The countryside rolled by the window as Silver Spoon leaned against her first class train seat. It was a nice compartment, not the most luxurious she ever sat in, but that didn’t matter to her. Her mother and sister had just headed out to stretch their legs and get a bite to eat, leaving her alone to take in all that had happened to her; having to say goodbye to her friends, dealing with her parent’s divorce, and leaving Diamond Tiara on such horrible terms.
It was a lot to take in and all things considered, she thought that she had handled it in the most mature way an ten year old could. She didn’t know a lot of ponies who were going through what she was, but still...
She dug her right hoof into her seat and groaned. It wasn’t as if she did anything wrong when she sided with the CMC instead of Diamond Tiara, right? It was all Diamond Tiara’s fault for abandoning her. She had spent all summer trying to convince her to join them, and all that pink mule did was snuff her out at every turn. Then again, she did show up at the train station to say goodbye. That had to have meant something, right?
She sighed and sank deeper into her compartment seat, only to have her head shoot up when she heard her older sister, Octavia, walked into the cabin. “I don’t suppose this seat is taken?”
Silver Spoon responded by placing her chin on the hoofrest, which someone translated to her sister as a yes because a moment later, she was sitting down next to her.
At first, the two sisters sat in their private train car in awkward silence, neither sure what to say. Silver Spoon was sure Octavia had a lot to ask after seeing her bucking book and her reaction to Diamond Tiara on the platform.
“So,” Octavia began, “I left mom in the club car. We took a few shots and I snuck away before she could notice.” She stroked her sister’s hair. “Did you order anything for lunch?” Silver Spoon pulled herself away from her sister’s hoof. “Do you want to talk about anything, anything at all before mother gets back?” Her question was met with more silence. “Come on, Spoony, you’ve been like an open book all summer, and now you clam up?”
Silver Spoon cringed at her sister’s poor choice of metaphors for their situation. She didn’t want to talk about it, but she didn’t feel right about leaving her sister hanging. After Octavia dropped herself off in Canterlot, she probably wouldn’t see her until Hearths Warming at best. The last thing she needed was to leave another pony she cared about on a sour note.
She looked up at her older sister. “Alright, Tavi.”
Octavia noogied her head as she playfully resisted. “Hey, only you and Vinyl get to call me that.”
Silver Spoon smiled. “Okay,” she said with a sigh, as she realized that she had to start taking. “So, where to begin?”
“How about with that plushy book I gave you that one Hearts Warming as a gag gift? The one that now seems to have a rather beat up picture of myself on the front. That seems like a good place to start.”
Silver Spoon scratched the back of her head. “Right, that. Um, I sorta kept it as a way to relieve stress.” She took a deep breath. “I was always jealous of you, how successful you are, how proud mom and dad are of you and how I always seemed to be stuck in the shadows. Then you gave me that plush book. I hated it because I knew you were just making fun of my Dyslexia.” Octavia’s face turned a bright red and lowered. “So instead of throwing it away, I kept it, put your picture on it, and beat the tar out of it whenever mom and dad were acting like mules.”
Octavia’s eyes widened. “Sister, such language.”
Silver Spoon’s ears fell flat. “I know, and I’m sorry. You were never supposed to see it.”
“Hey,” Octavia wrapped a hoof around her. Silver Spoon resisted for a moment, but decided to just give in to the hug. “I mean, I would hate me too from the sound of it.” She felt her sister squeeze her. “You know I didn’t have it any easier, right?”
Silver Spoon leaned into Octavia’s shoulders. “I know, it’s all you ever talked about all summer.”
“Hey, Octavia chuckled, “from what you’ve told me, you’ve had it easy.” She looked down at her own cutie mark. “It was nothing but music lesson, after bucking lesson.”
Silver Spoon gasped. “Sister, such language.”
Octavia closed her eyes and laughed. “Well it was. I mean, I love performing, and I’m happy where I am now, don’t get me wrong. However, it was still a nightmare getting there. All the harsh lessons, all the judging eyes from my family to do great.” She rubbed her sister’s back. “At least you had the courage to stand up to them,” Octavia pointed at her sisters flank, “and follow your own path.”
