Chapter 20
It was only when she had stepped onto the yellow gravel behind the gates to her home that Silver Spoon realized she still had some time to pass until dinner. Her first idea was to go looking for her sister. But that would also mean risking to run into Diamond Tiara. And avoiding that as long as possible was why she had left in the first place. After all, most likely Marecedes was already off to another one of her parties. Or meeting one of her many friends. Or doing anything else she always did away from home. Whatever that would be.
Yet Silver Spoon saw one other possibility for her to stay out of the house a little longer. She hesitated a moment, but ultimately decided to take it. Gathering up her resolve she marched up to the one pony she saw in the garden.
“Um, Green Thumb?”
The gardener didn't even look up from his work. But his tone was just as friendly as when he had talked to Applejack. “Yes, Miss Silver Spoon?”
“Is there, um, anything I could help you with?”
“Why, what did you do this time?”
“I did nothing. I just wanted to see if there is anything I could do here.”
Now he stopped his work and focused on her. “Are you telling me you want to do some gardening without anypony forcing you to?”
“Well... Yes.”
He eyed her curiously as if to find any clue she was not who she claimed to be. But then he smiled and said: “Can't say I'm not surprised, but I don't see why not.”
Silver Spoon had already feared she would annoy him, that he would blatantly refuse to let her interfere with his work. But the more she asked about what he was doing – besides keeping their lawn in shape – and how all those different things he used worked, the more he seemed to get excited himself. Even though he wouldn't let her try out most of them he still explained patiently which tools were meant for what purpose and what he was currently up to. As it turned out he was setting up new flowerbeds along the path to the house. They were meant as a surprise for her parents when they would come back from their vacation. He already had the flowers, at the moment stored away in the shed. The next step he wanted to start now was working out an arrangement.
Silver Spoon wasn't sure if she should still be amazed or not, but once again, Apple Bloom seemed to have been right. Gardening, or at least, arranging flowers, came easy to her – if she read Green Thumb's expressions correctly. Though it had taken quite some time for her to get the grasp on how to handle the necessary tools, this task was quite the difference. Once he showed her what flowers they had on hoof, her mind sprung into action. She could practically see how they needed to be set up to achieve the best effect. When she told him about his ideas his first reaction was to ask if she had done this before. According to him, her vision was close to his. There were still some nuances he added to improve the overall result, but basically, he said, this was an impressive first try.
After they had planted row after row of flowers, Silver Spoon felt exhaustion claiming her limbs. She wiped her face and took a step back from the bed to examine it. She was more than pleased with what they had achieved. In fact, this afternoon of mundane – 'plebeian', as Diamond Tiara had once called it – had earned her a sense of satisfaction she had never known before. Not quite unlike when she and Apple Bloom had finished setting up their campsite.
As she took in what Green Thumb and she had accomplished, she noticed a shadow falling on the flowers. Instinctively she looked up. And stared straight into the eyes of her sister. And they stared back, seemingly clueless if she was still awake or caught in a dream. Her lips were curled into a disbelieving smile.
Then Green Thumb's voice ripped apart the rising silence surrounding the two sisters. “Oh, good evening Miss Marecedes. Didn't see you there. Going out again?”
“Yes, I need a change of scenery,” Marecedes answered, her eyes still wandering between her sister and the new flowerbed. “Speaking of that, did you two make this, Green Thumb?”
“Yepp, Miss Silver Spoon here was a big help. Didn't know she had a thing for this, honestly.”
“Yeah, me neither. Helping didn't seem to be one of her strong points.”
“Now, now. That wasn't what I'm saying.”
“Yes, I know. But, be honest, can you remember her ever helping out anypony without being forced to?”
“What are you getting at?”
“Oh, don't worry, all I want is a yes or no.”
“Well... No. But, I'm not working here that long and-”
“I told you, don't worry. It's okay. I know her since she was born and I have trouble remembering when this happened the last time.”
“I don't really know what to say.”
“Yeah, me neither. To you, at least.”
Marecedes hadn't broken eye contact with Silver Spoon once. She was still staring right at her, as if to pierce her mind and find a way to read her thoughts.
