//------------------------------// // Berry Pinch Ruins Everything Forever // Story: The Silver Standard // by PatchworkPoltergeist //------------------------------// “Psst. Hey, Silver.” Silver Spoon ducked down to press shoulders with the pegasus beside her. A pair of white hooves cupped over her ear. Minty breath tickled Silver’s fur as the soft voice whispered, “Loosen the tightrope for smooth skates.” Cotton Cloudy flicked her tail and winked. “But you didn’t hear it from me.” Silver nodded solemnly. “I won’t say a word.” As soon as Cotton turned away, Silver Spoon tapped Diamond Tiara’s shoulder. “Hey, Di.” The two fillies traded conspirators’ glances over their shoulders, as if they’d only just now noticed the circle of fillies sitting in Diamond’s living room. The other fillies pretended not to look, as per tradition. Silver Spoon pressed her muzzle against Diamond’s ear. “The flight rope’s loosened for Smooth Skies.” She angled her glasses to peer dramatically over the frames. Her professional smirk was totally super-mysterious and intriguing. “Not that you heard it from me.” “Who, me?” The pink filly blinked at the ceiling, the picture of innocence. “I didn’t hear a thing.” Silver Spoon pretended not to look while Diamond leaned to her right and tapped Dinky Doo. “Hey, Dink.” As the “secret” traveled down the line, Silver peeked over Diamond’s head to see who was left. It wouldn’t be too long, now. After Dinky, it’d pass to Peachy Pie, Sunny Daze, and Berry Pinch before the message got back to Twist, the originator. Playing a game of Telegraph had been Twist’s idea (though Diamond totally thought of it first) so she got to pick the secret. Silver curled her hooves under her, nestling back into the shaggy rug. It felt like lying atop a big periwinkle teddy bear, nothing like the firm, expensive imports at the Silver house. She’d seen a rug just like it on display in Davenport’s, in the sofa section. The matching blue sofa huddled against the wall, a pyramid of sleeping bags stacked atop the cushions. Sleeping bags were just a formality, of course. Nopony slumbered at a slumber party. Silver Spoon twitched her ears and looked around. Now that she thought about it, didn’t that clock in the hall come from Time Turner’s shop? A similar set of sateen tablecloths went on sale at Carousel Boutique last week. And Apple Bloom’s big brother made tables and chairs awfully similar to the ones in the dining room. In fact, everything in Diamond Tiara’s house, from the carpets to the curtains to the chandelier, came from Ponyville. How odd. Surely, Filthy Rich could afford to buy older, better furniture? At back of the room, a white stereo system from Vinyl’s Vivacious Victrolas thumped basslines from Ziegfilly Follies, Sapphire Shores' latest album. They’d actually started the night dancing to Follies before powering on through the rest of Diamond Tiara’s record collection. Diamond didn’t like repeating music, but the only other option was Mr. Rich’s bluehay records. Cotton Cloudy, the only filly still listening, bobbed her shoulders to the beat. Behind the sound system, the window stretched for the ceiling, the wall one solid block of glass. Silver had a perfect view of the full moon’s reflection floating in center of the swimming pool. Confetti sprinkled the deck, along with water wings, inner tubes, and a collage of discarded cups and plates from the dawn of the party, when they all splashed in the sunset. “What are you looking at?” asked Diamond Tiara. She glanced at Cotton, then the record player. “I can tell Randolph to switch to a different record if you wanna dance some more.” Silver shook her head and squished her hooves into the soft rug. “Actually, I’m pretty glad Twist chose something we can play sitting down.” After Mareco Polo, the limbo, Diamond’s dance party mix—including, but not limited to, The Trottingham Trot, the Marecarena, The Lipizzaner Waltz, and The Cockatrice Dance—and Dinky Doo’s jump rope competition, Silver Spoon didn’t want to stand up until