Silver Spoon gazed down at her flank at her three silver spoon cutie marks that smiled back at her. “I suppose, but that doesn't mean mom has been on board with my new decisions with wanting to be a teacher.”
Octavia rolled her eyes. “Sounds like mom alright.” She broke away from the hug. “Still, we mustn’t be too hard on her, she can have her good moments.”
Silver Spoon raised a hoof, then slowly lowered it. “I don’t know. I mean, I don’t hate her, or dad, but making me chose between them, what kind of parents do that?”
“I don’t know, Spoony, I really don’t know.” She said as she looked out the window. Canterlot Mountain was closing in, and from the look of things the two had less than an hour together. “Enough about those things, do you have anything else on your mind?”
Silver Spoon placed a hoof to her chin. “Actually, I don’t suppose you know how to deal with friend problems?”
“That depends, which friend are we talking about?”
“Diamond Tiara.”
“Diamond Tiara. Diamond…” Octavia tapped her hoof before her eyes widened. “Ah yes, Suri’s younger sister.”
Silver Spoon’s ears perked up. “Suri? Oh.” Her ears fell flat. She had forgotten that Diamond Tiara did have an older sister. She had only ever met her a few times, and those were more than enough. “How do you know Diamond’s sister?”
“Well, we used to be friends when we were fillies.”
Silver Spoon’s head tilted. “Used?”
“Yeah, but then I met Vinyl in music college and we haven’t spoken a word since...” She noticed Silver Spoon’s pupils shrank. "But that was different.” Octavia quickly said. “I mean, I‘m sure if you really care about her, you two will come around.”
Silver Spoon let out a little sigh, but still held onto some of her breath. “So, what happened with you two then?”
“She acted like a bitch to my other friends, and I didn’t want to be around her if she couldn’t treat Vinyl with respect.” Octavia placed a hoof around her. “I’m sure you and Diamond won’t end up the same way. I mean, why don’t you tell me more about her?”
Silver Spoon nodded her head, and spent the next half hour doing so. She went over how they met, how they looked out for one another, how close they had been, and how they split up. She spoke about all the good, and bad things they did together. Even though she couldn’t make it sound like she wasn’t more or less a lackie, she did stress how she would keep Diamond Tiara from going too far with her cruelty towards other. Now, without her, she worried every moment about what would become of her.
As she neared the end of their backstory she looked up at her sister, who had a twinkle in her eyes. “What?"
“Oh, um,” Octavia scratched her chin, “its sounds like she still cares about you alright.”
“I don’t know, sis. I mean, it’s not like I left her, or chose my new friends over her. I even offered her to join us, but she just lifted her chin and walked away.” She leaned into her sister. “Oh, what have I done?”
“Well,” Octavia said as she rubbed her back, “for one, don’t you dare give up on your friend. I’ll admit, part of mine and Suri’s split up was my fault. Maybe I could have reached out to her more or something.” Octavia’s rub halted. “She’ll come around, best friends always do. At least, Vinyl and I do after we get into big fights.” Silver Spoon sighed, thinking back to Apple Bloom saying a similar thing. “Just keep writing to her every chance you get and you’ll be the best of friends again before you know it.”
Silver Spoon let out a relieved sigh. “Thanks, sis. Now I feel bad for always hating you.”
Octavia raised an eyebrow. “It’s called being a sister you know?” Silver Spoon chuckled. “But hey, if you need me, I’m always a letter away.”
She was just about to make herself comfortable, when the compartment door swung open.
“Oh, there you girls are,” their mother; Silver Platter, said as she stumbled into the cabin. “Octavia, why’d you run off?”
Octavia wiped her muzzle. “I just thought I’d spend some time with my little sister before we arrived at Canterlot.”