Silver Spoon wanted to say something. Anything. But her jaw seemed to be locked in place by an unseen force. It was only when her sister finally turned towards the gates that she was able to shout, almost yell at her:
“Wait!”
And instantly, Marecedes froze. Yet no more reaction came from her.
“Do you...” Silver Spoon forced her mouth to work “Do you like it?”
Still not turning around Mareceds said: “Does this mean I'm allowed to talk to you again?”
“Yes,” answered Silver Spoon, feeling her eyes getting wet. “Of course. I didn't really mean that. You see, it's just with Diamond Tiara and all...”
“Yeah,” sighed Marecedes. “I think I understand by now. She's even driven me from the house.”
“What did she do?”
“Well, I think whatever happened back then broke her. She's been stalking me for the past hour or so. And whenever I looked at her she always acted as if I wasn't there. Kinda creeped me out to be honest.”
“Oh, I'm sorry...”
“Don't be. Unless you told her to do this.”
“No, I certainly didn't.”
“Good to know. But still, I have to get out of here for now.”
“But you haven't answered my question yet.”
“Oh, right.” Marecedes turned around, looking at her sister once again. “I like it. Very much, to be true. In fact, it's one of the best things I've seen in years.”
Silver Spoon needed a moment to realize how wide she was smiling.
Until Marecedes added: “Oh, and the flower's are nice, too.”
Her heart sank for a moment. Just the split of a second. Until her mind told her that this hadn't been a backhanded insult. Watching her sister walk off, Silver Spoon's mind tried to unravel what she had heard.
“Okay, is it alright if I don't understand what just happened?” Green Thumb reminded her of his presence.
“Yeah, that's okay. I don't really understand it yet myself. But I think this could turn out to be a great day after all.”
Those were no empty words. Silver Spoon even found herself amazed by it, but this short exchange was all it had taken to completely turn this day around. Even the dirt on her hooves seemed to tell of achievement rather than mindless hardship. She almost regretted to take a shower, yet she still felt better afterwards. And the hot water always was so comforting. All in all she couldn't think of anything with a hint of a chance to ruin her mood.
Until she sat at the dinner table.
There she found herself opposite from Diamond Tiara, who kept glaring at a certainly most innocent bowl of soup. It felt like several hours had gone by since the house staff had set up the table and left. None of the two had taken a bite ever since. Silver Spoon's mind was rapidly shifting from one idea to the next on how to start any conversation. But she couldn't settle for one she didn't fear would make things escalate on the spot. Whatever she was going to say, Di would be sure to counter it with a swift and harsh rebuttal.
Yet what she hadn't played through in her head was her friend starting to talk on her own. She jumped a little when she heard Diamond Tiara hiss: “You threw me out of your room.”
“What?”
That little word escaped her throat without a warning. Immediately Diamond Tiara's glare shifted to her. She had never known how piercing her friend's stare could be.
“That one maid told me. You had her prepare a room for me. At least she had the decency to cover up for your rudeness by making up some story about you not wanting to wake me up in the morning.”
“But, that was no lie. I really didn't want you to wake up just because I have to go to school. I didn't know you wanted to come to school too.”
Silver Spoon quickly covered her mouth, a breeze of anger brushing through her subconscious. But of course it didn't make her friend forget she said it.
“How do you know that?”
“Rosy told me.”
“Who?”
“The maid.”
“So you knew I planned to do that and you still let her prepare that room for me?”
“Well, yes, but-”
“So you did throw me out of your room.”
Silver Spoon didn't know what to say. Looking back now, she could have told Rosy that the guest room wouldn't have been necessary then. And she didn't really know anymore why she hadn't.
Obviously, Diamond Tiara didn't expect any answer to her last statement. Now she gave the soup her full attention. And Silver Spoon followed her example. They sat in silence, only broken again and again by the clanking of their spoons.
Once their bowls were emptied and taken away by somepony from the kitchen, Silver Spoon said: “Are you still coming to school with me?”
“I don't know.”
“Oh please, you have to.”
“Oh, do I? Won't Apple Bloom be there to hold your hoof?”
“No, she will be. Well, not before the third period, but that's just it.”
