//------------------------------// // Best Friends Forever? // Story: Silver's Decision- The story of a bystander // by Sparkler774 //------------------------------// Silver Spoon trudged to school alone that day, hanging her head. It appeared that Diamond Tiara had been a lot angrier than Silver had anticipated; Silver had waited for 15 minutes in front of Diamond's house before the butler had come out to tell her that Diamond had already left for school. It was strange; Diamond hated school, and had only ever gone early when she and Silver were working on their class's open house project together last year. When Silver had arrived and stepped into the schoolyard, she began her search for Diamond. Maybe she had come in for before-school tutoring, or perhaps she had left her homework at school and needed to get it done. Yes, there couldn't possibly be any other reason for Diamond to go to school early without telling Silver about it. The bell hadn't rung yet, so Silver Spoon knew that she still had time to locate Diamond. After searching around the playground for a while, she finally found Diamond sitting under a shady tree- with two other fillies from class. Silver's eyes went wide. I-It's probably not what it looks like, she tried convincing herself. M-Maybe Di's just giving them a hard time because of their manestyles or something... Silver crept behind a bush placed near the tree, well within earshot of Diamond and the two other fillies, whom she recognized as Aquamarine and Coronet. Making sure to be as quiet as possible, Silver Spoon heard every word of her friend's conversation with the intruders. "-so like, I was just thinking to myself the other day about how cool you two are!" gushed Diamond. "And plus I've kinda gotten bored with having just one close friend, and since, like, you are the coolest fillies in class- next to me, of course- I've made the decision to allow you into a newly formed and very exclusive little clique of mine. So what do you say? Care to join?" Both fillies were speechless for a moment until Coronet spoke up. "So let me get this straight," said Coronet slowly, unsure of what she was hearing. "You, Diamond Tiara, the richest and most popular filly in class, want us to be your close friends??" "That's what I said." Both Coronet's and Aqua's jaws dropped. They looked at Diamond, then at each other, and then at Diamond again. Every time, their smiles grew and their expressions happier. "We accept!" squeaked Coronet, nodding her head rapidly. "Yeah, let's do it!" "Good." said Diamond smugly. "Now, if your really are going to be committed to this, however, we do have to make a few changes, starting with your looks." The filly's smiles began to waver a bit. "W-what do you mean?" asked Aqua, confused. "Well," said Diamond, giving a flip of her mane. "If you're going to hang out with me, you can't look like just anypony. You have to look absolutely fabulous, just like me!" Aqua and Coronet's smiles brightened again. "So you mean like, a makeover?" asked Coronet, grinning from ear to ear. "Oh, I'll do better than that, hon. By the time I'm finished with you, you'll not only look as amazing as me, but you'll talk, act, and even flirt as well as your's truly!" "Flirt? L-like with colts?" asked Aqua in disbelief. "OMC! Do you think I could score a date with First Base that way? He's sooo cute." "Forget just dating- You two will be going steady within a month if you follow my lead." said Diamond. "Meet me at my house after school for the makeovers. But for now, I scored you two some very special seats in class so that everypony will know what's going on." Right on cue, the school bell rang and students started filing inside for class. Silver was startled and nearly fell out of the bush. "C'mon girls. Let's go show everypony who the cool fillies in town are now. Our public awaits!" Diamond, Aqua, and Coronet sauntered off to the classroom, the latter two both giggling excitedly. Silver Spoon's chest felt tight, and her throat wanted to close off. Was Diamond... replacing her??? *** When Silver walked into the classroom and to her seat, she was shocked to find Diamond sitting in the middle of the third row with Aquamarine and Coronet each by her side, Aqua looking comfortable in Silver Spoon's seat. The three were giggling and whispering to each other, stealing glances at various classmates. Silver trotted over to Aqua angrily. "Hey, that's my seat you're in! Get out, loser!" Usually when she spoke like this in front of Diamond, she felt guilty afterward, but