Silver Platter chuckled. “Oh, you girls have spent all summer together,” she got up and placed herself between the two girls. She wasn’t flat out drunk, but Silver Spoon could tell that she may of had a wine glass too many. “I mean,” she wrapped her arms around them, “you’re my babies after all.”
“Mom,” Silver Spoon pushed back, “you’re embarrassing me.”
Silver Platter hiccupped, and brought herself to her senses. “Sorry,” she sighed, “it’s just,” she drew Silver Spoon into a hug, “you don’t know how much I love you. Oh I’m so thankful you chose to me over that ruffian of a father.”
“Oh believe me,” Silver Spoon struggled to breath, “it wasn’t an easy choice.” If it wasn’t for how the residents had looked and avoided her after her cutie mark had changed, she wouldn’t have hesitated as much to stay with her father in Silver Manor with her friend, and Diamond Tiara.
“Come on, mom,” Octavia tugged, “you won’t do any good squeezing her to death.”
Silver Platter released Silver Spoon. “Yeah, I suppose you're right.”
The intercom began to buzz. “Now approaching, Canterlot station.”
The three Silvers looked at each other as Octavia cleared her throat. “Looks like my stop is coming up.” She got up to bring some of her suitcases down.
“You sure you can’t stay longer?” Silver Platter questioned, a pleading look in her eyes. “I don’t get to see you very often anymore.”
“I’m sorry, mother,” she said as she took a step forward. “But Vinyl and I got a show tomorrow night that will requires us both to be at the concert before-hand.”
Silver Plater huffed at the name, Vinyl. “You know, dear, I don’t know why you hang out with such a pony.” Silver Spoon could tell that her mother wanted to say more, but she wasn’t that drunk.
Octavia just sighed. “Mom, honestly, she’s one of my best friends. You’re never hard on Silver Spoon when she hangs out with her friends.”
“Yes.” Silver Platter looked down at her youngest daughter. “Although I don’t know why you traded up Suri, such a nice pony, for those ruffian commoners anyhow.”
“Mom!” Both girls said through their teeth.
Silver Platter winced. “Sorry.” She chuckled, “Look at me, trying to be the overbearing parent. Oh the times are advancing, the lines between rich and poor is blurring, and I bet you both hate me for that.”
Both mares glanced back and forth between each other nervously. “Don’t hide it,” she huffed, “I can’t, worry about what’s best for my girls?” she went on before either of them commented. “I suppose it doesn’t matter who you befriend,” she forcefully brought her girls in for a hug, “as long as you make me a proud grandmother one day.”
“Mother!” Silver Spoon’s mind still hadn’t quite reached that point yet. She might of already had her first period, but the thought of colts and husbands were still far too distant for her.
“Yes,” Octavia looking down at her hooves. “I’ll, get right on that.”
They felt the train slow down. “Canterlot station!” They heard the conductor shout.
“Well,” Octavia quickly organized her suitcase as crew members collated her other belongings. “It has been a wonderful time, but this is my stop.” She hugged her mother first. “Now you take care and try not to overbear Spoony, okay?”
“Oh, honey.” Silver Platter hugged back. “Don’t worry about me.”
Octavia nodded skeptically as she made her way over to Silver Spoon. “Now you take care of yourself too, sis. Don’t let this whole divorce thing get to you, or be too hard on mom and dad.”
She let out a fake grin. “I’ll try.” She couldn’t promise.
The sisters leaned in for a tight hug as Octavia whispered something important into her ear. “Don’t give up on your true friends, no matter what. And don’t let anything mom or dad might say about any of your friends, including Diamond Tiara, hold you back from them.”
Silver Spoon pulled back and gave her sister a confused stare. “Why would—”
Octavia held up a hoof, and looked back at their mother nervously. She then looked back at Silver Spoon, her expression saying, ‘not here.’ “Well,” she spoke, “you both take care, and write to me anytime.” She placed her cello case on her back and waved to her family. “I’ll see you both soon.” She then walked off the train.
Silver Spoon raced to the window to see her sister’s friend, Vinyl, welcoming her with a warm hug.