“What, am I her place-holder until then? I stay for the first two periods and then she takes over?”
“I never said that. I want you to come with me because she will be there.”
“Oh, not because you enjoy my company?”
“Di, please. Why are you fighting so hard against this? All I am asking you to do is give Apple Bloom a chance.”
“A chance for what?”
Silver Spoon froze for a split second. Just for that blink of an eye, for some reason, her friend reminded her of Scootaloo. She couldn't put her hoof on what it was, but something had poked her subconscious. Their main course being brought in gave her a moment to marvel at this, yet she couldn't figure it out.
“Well?” Diamond Tiara inquired.
Silver Spoon shook her head. “A chance to be your friend. That is all.”
“I already told you what I think about that.”
“And I told you that I finally saw how wrong we were to think that way. Don't you even want to know why I changed my mind?”
Diamond Tiara had already her mouth open. Silver spoon could practically read the 'No!' from her eyes. But then a thought seemed to cross Diamond Tiara's mind. She scratched her chin and said: “Maybe you're right. So please, why did you decide Apple Bloom should repla-, I mean, be your friend and how did you do it?”
“To be honest, it was the other way around. It was her giving me the chance to go camping with her.”
“Camping?”
“Yes, camping. That, um, is living in a tent and-”
“I know what camping is. But since when do you go camping? I wouldn't have thought you'd even like it.”
“Neither would I. Until I tried it.”
“I can't believe this. Why would you let yourself get dragged down to that? Camping is only for ponies who are too poor for a real vacation.”
“No, it's not. How would you even know, you never tried it before.”
“For good reasons.”
“Such as?”
“It is beneath me.”
“Enjoying time with your friends is beneath you?”
“How can anypony enjoy sleeping on the ground somewhere in the wilderness?”
“Try it and find out for yourself. Or are you really that afraid you might actually like it?”
“I'm not afraid. Not of that, not of anything.”
“Good. Then you won't be afraid of spending some time with Apple Bloom either, I suppose?”
“Of course not. I just don't want to.”
“Come on, Di. All I am asking of you is to not to get into any kind of fight with her just once. Then you'll understand why she and I are friends now.”
Silver Spoon could see the gears turning behind Di's eyes. Then, like somepony had switched a lever, she closed her eyes and sighed: “Fine. Just once.”
“Trust me, that will be all it takes.”
“Oh, yes. I'm sure of that.”
“So, do you want to tag along to the library tomorrow when I'm going or will you join us around noon, when Apple Bloom is coming?”
“Tomorrow?” Diamond Tiara gulped. “Oh, I completely forgot you mentioned that... I think, if we're really going through with this, I'll need one more day. You know, this would be just... too soon for me. If you have to meet with her, fine. But give me at least until your next day of school, okay? Also, I would like have at least one afternoon alone with my best friend. Would that be alright with you?”
“Yes, I kind of understand. But, you see, we were going to study for school. And today we didn't have the chance to because, well, you know why.” Silver Spoon could see her friend's eyebrows narrowing at an alarming rate. Hastily she added: “Still, if I tell Apple Bloom, I'm sure she will understand. So I guess the afternoon will be okay.”
Diamond Tiara simply nodded and started to silently eat her meal. Silver Spoon followed her example. Neither of them spoke another word until they were done with dessert. It wasn't that Silver Spoon didn't want to speak with her friend anymore. Yet every time she looked up at her any idea of what to say simply vanished. The way Di regarded her plate with defiance made the silence unbearable and unbreakable at the same time. Even when they were done and walked towards Silver Spoon's room, the silence followed them sternly.
Only when Silver Spoon stopped at her door and Diamond Tiara kept on walking she managed to say: “Where are you going?”
“To my room, remember?”
“No, Di, please-”
“No, no, it's okay. I do like to sleep in, you were right about that.”
Silver Spoon didn't even try to hold her back. She knew that would be futile.
Moments later, she lay in her bed, wishing the day to be over. Yet her exchange with Diamond Tiara replayed itself through her head time after time after time. It kept her awake for what felt like hours. She must have even dreamed about it, because she could have sworn she had still Di's voice in her ear when she suddenly opened her eyes to a day-lit room.
