//------------------------------// // Spoiled Apples // Story: Silver Marriage // by cdcdrr //------------------------------// Chapter Five: Spoiled Apples Wandering around the schoolhouse looking for other familiar faces, Silver Spoon's ears caught a familiar voice. Turning her head, she saw Apple Bloom standing not far from her, out in the corner and surrounded by two orange mares. Scootaloo and her cousin Babs. At first she thought it better to avoid the three, until she could make out what they were talking about. "An article in the Ponyville Express? Whoop de do, that sure makes up for everything." Apple Bloom spoke in a monotonous voice. Not wanting to be seen listening to them, she turned her back to them to blend in with Snips and Snails, who were being otherwise useless as ever. Silver's eyes were poor, but she had always had deceptively good hearing in contrast. Her old bad habit of eavesdropping in school hadn't been lost to her either. "Come on Apple Bloom. You're an adult. You got to have something better to do than remain fixated on your school days." Scootaloo argued. "I think you're letting this whole 'classism' thing judge her without giving any thought to how she's changed." "Yeah, well, she was rotten back when I was a child and she's a spoiled, opportunistic snob now. It's why I stopped reading the papers and subscribed to that digest. You have to admit she's always been an over privileged filly who wants her way. Why shouldn't I hate her?" Apple Bloom continued. "I don't think you hate her at all. I think you have a crush and are trying to deny by acting all bitter." Babs Seed jabbed with an amused smirk on her face. "Ew, gross! On Diamond Tiara? You know I'm not into girls and especially not some wannabe Canterlot snob! Her and that stupid Silver Spoon. Like they've not done enough harm as a couple of dandy stuck-up elitists, now they're throwing their orientation into Ponyville's face on the Express' headlines as if we're to think it's normal? Two mares can't have a foal!" Silver Spoon bit her lip in a attempt to refrain from wheeling around and unleashing some of her pent-up insecurities and anger at Apple Bloom. For as much as the two didn't like each other, Silver Spoon had at least expected Apple Bloom was better than her parents and ponies who had condemned her love of a mare. "It was the announcements, not headlines. Apple Bloom, I think you're taking this political thing way too serious. I don't see a problem with her marrying Silver Spoon. Celestia mandated the validity of equal marriage centuries ago. Who is your crazy uncle to say she's wrong?" Scootaloo defended Diamond Tiara, a thing Silver Spoon had not expected to hear coming from a Cutie Mark Crusader. "Uncle Golden Apple tells it like it is! He's just saying what everypony else is thinking. Princess Celestia can be nice, but she sure keeps around a number of stupid ponies to run Equestria into the ground." Apple Bloom argued, and Silver Spoon swore she could her the rolling of Scootaloo's eyes. "Your crop went bad and now it's the end of Equestria. All beware the filly foolers and their inability to have children. Harbingers of hunger, plague, death and civil war. You're just going to have to work off some debt for a loan, Apple Bloom. This isn't the end of the world." "Easy for a pony without her own farm to say. We worked day and night last year to get that crop. And because of those pegasi we didn't have the right weather to grow it. But who gets the bill? Not the weather team in Cloudsdale. Let the earth ponies just take out a loan." Apple Bloom ranted in exasperation. "Excuse me!?" Silver Spoon could not stop herself from turning her head at Scootaloo's outburst, who glared at Apple Bloom with her wings flared in a hostile manner. "I meant the pegasi on the weather patrol, not you. This is because of that minister in the cabinet appointed an incompetent pony the manager of all the weather in Equestria. Gosh Scoots, you can't even fly. I'm not blaming you." Apple Bloom corrected herself. But insufficiently. "I think you'd better stay quiet. Just- just... I'm gonna go outside." Scootaloo announced, sounding like she was straining to stay polite. "Aw geez, can you give us a minute, Babs?" Apple Bloom asked as she began to leave after Scootaloo. Silver Spoon actually felt bad for having heard any of that. She knew spying on ponies wasn't right, but she actually felt worse for what the two Cutie Mark Crusaders had become. She wanted to get out of there and find the reassuring presence of Diamond Tiara. "Oh hey Silver Spoon. Didn't think I'd see you that close to Apple Bloom." Instead, she was now in the unsettling presence of Babs Seed. "Eh, oh! Hi Babs." Silver smiled exaggeratedly, giving a shy wave of her hoof. "Were you just here eavesdropping?" Babs questioned