“Honestly,” her mother sighed. The train began to move again. “Still, as long as she is having a successful life, who am I to complain?”
She leaned back into her seat, occasionally tapping her hooves together as they made their way down the mountain in silence.
Which was fine for Silver Spoon. She almost disliked it when her mother started talking. “So,” her mother began as she stood up and rubbed her front hooves together. “I just want you to know, Spoon, that I’m here for you, Silver Spoon. I know that I might have acted ‘a little unfair’ about all of this,” Silver Spoon tensed, “but I’m here for you now if there’s anything you would like to say.”
Oh, Silver Spoon had a lot to say, but decided that now might not be the best time to speak.
She sighed. Complaining about it wouldn’t help. All she could do was go forward, and make the best of things until she graduated. “No, mom, I’m looking forward to living in Manehattan with my aunt and cousin.”
“Oh wonderful.” Her mother clapped her hooves together. “Oh, you are just going to love the city. Oh, it is going to be the best, and you’ll make so many friends—”
She let her mother ramble on about all the wonderful things they would do in the city.
Truth be told, Silver Spoon was looking forward to living in Manehattan. She still wished that things could be different and that she didn’t have to leave her home and friends behind. However, she did have things to look forward to in the city.
She hopped to find more opportunities to explore her new destiny in teaching, among other things. Not that she couldn’t find any chances in Ponyville, it was just that the city might have more choices that would work well with her disability.
“Did you order anything for lunch?”
“Hun?” Her mother’s question brought her out of her daydream. “Oh, um,” she said as her stomach grumbled, “no. Guess now is as good of a time as any.” She picked up a menu.
“Are you sure you don’t need help reading that?”
Silver Spoon rolled her eyes. “Mom, it’s not like I can’t read.”
A minute later, a waiter walked into the compartment. “What can I get for you two?”
“I’ll have some more champagne and some chesse,” Silver Platter ordered.
“And I’ll take the filly special.” Silver Spoon said.
The waiter raised one of his eyebrows. “The what now?”
Silver Spoon quickly glanced back at the menu. “I mean, the lily special,” she said with a toothy grin.
“Of course,” the waiter wrote it down and exited, leaving Silver Spoon alone with her mother.
It was an awkward moment of silence for a long time, broken when their orders arrived and they began to digest their orders. Even then, neither of them spoke until they were finished.
“You know, Spoon, I known now’s not the best time, but you do realize that it’s not going to be easy—if at all possible—to find a teaching job with your dyslexia?”
Weighing in her options, she chose to shake her head and let her mother rant on about all the trouble it would be for her to become a teacher and how she should do something fashion or high society related.
After the twelfth time, she had learned how to tune her mother out and respond whenever necessary. Hopeful after a while, she would get use to her mother talking in contrast to any awkward silence between them.
As her mother lectured her, she let her mind drift to another thing she had to look forward to in Manehattan; Babs, whom Apple Bloom promised would let her join their branch of the CMC, and her cousin, Decimal, whom she hadn’t seen since she was a small foal.
With her mother ranting on in the background, her mind began to wonder about all the fun things she would do with the two of them. As time went on though, she began to feel tired. The train wouldn’t arrive in the city until the next day, and it was starting to get dark outside. With no end in sight of her mother’s rant, her own eyes began to close on themselves...
*****
“Diamond,” Silver Spoon said as placed a hoof over her friend, “why are you crying?”
Diamond Tiara snapped her neck around. Her face was a mess, makeup smeared all over as if she was some sort of terrifying clown. She looked up at Silver Spoon as the makeup began melting off her face. Where Diamond Tiara’s face should have been, was the face of a disfigured monster.
“Why wound’t I?” It asked in a deep, dark voice. “My mother left me,” the pony in front of her began to grow, “my best friend left me, why should I care?”
Silver Spoon curled up into a small ball. “No, no! I didn’t leave you, I wanted us to still be friends. You left me!”