She jumped out of her bed, feeling more determined to get up early than she would have ever thought possible. After a quick shower and an even quicker break-fast she told Stickler were she was heading and left the mansion for Golden Oaks Library.
She had only been there once before. The building itself had impressed her more than the books one could find here. There was no telling if one could in fact call it a building, since this was – contrary to Fluttershy's home – indeed a tree. Yet through most likely magical means, somepony had actually reshaped the inside into a real library. With bookshelves, lecterns and everything one could need. Given, the books might have been moved in afterwards, making everything else no less impressive. The most imposing part though was that the tree itself was still alive. It was covered with leaves, rustling in the rare summer breezes. There was even a beehive hanging from one of its lower branches.
Bracing herself like she was about to enter another realm of reality, she pushed the door open. Inside was the purple dragon she had already met the last time she was here, dusting off a bookshelf. Yet the librarian was nowhere to be seen.
“Are you back already, Twilight?” he asked before turning around. Then he added: “Oh, you're not Twilight.”
“No, I'm not,” Silver Spoon answered, letting the door close behind her. “But you're, um, Spot, right? The librarian's servant?”
“Spike. And I'm Twilight's assistant. Not servant.”
“Oh, yes, of course. I'm sorry.”
“Don't mind.” He took a quick glance at the feather duster in his hand. “Sometimes it's hard to tell. But since we got this, you're Silver Spoon, right?”
“Um, yes. You still remember that?”
The dragon didn't answer. He simply looked at her, leaning his head from side to side. Silver Spoon felt like he was sizing her up while he kept tapping the handle of the feather duster against his chin.
Then Spike said: “You know, you don't look that evil to me.”
“Um, thanks?”
The dragon chuckled. “The way Sweetie Belle made it sound, I almost expected you to breathe fire or something like that. But I always told her you can't be that bad.”
“Um, that's... nice of you. But what made you so sure of that?”
“I've come to not take things too seriously. And I know that you don't have to be bad to do bad things. At least that's my experience.”
Now it was Silver Spoon's turn to stare at Spike. She had no idea what to make of his last comment. Nonetheless it sounded like he wanted to say something nice. Deciding to just let it settle with that, she asked: “You are friends with Sweetie Belle?”
“Yeah, I guess you can say that. Somehow we always end up spending some time together whenever I'm helping out Rarity.”
It was hard to miss how the little dragon puffed out his chest while casually checking his claws when he said those last words. Silver Spoon just couldn't decide if he was really bad at hiding his pride or at showing it. And if it was really something to be proud of. Of course, helping others wasn't by far as boring and stupid as she had thought. But nothing to brag about. Right?
“But I guess,” Spike snapped her out of her thoughts, “you didn't come here to talk about me. Is there anything I can help you with?”
“Er, right.” Actually, there were some other questions she still would have liked to ask. Although Spike was right, none of them were about him. “But I'm not sure if you can really help me.”
“You'll never know if you don't ask.”
“Okay, then, do you know how I can become a psychiatrist?”
Again, Spike started tapping his chin with the feather duster. “Not really, but maybe I can still help you. At least I know where the books on that topic are. I even read some of them. Follow me.”
He turned around and led Silver Spoon along the wall-high bookshelves.
“You read them?” she asked while gazing on books upon books. She didn't even know there were so many books about, well, things. No stories, just knowledge about stuff she never even heard about.
“Yeah, why not?”
“I don't know. But why would you read them unless you want to become a psychiatrist yourself? Or do you want to be one too?”
“No, but it can't hurt to be, um, prepared.”
“For what?”
“Well, let's say, emergencies. But they're not the only books I read from this place. That kind of comes with the job. Even I can't read comics all the time.”
“Comics? You're reading comics?” Silver Spoon asked, ignoring how Spike proudly presented another bookshelf to her.
“You don't?”
“No, of course not. And I'm surprised you do. Working in a library I would have thought you weren't reading something so unrefined. I mean, it doesn't have to be these schoolbook-like ones all the time, but you do have those with nice stories too, right?”