seeing as this was one of the girls who was trying to steal Diamond from her, she felt that this filly deserved her harsh words. Instead of laughing at this like she usually would, Diamond's expression darkened. "Hey, don't talk to my friend like that!" she scolded. "I wanted Aqua to sit here, Silver Spoon, so I moved your stuff to the desk in front of me. I'm sure you don't mind, right?" she said, gritting her teeth. Silver backed away, feeling slightly afraid. She knew from experience that when Diamond talked like that, she meant business. Begrudgingly, she dropped her saddlebags under the seat of the middle second row desk and sat down. She could hear the trio's hushed whispers from behind her, and was able to make out some of the conversation. "Can you believe her?" "That was so rude!" "How could she call you a loser, Aqua?" "I know, right?" Cheerilee walked into the room. "Good morning, boys and girls!" "Good morning, Miss Cheerilee." said the class in unison. "Let's get started, shall we? Now, if you'll open your spelling books the page I assigned yesterday, we'll turn in the homework then move on to the test." Working on autopilot, Silver passed her spelling page to Cheerilee, who was walking down each aisle to pick up the papers. After she finished and had returned to her desk, Cheerilee picked up a sheet of paper with spelling words on it. "Class, if you will please take out a sheet of notebook paper, we can begin the test." After everyone was ready, Cheerilee started listing off the spelling words. "First word- Explanation. Please give me an Explanation. Explanation..." *** A+ Well Done! The school day was over, and Cheerilee was passing out the graded spelling tests. Silver smiled at her perfect score; her schoolwork was something she took special pride in, and she hadn't gotten anything less than a B+ in her life. Diamond wasn't quite as skilled; she copied Silver's work for everything except math, where she was even better than Silver Spoon. Silver gathered her books and papers together neatly in her saddlebags, which she slung over her back after she was done. Looking around, she saw that Diamond already left with her new friends, the same as lunch earlier. Walking home, she passed by the road that lead to Diamond's house. Thinking that this may be an opportunity to eavesdrop some more, Silver Spoon followed the threesome unnoticed, making sure to stay within earshot. "-because that brand of lipgloss looks amazing, right? Do you think that their Papaya Blitz flavor is any good, Diamond?" "It's really just not for me, you know? I way preferred the Strawberry Surprise." "The Watermelon Wonderland flavor is my favorite!" This conversation carried on until they reached Diamond Tiara's mansion, where the Prench maid let the three girls inside, giggling to each other as they ran up the stairs to Diamond's room. Quick as a flash, Silver darted to the closing door, still making sure not to be seen. Before the maid closed the door, Silver stopped it with her hoof. "Se il vous plaît laissez-moi entrer , Dentelle volantée," pleaded Silver in Prench, knowing the maid couldn't speak very much Equestrian. "Erm... Diamant m'a invité , je étais juste rattrape." The maid looked at Silver inquisitively, then sighed. "Tout droit , Mlle Silver Spoon , vous pouvez entrer. Les filles sont toutes dans la chambre de Mlle diamant Tiara . Maintenant , scoot ! Je dois encore trois chambres à nettoyer dès aujourd'hui!" Silver smiled. "Merci , Dentelle ! Vous avez aucune idée de combien cela est important !" Silver ran up the humongous spiral stairway to the long upstairs hall. Sandwiched between three bathrooms, five empty guestrooms and an office area was Diamond's bedroom, easily the biggest one in the upstairs. Ducking into the bathroom next to Diamond's room, Silver grabbed a water glass off the sink and held it between her ear and the wall. The voices were a bit muffled, but audible none the less. "OMC, Diamond! Your room is incredible!" "I know, right?" "Who knew somepony could have a closet this big?" "Oh cool! You have an adjoining bathroom, too!" "Doesn't it look great? I chose the colors myself." "My GOSH, is that REAL???" "OMC, a fountain tub!" "Ooh, these towels are so soft!" "Alright girls," Silver heard Diamond say. "Let's get started with the makeovers! You two take a look at this mane magazine I have. Just choose a style that you like, alright?" "Oooh, I like this one! Can I go first Diamond? Please please please?" "Okay, just a minute... LOOKING GLASS!!!!" Silver heard