Flames spouted out of the Diamond Tiara’s mouth. “No! You were supposed to be mine, Silver.” She snorted out columns of smoke. “Now you will know how I feel!” A wall of fire shot towards her.
Silver Spoon screamed as the flames rushed towards her. She threw a hoof over her face, and braced for impact. When no pain came, she hesitantly lowered her hoof.
Staring aghast, the flames had circled around her in a vortex. When she reached out to touch them, they flew upwards where they put themselves out. Where the Diamond Tiara monster had been, a majestic figure began to drift down towards her. A black coated mare, twice as tall as her mother, with a mane that flowed with the stars of the night sky.
“Princess Luna?” Silver Spoon stared awestruck at the princess of the night. Then the realization came over her. “So, is this a dream?”
She remembered hearing about similar stories from Apple Bloom and Scootaloo. They each claimed to have been visited in their dreams by the princess; Sweetie Belle even claimed to have meet her in person after she had been visited in her dreams.
Needless to say, Silver Spoon hadn’t believed any of them.
“What do you think, child?” The alicorn asked with a mischievous smile.
It was a dream either way, so Silver Spoon shrugged it off. “Alright, if you are really here and I’m not dreaming you up or, something….” She rubbed her forehead. “Since when are dreams this confusing?”
“Indeed,” Luna said, “dreams are not meant to make sense. They are meant to reflect our fears and troubles in the real world. That is why I have made it my duty, to visit the foals of my land whose dreams are causing them the most pain.”
“I have sensed your dreams growing restless all summer. I haven’t bothered you because of how my sister and I may have, pestered you.” Luna eyed Silver Spoon’s cutie mark. “However, your dreams have not been as bad as they have been the past two days either.”
Silver Spoon lowered her head. Ever since she received her new cutie mark, and lost Diamond Tiara as a friend, her dreams have been getting worse.
They started out infrequent, usually just a replay of her day on the bridge when she had gotten her new cutie mark. At worst, they would just end with her looking back at her friend, teary eyed, tired, and once diamond tiara had even jumped off the bridge.
The closer the summer came to an end, the worse and more frequent the dreams became. They hadn’t gotten to the point where she couldn’t sleep, but they were getting there.
The princess leaned down next to her. “Would you like to talk to me? I promise not to judge. I am only here to help.”
“Well,” Silver Spoon rolled her eyes, “I don’t know. I haven’t gotten over Diamond Tiara leaving me.”
Luna rolled her eyes around to the moving background. “Unless we’re not on a train, it would seem like you are the one leaving.”
Silver Spoon sighed. “I didn’t want to leave, even if it was my choice. Well, it’s not like I’m leaving her. I’m going to write to her as soon as I arrive in Manehattan.” She took off her glasses to clean them. “I don’t suppose you could help me figure out why she’s giving me the cold shoulder? Visit her in her own dreams or something?”
Luna rose up. “I do not know how to heal cold shoulders,” Silver Spoon slapped her temples, “or how to deal with a troubled relationship between friends. However, with my powers to see glimmers, no matter how limited, I can see that you and your friend will be together again. You will have many more challenges to face, many of which will leave you more hurt than you can imagine. Through it all though, you will grow into the mare you want to be. You will be an inspiration for others, guide them to their own destinies. Of course, I hope I didn’t just set you up as some sort of egotistical messiah figure.”
“Oh don’t worry, this is just a dream after all.”
Luna raised one her eyebrows. “You still don’t believe this is real?”
“Eh…”
Luna chuckled. “I suppose I wouldn’t think so if I was you either. However, a little something to ask me if we ever meet in life. Ask me how many apples I can balance on my rump. When I answer 16, will you believe me?”
Not seeing any harm in it, Silver Spoon nodded her head. “Sure thing, princess.” She bowed. “And while we’re at it, can you order me 100 gallons of ice-cream?”
“Done,” Luna said, “although, why not have it now?” As the princess vanished, Silver Spoon found herself on a raft in a river of ice-cream.
She dipped a hoof in the river and into her mouth. “Mhh, coconut.”