“Yes, we do.” Spike still had his arm outstretched, pointing to the shelf. But the his shoulders had noticeably lowered. “And I read them. Most of them. But how many comics have you read so far?”
“None.”
“Then how do you know they're unrefined? Whatever that means in this case anyway.”
Silver spoon had already her mouth open. The natural response was about to roll from her tongue. But she had learned over the last days that Diamond Tiara was no reason others seemed to accept.
Thinking for a moment she said: “I guess you're right.“
“I am?” The dragon blinked, finally letting his arm sink.
“Yes, you are. I never read any and I can't tell what they are and what not.”
“I, um...” Spike started scratching his shoulder. “Wow, arguing with you is way easier than with Twilight.”
“What, do you want me to disagree with you?”
“No, no. That's alright. So, um, would you like to read some of mine? I'd let you if you want to.”
“Thanks, but I came here for something else, remember?”
“Oh, yeah, right. So, what exactly were you looking for again?”
“Something like 'How to become a Psychiatrist' or 'Pychiatrism for Beginners' would be nice.”
“Psychiatrism?”
“Or whatever it is called. Which one did you read?”
“Wait a second.” Spike fetched a ladder standing at one of the other shelves. Then he pulled a book from the top board.
Climbing back down he said: “This is about the history of psychology. If you skip the biographical stuff in there you can get a lot about the basics out of it.”
“Hm, okay, not exactly what I've been looking for. But better than nothing, I guess.”
The dragon shrugged. “Well, that's as much as I can help you with. If you need any more help, I'll go back to sweeping.”
Silver Spoon nodded and looked around for a place to read. Which she found this place surprisingly devoid of. There was one large table, scattered with books. And two lecterns, one of them also occupied by a book. So she placed her book on the other lectern and started to read.
Soon she found that Spike was right. This work had a lot of passages to skip. At first she had tried to just read it but got bored of the life-story of some probably ancient pony that had obviously played a big part in creating this then new science. After the fifth attempt of reading the same paragraph still on the first page she surrendered and started skimming the pages. Surely what they had done had to be more interesting than how they had lived, right? Yet this expectation crumbled away just as fast. Even more so as Silver Spoon realized this was rather about how they had found out whatever they had found out than about those findings themselves.
Before long she admitted defeat. This was, after all, not what she had been looking for. After a fruitless attempt to make out any book than seemed promising, she followed the steady scraping of bristles on wood.
“Spike?”
“Yepp?”
“Is that offer still up?”
He chuckled. “Of course.”
Moments later Silver Spoon found herself provided with a vast collection of different comic books. After some recommendations by Spike she had settled for his favorite series. It was about a bunch of ponies all having some special power going beyond what little she knew of magic. They were fighting against several beings – some ponies, some not – also having their own strange abilities. The story wasn't much to her taste, she wasn't even sure if the frequent change of fight scenes and talk about those fight scenes could be called a story. Yet she had to admit that she was intrigued by the cast of protagonists this comic had to offer. Not just how they worked so well as a team and always knew when each other needed help, she also got hooked on how they were able to throw occasional jabs and even insults at each other and still remain friends.
Somewhere around the middle of the fourth issue, she heard a door opening. She almost ignored it until a voice she barely knew said: “Spike, I'm home!”
Looking up to see who it was Silver Spoon remembered she was still at the library. And the librarian had just returned.
“Coming,” Spike shouted back from another room. “What did Fluttershy want to talk about?”
“A surprise party.”
“Wait, Fluttershy is throwing a surprise party? For whom?”
“For nopony. Yet apparently 'somepony she knows' wants to surprise somepony else that one knows and asked her for help, but another pony might not like it if she did it. And now she wanted my advice if she should do it or not.”
“Uh, you kinda lost me around the second time you said somepony.”
“Exactly. I tried to get her to tell me who she was talking about. But she wouldn't tell me. She was afraid we would be overheard and somehow Pinkie Pie would come to know of this.”
“What would be so bad about that? Pinkie is an expert on surprise parties.”
“That's what I told her too, but she was afraid that she would get the whole town to participate. Not completely unjustified, if I'm honest. And that's what neither of them want. Whoever they are.”