as she looked at Silver quizzically. "Why? What was I supposed to hear?" Silver began to sweat at the questioning. "Still a brat, like you were a filly." Babs tilted her head disapprovingly, indicating the jig was up. "She was badmouthing Diamond Tiara. Is it odd I want to hear what ponies are saying about us behind our backs?" Silver defended her actions, even as she self consciously rubbed her forehoof. "You two kinda deserve it for setting me up to be a bully like you were. Ah, but who am I to talk? It was my choice to listen to you bozos and then turn on you with the threat to tell your parents. I'm sorry to hear they weren't as cool about it as me and Diamond Tiara." She extended a conciliatory hoof. "It's okay, it doesn't bother me anymore." Silver continued to stare at the ground, not noticing Babs wished to shake hooves. "Well, that's good to hear. Though if you heard about Apple Bloom's opinion on Diamond Tiara, I guess you've heard what she thinks about it to." Babs broached the subject of Apple Bloom's recent complaints. "Actually, no. It's not good. You didn't actually tell my mom that I entrusted you to keep my feelings for Diamond Tiara a secret but you threatened to just before you left. Did you tell Apple Bloom? Or the other Cutie Mark Crusaders?" Silver Spoon wanted to know, now that she could finally confront Babs about the matter. "Silver, I swear I didn't tell no one. Okay? I'm sorry if Bloom's giving you horse apples about it being wrong but I never broke my promise to be your secret keeper." Babs insisted. "That was a double negative, but I'll believe you. Why then is Apple Bloom talking about me and Diamond Tiara?" "The newspaper, like she said? You know, Apple Bloom's been kinda rough these days. She's on these political crusades ever since she heard her uncle Golden Apple is a populist party leader." Babs explained. "Diamond and I aren't really into all this politics." Silver Spoon explained. "Well, this uncle Golden Apple isn't really close family. Haven't seen him at family reunions, and you know how mad the Apples get about those. He's a stallion representing farmers' interests, but he's got a sharp tongue. I've heard Applejack warn Apple Bloom about him. He stirs up discontent and blames other ponies for earth ponies' grievances and wants them to return to the land, tend to the fields and animals like he says we're meant to. He doesn't like snobby Canterlot elites and the earth ponies who imitate them, like you. No offence. Nobility is a 'unicorn thing'. I bet you've heard of the drought?" Babs stared at Silver in wait of her answer. "No. No I haven't. That's farm business and I'm not really into that." Silver Spoon admitted. Golden Apple probably wouldn't like to hear that very much. "There was a poor harvest last year. Not here in Ponyville, but around Equestria. Maybe you did notice food prices go up?" Silver remembered Diamond Tiara complain about that and nodded. "Well, it's driven farms out of business and the Manehattan Times fears an economic downturn if this year's harvest doesn't improve. It's got ponies all worked up and the fact you don't is enough reason for Apple Bloom and these populists, this 'Apple Front' to blame you. If I were you, I'd keep my comments about the matter to myself. The Apple Front's biweekly digest called the Tribune is feeding Bloom this propaganda, and she's falling for it. I wanted to be here to act the grown up to steer her mind back on track, but I wonder if it's really my place to tell her what to believe. The Apple Front's already doing it, Applejack's staying quiet about it to Apple Bloom but I know she doesn't like their whole 'blame unicorns' or 'blame pegasi' shtick." "They're a racist group? Why would Apple Bloom listen to such drivel? Her friends are a unicorn and a pegasus!" Silver Spoon exclaimed. "They're not actually very overt, it's just these undertones that Apple Bloom fails to notice, but which Scoots does. That's why there's such tension between these two. Apple Bloom's an apologist and Scootaloo is a little uppity even though she's right. They're also not big on ponies loving the same gender. Segregation and Family are their watchwords, so they think that because ponies of the same gender can't breed, their families don't actually count. Poor Apple Bloom's got the wool pulled over her eyes." "Uhm, well thanks for telling me Babs. I'll make sure to avoid Apple Bloom then. You know, maybe if you're in town longer we can get back together like back when we were fillies? With Diamond Tiara? No bullying this time, just do the fun stuff we used to do as kids?" Silver Spoon offered. "I'll have to shake off Apple Bloom, but yeah, I'm in town for a while. Your special somepony does still owe me an apology. And a frappe." Babs eyes glinted with bemused greed for dairy delights.