next Hearth’s Warming Eve. “I can’t believe Dinky double-dutched for half an hour.” Diamond shrugged her shoulders. “You were the one who wanted to do ‘Mazing Maisie.” Silver shuddered. The chant that had doomed them all echoed in her memory: ‘Mazing Maisie, dressed in paisley Never late and always lazy Danced the foxtrot in Canterlot Got all the gents’ eyes on the spot Now how many coltfriends does she got? Apparently, Maisie had two hundred and seventy-six. She would have had more if Cotton Cloudy didn’t have to stop turning the rope and go to the bathroom. “Great party, though.” Silver Spoon could still taste the triple layer lemon cake and strawberry ice cream. “Can you believe Apple Bloom’s missing out on this?” Diamond Tiara sank into the carpet, tail flicking against her leg. “She did it on purpose.” Her eyes squinted, burning holes into the spot where Apple Bloom should have been. Twist sat up and smiled at them. Diamond didn’t smile back. Silver Spoon tilted her head. “Did she?” “Come on, Silver Spoon, you were there. You saw me give out the invites. Everypony saw.” A sneer coiled across Diamond’s muzzle and her voice contorted into a mock-country accent. “Oh, sorry, Diamond Tiara. Ah only got sumthin’ more important than th' biggest party of the entire year, Diamond Tiara.” Her pink hooves ground into the rug fibers. “Ah jus' figured Ah’d go an’ tell ya that in front of ev’rypony, Diamond Tiara!” Silver nodded. “So rude.” At the very least, Apple Bloom could have declined through RSVP. “Did she at least tell you why?” “Something about a reunion or whatever.” Diamond snorted. “She actually went to another party besides this one! Can you even believe that? How does anypony just pass up MY Summer Sun Slumber Party? It’s eight straight hours of fun!” She spread her hooves to the room. “Just look how much fun everypony is having!” Silver looked. Eight fillies sat quietly in a circle. The speakers popped and hissed to themselves, the record long over. Cotton stretched her wings and yawned. Dinky traced circles in the rug. Berry Pinch flopped on her stomach, head in her hooves. Her tail flicked impatiently against the carpet. Next to her, Sunny Daze and Peachy Pie curled together in a giggling little ball. Peachy whispered into Sunny’s ear. Sunny clapped her hooves, and whispered back. They burst into a fit of giggles, hooves over their mouths. Peachy whispered something else and they both exploded into squeaky little squeals. Between them, Telegraph had come to a screeching halt. Berry slid a green eye to Diamond and outstretched a hoof as if to say, You see what I’m dealing with? “…Yeah, I think Telegraph’s over.” Diamond Tiara stood up, shaking little carpet fibers off her hoof. “What was the message, Twist?” The redhead jerked, caught in mid-yawn. “Oh, uh… It wath… Um.” She tapped her hooves sheepishly. “Actually, I kinda forgot.” The slumber party threw back their heads and groaned. Diamond Tiara rolled her eyes. “Great game, Twist.” Twist beamed. “Thankth!” Berry Pinch gave Peachy and Sunny—still whispering and giggling in each other’s ears—an acidic stare. “I didn’t even get my turn.” Peachy Pie’s head bobbed up as the circle dispersed. “Oh, is it over? Sunny, I think the game is over.” “Did we win?” Sunny Daze clapped her hooves. “Peachy, I think we won!” The yellow fillies cheered and gave each other congratulatory hugs. Berry Pinch smushed her face against the carpet. “Swear to Celestia, I’m gonna…” Peachy Pie clapped her hooves. “Great job, Sunny!” “You too, Peachy!” She shyly twirled her tail around her hooves. “But you did better.”  “Noooo!” Peachy hid her face in her hooves. “You did better, Sunny!” Diamond Tiara wheeled on them, struggling to keep her volume down. “Oh, for the love of—you do not win Telegraph!” The fillies blinked at her, then at each other. “Oh,” they said. “Really, it’s more like we all lost,” Silver Spoon observed. “Badly.” Peachy’s ears drooped. “We lost?” Sunny shrank behind her friend, sniffling. “Because of us?” Her blue eyes watered. A whine squeaked from Sunny’s trembling lips. “Great.” Diamond clicked her tongue. “Here come the waterworks.” Cotton Cloudy dived for the save. “Hey hey hey, c’mon, Sunny! It’s okay, nopony lost, right guys?” Dinky and Twist and Berry nodded eagerly. Peachy Pie didn’t look so sure, but she smiled at Sunny anyway. “It’s just not the kind of game you win.” Cotton patted Sunny’s shoulder with her wing. “Okay?” Sunny Daze stared out at the room with big watery eyes. She hiccuped and sniffled again. “R-really?” Peachy Pie nuzzled her cheek. “Nobody lost, Sun-sun. It’s not your fault.” She stared hard over Sunny’s shoulder and into Silver’s eyes. “Right, Silver Spoon?” Silver Spoon flattened her ears and glared right back. Games had winners and losers and rules. That was how games worked. If nopony won Telegraph, the only alternative was that everypony lost Telegraph. It wasn’t Silver’s fault Sunny Daze was a crybaby. Peachy frowned; she hadn’t stopped staring. That would have been fine—because really, who cared what Peachy Pie thought?—except, now Cotton was staring at Silver, too. And so was The Dink. And Berry. And Diamond Tiara. The welfare of the Summer Sun Slumber Party pressed against Silver Spoon’s shoulders. “Of course nopony lost.” An elegant smile skimmed across Silver’s face. “Just thinking out loud, pure speculation. It wasn’t your fault at all, Sunny.” It was entirely her fault. Sunny Daze wiped her eyes and smiled back. The room let out a sigh of relief. “Well, there’s still another hour before the sun comes up,” said Cotton. “Now what do we do?” Diamond paused, twitching her ears uncertainly. Silver Spoon frowned. How could have Diamond forgotten her own schedule? Perhaps she’d been distracted by Sunny’s outburst. Silver’s tail flicked against Diamond’s haunch. “Ghost story,” she whispered. Diamond Tiara nodded. "Gather in, everypony." “Oh!” The Dink sprang up, kicking the air as if she could knock down the next event like apples from a tree. “Oh, is it time? Are we finally gonna—?” The host smirked as the circle of fillies drew itself tight. She let Dinky’s suspense marinade for a few seconds. Just enough time for her anticipation to infect the other guests. When Berry and Twist closed up the circle, Diamond spoke again. “Randolph? Lights.” One after another, two dozen little lights in the firefly chandelier winked out. Silver Spoon watched as cozy couches became nebulous blobs, the sound system took on an evil green glow, and sinister shadows slithered across the carpet. Sunny Daze and Peachy Pie held each other as darkness bloomed and the room turned wicked. Silver Spoon shifted her shoulders as the night swallowed up the hallway lamps, the last hope of light in the house. A spike of moonlight sliced from the half-drawn drapes to the center of the circle. Eight shadows slanted behind eight fillies. “Wow, ith really dark…” Twist whispered. “I can’t thee anything at all.” Neither could Silver. The vague shadows of sofas and tables could just as well be distant mountains for all she knew. The dark ate the world; nothing left but eight little fillies and their shadows and the moon. She had to hand it Diamond. The filly knew how to make a presentation. Sunny Daze curled her tail around Peachy Pie’s. “It’s a little too dark.” The Dink’s yellow eyes sparkled. “I know.” Her toothy grin glimmered in the moonlight and made little dimples in her cheeks. “Isn’t it awesome?” Diamond Tiara’s satisfied smirk agreed that it most certainly was. “Okay!” Dinky clapped her hooves and leapt to the center of the circle. She had the same spark in her eyes that Mother used to get on opening night. Silver Spoon began to see why Dinky Doo was a slumber party regular. “Which story should we start with? I just heard a new one from my cousin about this white stallion in a suit lurking in White Tail Woods, with these long, long legs that blend in with the branches!” The Dink glanced at Sunny Daze and Peachy Pie, huddling together on the far side of the circle. She considered