“So, will there be a party or not?”
“Most likely not. I told her that surprising somepony does not have to mean a party. And that seemed to have given her an idea.”
“Hm, too bad. I like surprise parties. Oh, that reminds me, we have a guest.”
Spike casually gestured towards Silver Spoon still sitting at the lectern.
The librarian now looked at her and blinked. Then she looked back at Spike and said: “And you didn't see the need to tell me this when I came to the part about Fluttershy not wanting others to hear about this?”
Spike shrugged. “You only said she didn't want other to know the names that were never mentioned. So, do you want to know why we have a guest?”
Twilight let out an annoyed groan. “Yes, Spike, I do.”
Not waiting for the dragon to answer she walked towards Silver Spoon. All the while working up a smile that seemed a bit too set up to the little filly, but was friendly nonetheless.
“Hello there,” she said. “You are Silver Spoon, right? From Cheerilee's class?”
The filly nodded. “Yes, nice to meet you. Again, I mean. Um, Miss Twilight, right?”
“It would be Miss Sparkle,” the mare laughed, her smile becoming more honest. “But Twilight is alright.”
Of course. Why was she even still trying? “Okay, Twilight. I need your help. I want to know how I can become a psychiatrist. Spike tried to help, but all he could offer me was this.” She pointed towards the lectern she was sitting at. “Which was nice, but in the end, not very helpful.”
“No wonder,” commented Twilight. “I never found these comics to be in any way educational.”
“What? No!” Silver Spoon hastily stacked up the scattered comics to reveal the book Spike had handed her. “This is what I'm talking about. I'm sure it's all very interesting and important, but not what I have been looking for.”
Twilight eyed the cover of the book for a moment, then nodded. “So, what you want to know are the steps necessary to achieve certification as a psychiatrist?”
“I guess. If that means what I think it does.”
“Good. No wonder this work didn't help you. In fact, and it is not often I say this, I don't think books are what you need in this case at all. Though there are a few that are worth reading as preparation. What you would really need is a guide on what you should accomplish during your time at school, but that is one of the few things my library unfortunately lacks. But I should be able to get you one if you wish. Yet for now, I can tell you the very basics you need to know.”
“That would be nice.” Silver Spoon had taken a few steps back, the flow of words swashing over her. And with each wave the librarian looked more and more excited like she had been waiting for this moment to happen.
“Okay, the most important part is, of course, studying. I know the subjects you will need aren't taught at your grade, yet thinking ahead never hurts. But you already know that, which is why you're here, right? I am certain Cheerilee will be more than happy to give you a few recommendations in this regard. After all, she is your teacher, not me. Just ask her for the best preparations for anything related to social studies and pharmacy. That is, unless you would like me to set up a learning schedule for a preparatory course for you. Would you?”
“I am sure that is a very nice offer. But so far, just knowing what I would have to do is fine. And I'm not sure I got all of that. Why do I need to study a pharmacy?”
“Not 'a' pharmacy. Pharmacy is as well the science of as the technique necessary for preparing and dispensing drugs.”
“Um, what?”
“How to make medicine and decide how much a pony should take. Anything you can buy in a pharmacy to help you when you're sick has been made by somepony who has studied pharmacy.”
“But why do I need to know about that? Applejack said psychiatrists don't use medicines to heal ponies.”
“But they do. It is an important part of their profession. Unfortunately some of the serious psychological issues we know of can't be treated in any other way.”
“Really? But I liked the way Applejack had put it.”
“Which was?”
“That they heal ponies souls just with words and not medicines.”
“Ah, I see. Most likely she meant not a psychiatrist, but a psychologist. A lot of ponies confuse them. But becoming a psychologist is in no way simpler than becoming a psychiatrist. Either way, you will have to go to college after school. And that will require a lot of work. My offer still stands.”
“Thank you, that is very nice of you. And maybe I will come back to it later. More likely than not, I guess. But for now I would be glad if you could get me that guide you talked about.”
As if to underline her words the door slammed open. About a second later a red and yellow whirlwind came to a halt next to Silver Spoon.
“Ah' got a big surprise for you!” Apple Bloom greeted her.