Diamond yell into her intercom. "GET UP HERE!!! I AM IN NEED OF ASSISTANCE AT THE MOMENT!!!" Silver heard Looking Glass, Diamond's assistant from Trottingham, run up the stairs and into Diamond Tiara's room. "Miss Diamond, what's the matter?" "THERE you are, Glassy! Aqua, Coronet, meet Looking Glass, my personal assistant. Now that you're here, Glassy hon, won't you be a doll and give Aqua here this manestyle? Thaaanks." "Manestyle? Wha-" "Don't talk, just do. Okay? Okay." "Fine... Now, Miss Aqua, if you would please step into the fountain, we can get started. You said you wanted this one?" "Uh-huh. It looks sooo cute!" This went on for about fifteen minutes, until it appeared that Aquamarine was finished and it was Coronet's turn to get styled. "Alright Miss, I believe you're done now." "Oooh, I look fantastic, don't I Diamond?" "Sure do! Let's move on to makeup for you, okay?" "Coronet, what style would you care for?" "That one looks cool. What do you think, Diamond?" "Nah, you'd look way cuter with this shorter one." "Oh! Um... okay! I'll have that one, Looking Glass." All that Silver Spoon heard from Coronet's direction now was splashing and inconceivable chatter, so she directed her attention over to Diamond and Aqua. "Okay Aqua, remember- you are a spring. Colors like dark red or blue may look sophisticated, but it will totally clash with your color palette. Stick with pastel shades of turquoise, pink, lavender or light green. Here, let's try this coral lip stain." "OMC, Diamond! It looks so cute!" "Told you!" The makeovers continued for the next thirty minutes or so, and Silver was getting very bored with the conversation. All they talked about were their favorite lip gloss flavors, colts they thought were cute, or what some filly in class said that day. All the things that Diamond Tiara and Silver Spoon used to talk about together. From an outsider's perspective, Silver could see how tiring a conversation like this could get. By the time they started talking about the new celebrity magazine issue, Silver was about ready to fall asleep. Until the conversation turned to her. "Hey, Diamond..." "Yeah, Coronet?" "I'm just curious... why isn't Silver Spoon here? Usually you two are inseparable." "Yeah, I was wondering about that too." "Oh, I don't know. I guess I was just getting a little bored of having only one pony I could have fun with. But now that you guys are here, I have two!" Silver froze. She means three, right? "Plus, Silver Spoon is kind of a wet blanket when you get down to it. She's always so serious about everything, and that's no fun. It's always 'Oh Diamond, that's not allowed.' or 'Stop it Diamond, that's not nice.' Ugh. Makes you kind of sick of her after a while, you know?" "Totally. I used to hang out with this girl Boysenberry, and all she cared about was whether or not she studied enough for the test." "Omigosh, Cory! That's exactly what Silver is like!" "Guess we found Spoony a new best friend, huh?" The girls giggled. Tears started dripped down Silver's cheeks and she wanted to leave, but her body wouldn't listen. "The only good thing about having her around is we get good grades off of her." "Yeah, thanks for making her sit up front, Di!" "Oh, it was nothing really. Silvy will do anything I tell her to do. She's useful that way." "Yup. Hey, if we're going to be like a super elite and exclusive group or something, shouldn't we have a name?" "Hmm... good point, Cory. What should it be?" "How about... the Fabulous Four?" "Nah, that's dumb. What about something like... the Beautiful People?" "Aqua, that's the dumbest thing you've ever said." "Yep!" "What do you think Diamond?" "Mmm... what about... the Royal Jewels? Cause like, My name is Diamond, a jewel, Aqua's name is Aquamarine, which is I think a jewel, and Cory's name is Coronet, which is a crown but could count as a jewel, I guess." "OMC, Di! That's perfect!" "But wait- what about Silver Spoon? I thought that silver was a metal, not a type of gem." "Oh, who cares. It's like she really matters all that much." This was too much for Silver. Holding back her tears, she ran out of the bathroom, shattering the water glass on her way out. She could hear the trio asking what was that noise, but she didn't care. Why would she say those things about me? thought Silver, running past Lace Ruffle. She told me we were BFFs! She can't really think of me like that, can she? "Mlle Silver Spoon ! Où allez-vous?" shouted Lace, running after her. "Reviens, Mlle !" Silver didn't respond. She was too busy running away.