Sunny’s reddened eyes and frowned. “Hmm. On second thought, I’ll save that one. Ooh, maybe I’ll tell The Golden Horseshoe? No, I did that one last time. Headless Horse?” “You did that last Nightmare Night,” Diamond cut in. Silver Spoon flicked her tail. She had an idea. “True.” Dinky fought over her options, her eyes ricocheting in all directions. “Alright, I got one. This one’s a true story. It happened just outside Baltimare to my mom’s friend’s cousin’s fiancé when she was a filly. It happened on a pretty night like this one, and the filly wanted to take her special somepony out into the valley to look at the stars, even though there was a curfew on account of a madmare who’d just escaped from—yeah?” Silver Spoon held up a hoof. “Actually, Dink…” Diamond Tiara gave Silver a cautionary frown, but said nothing. “I think that Berry Pinch should go first.” Silver Spoon eyed the pink unicorn coolly. Those snob remarks had not been forgotten, and Berry had been shooting sour faces at her all night when she thought Silver wasn’t looking. “She never got her turn for Telegraph, so it’s only fair. Dink can go second, if that’s alright with her.” Dinky huffed. It obviously was not alright with her, but everypony had seen how much missing her turn had bothered Berry Pinch. She stepped back into the circle. “Yeah, I guess it’s fine.” Silver Spoon adjusted her glasses, watching the pink unicorn stand up. Letting Berry Pinch lead was the politest way to make up for the Telegraph mishap; this way, Diamond, Silver, and The Dink came out looking generous and considerate. Plus, if Berry went first, Dinky Doo would have to wait. She’d chomp at the bit waiting for the chance to tell her own story, turning it over in her head, making it perfect. Whatever story Berry Pinch had in mind would be blown out of the water. Silver curled her tail around her hooves and smiled. “Fair enough.” Diamond Tiara motioned to the center of the circle. She side-eyed Silver and smiled back. “Make it good, Pinch.” Berry Pinch smoothed back her split ends in a lazy attempt look somewhat presentable as she took her place. She sat with her back against the moon, her face cast in shadows. Her green eyes blinked eerily at the audience. “Okay. Once upon a time, a colt was going home late at night.” Berry’s voice rasped low, like it was supposed to be scary. It came out sounding like she had a bad cold. “He took the shortcut home because he was carrying a bunch of heavy candy. He was feeling really proud of himself, too, ‘cause he got the most candy out of everypony since his costume was so spooky.” She paused. “Oh, did I mention it was Nightmare Night? Because it was.” “Nightmare Night?” Silver peeped over her glasses. “It’s, like, the beginning of summer.” Berry Pinch wrinkled her nose. “Well, it’s not summer in the story. Anyway, the kid was real proud of his haul, right? So when his friends said ‘Can we have some of your candy?’ he just stamped his hoof and told ‘em, ‘Get your own candy, I’m eating all of this myself.’ But then the other kids wouldn’t quit bugging him, right? So eventually, he gets sick of it and he’s like ‘Fine, I’ll just go home and eat it there and I’ll eat it all by myself.’ So he starts heading home.” Berry leaned over, squinting at Twist and Cotton Cloudy. “But the shortcut home had a lot of interesting stuff on the way. Stuff like a certain statue of a certain alicorn.” She swung in the opposite direction to leer at wide-eyed Peachy Pie and a rather unimpressed Diamond Tiara. “But it wasn’t a statue of Princess Celestia, you guys. This was a statue of…” she paused for effect. “Nightmare Mooooon!” Silver decided to be grateful Berry didn’t try to add in sound effects. “Oh, but did he give her a candy offering like he was supposed to?” Berry Pinch shook her head. “Nope. The little colt went right on home saying, ‘Get your own candy, Nightmare Moon! I’m eating all of this by myself.’ And he did. Then he brushed his teeth, went to bed, and that was the end of it.” Silver Spoon rolled her eyes. “Riveting.” Beside her, Diamond Tiara snickered. Peachy Pie smiled. “That was a great story!” “It’s not the end of the story!” Berry stomped her hoof, but the carpet muffled it. “Didn’t even get to the good part, sheesh. Anyways, like I was saying.” She glared at Silver, who pretended not to notice. “That was the end of it, or so he thought. A couple hours later, the colt hears somepony whispering, ‘I’m huuuunnnngry.’ But he thinks he’s just hearing things or dreaming, right? So he tries and goes back to sleep. Few minutes later, he thinks he hears hooves on the floorboard and the same voice go, ‘I’m huuuunnnngry.’ So then—” Diamond Tiara groaned. “Then the noise gets closer and he still doesn’t believe it and then the noise is even closer but he keeps being dumb and hides under his blanket.” “Hey!” Berry’s silly storyteller rasp disappeared. “Doesn’t even try to yell for his mom or turn on the light,” added Silver. “The idiot.” “You guys!” “But then he finally peeks over his blanket and it’s like, ‘Oh no it’s Nightmare Moon or whatever’.” Diamond did jazz-hooves above her head in mock-terror. “And then Nightmare gets her candy when she eats him and that’s the end.” She blew a stray mane hair away from her face. “Give me a break.” “You guys are such jerks!” Berry Pinch’s ears flattened. In the dark, it looked like they’d vanished completely. “Why’d you have to kill my story?” “We put it out of its misery.” Diamond yawned, long and theatrical. “I know it’s a slumber party, but I didn’t want you to actually put us to sleep.” “It’s a good story, Diamond Tiara,” Berry hissed through gritted teeth. “It’s a classic. It’s scary.” Silver Spoon lifted an eyebrow. “If you’re five.” “And like I said, it’s almost the first day of summer.” Diamond set her shoulders back, her eyes half-lidded but firm. The relaxed lilt of her voice coiled, primed to strike. “You know, Celestia’s day? You might as well tell it on the beach while we all build sandcastles.” “Or in a happy meadow with bumblebees and tulips.” Silver grinned. Wherever Diamond was going with this, it was going to be good. The Dink shrugged. “She’s got a point, Pinch. You know I love a good Nightmare Night story as much as the next pony, but it’s not Nightmare Night.” In a lower voice, she groused, “And you didn’t even tell it right.” “Exactly. And besides…” The little pink hostess giggled and struck. “Nightmare Moon isn’t even real.” The room went silent. “S-she’s not?” whispered Sunny Daze. She still had a death grip on Peachy’s leg. “Are you sure?” “Nuh-uh!” Berry Pinch yelped. “She’s totally real! Diamond Tiara just likes ruining other ponies’ stories because she’s a… a big, smelly butt!” Diamond stuck her tongue out. “Takes a butt to know a butt.” “I dunno. My dad said she was real.” Cotton Cloudy looked to Twist and Dinky. “Right? Your folks, too?” Twist bobbed her head earnestly. “My auntie told me about her.” The Dink stared at the moon and didn’t answer at all. “Yeah, my parents told me the same thing. It was storytime and I was four.” Silver Spoon pushed up her glasses with a dismissive little sniff. “But some of us have actually grown up, Berry Pinch.” The slumber party mumbled amongst itself. Suddenly everypony wasn’t so sure. “Nightmare Moon’th fun and all, but she’th probably only a thtory.” Twist tapped her forehooves together, quickly glancing away when Berry glared at her. “Well, you know what my daddy says?” Diamond Tiara pulled herself up and stuck out her chin, ears up and voice silky smooth. “My daddy says that talk is cheap. I only believe what I can see.” Berry splayed her legs and snorted. Her mouth pinched together in a tight little scowl, pink slip of a tail lashing behind her. Diamond swooped to meet her nose to nose, teeth bared in a salesmare’s grin. “So put up or shut up, cheapskate. Right here, right now.” The Dink’s eyes got huge. “Ooh.” Peachy Pie gulped. Sunny Daze hid behind her, whimpering. Berry Pinch didn’t blink. “Fine!” Dinky burst from the circle and bolted for the giant