.
Silver Spoon came to her side. The two fillies entered the hallway, but waited outside of the classroom. “Hey, Diamond, Snips told me you two were hoof-painting recently. Is that true?”
“He told you?” I’m gonna kill him. Diamond Tiara quickly went on the defense. “Yes, we did, but only because he begged me.”
Her best friend looked frightened. “Diamond, do you actually… like Snips?”
“No, don’t be ridiculous! You should have seen him when he got to my house. He invited himself in! Daddy wasn’t home, so he could not kick him out.”
Skepticism waded into her voice. “Really? He said you had fun hoof-painting.”
“Silver Spoon, honestly, who are you going to believe: your best friend or that nincompoop?”
The gray filly breathed a sigh of relief. “Okay, I just wanted to make sure.”
A distressed cry came from down the hallway. “I’m sorry I’m late!” Coming in fast was a gangly unicorn. Snails galloped to the two fillies and was out of breath when he arrived. “I’m sorry, Silver Spoon! I came as fast as I could. As soon as the bell rang, I flew out the door of biology.”
“I’ll let it go this time. Diamond was here to keep me company. In the meantime, here you go.” Silver Spoon plopped her saddlebags on the floor and pushed them toward him. “You know what to do.”
“Yes ma’am!” Snails bent over and threw the bags over his back.
“Take those to my desk in the math room. That’s my next class, and I want to arrive with everything laid out for me. Pencil, paper, book, all of it. That pencil better be sharp when I sit down, by the way. Understand?”
“Yes ma’am!” Snails repeated as if he were training to be a part of Celestia’s Royal Guard.
“Good. Now go,” the gray mare said, making a shooing gesture. “I want to chat with Diamond a little while longer.”
“Yes ma’am!” Snails whipped around and ran off to the math room.
Silver Spoon sighed with a sense of satisfaction. “Gosh, it’s too bad we have to dump our slaves tomorrow night.”
Diamond Tiara struggled to cover her jumble of emotions, responding half-heartedly. “Yes, the dance will be a blast.”
Silver Spoon smiled. “Yep, and then we have my birthday party the next day. This is going to be some weekend!”
Diamond Tiara took a hard gulp, “You can say that again.”