window. Cotton and Peachy barely had time to duck out of the way. “Yes! Let’s do a summoning!” Sunny pouted. “But I thought you were gonna tell ghost stories.” “Change of plans. This is way better than any story.” The Dink bounced on her back hooves and pressed her nose up against the glass. “Big window. Clear night. Pitch black house.” She squinted upward, scrutinizing the sky. “And a full moon.” The Dink whipped around. A moonlight halo set her yellow mane aglow. “It’s perfect.” Diamond nodded. “Then let’s do it.” She circled Berry Pinch, running her eyes over the party guests. “Unless you’re too scared.” “I-I’m not!” Twist cried, a little too quickly. “Nope!” Cotton’s wings snapped open, feathers all fluffed and full. She looked like a Wonderbolts poster. “Me neither.” Dinky ran for the buffet table. “You know I’m in!” she called over her shoulder. “I’m gonna find a good bowl, kay?” Sunny Daze and Peachy Pie piped in unison, “We’re not scared either!” Sunny sounded less sure of it, though. Peachy hugged her friend’s shoulders. “Don’t worry, Sun-sun, I’ll protect you.” “I’ll protect you too, Peaches!” “Protection pals!” “Yay!” Silver Spoon twirled her tail with a little chuckle. “There’s no point in being scared of something that doesn’t even exist.” “Yeah right, Silver Snob.” Berry Pinch nodded to Dinky, already pushing a silvery bowl back to the circle. “You’re gonna change your tune when she shows up and eats your snobby butt-face. I bet you don’t even make it through.” She waggled her eyebrows and smirked. “In fact, I bet you turn on the light.” Silver didn’t dignify that with an answer. She watched Cotton help Dinky carry a pitcher of water. Cotton held the front steady while The Dink gently lifted and poured, careful not to get the carpet wet. Silver spared a glance towards Berry. Berry waggled her eyebrows again. She had absolutely no business looking that smug. Silver Spoon nudged Diamond Tiara. “She’s such a pain, why’d you even invite her?” Instead of sharing a scoff or a sigh or rolling her eyes at how terrible Berry was, Diamond just laughed. “Can’t you tell? Berry Pinch is fun.” “But she’s so pigheaded! And annoying!” “I said fun, not agreeable. Just look around, Silvie.” Silver Spoon humphed. To call Berry Pinch “fun” was a stretch. A huge stretch. An enormous stretch. Even so, Silver couldn’t deny the electricity in the air. Every little ear pricked high and every voice murmured with excitement or fear or wonder or some mixture of the three. The Telegraph disaster happened a thousand years ago. Diamond Tiara winked. “Like I said, nopony slumbers at my party.” “Make way, girls! Scrying bowl coming through!” The Dink cut between them, the bottom of the bowl hissing as it skimmed across the shag rug and into the patch of moonlight. Her tongue stuck out the side of her mouth as she twisted her head this way and that, circling the bowl at all angles. Finally, she nodded, satisfied. “There. I think we’re all set.” The ripples in the water cleared, and The Mare in the Moon’s reflection floated in the center of the silver bowl. Berry gulped and crept closer to get a better look, Cotton right behind her. Together, they peeped over the edge. Their reflections were soon joined by Twist and Cotton, who made space for Diamond and Silver, who did not make space for Peachy Pie and Sunny Daze, though that didn’t stop them. With so many fillies breathing on the water, The Mare in the Moon began to break apart. The Dink poked Cotton with her horn and shoved the rest of them off. “Come on, we need one kid to do it, not twenty!” She gave the bowl another once-over before she, too, stepped back. Now it was just Berry, the bowl, and the moon. “Go get her, Pinchy.” Berry Pinch nickered under her breath. She flicked an ear, glancing from the bowl to the crowd. “So, uh… three times, right?” The Dink rolled her eyes. “No,” she sighed. “Calling three times is for the Headless Horse. Nightmare Moon is five.” “Why five?” asked Twist. “Because everything good comes in fours: four legs, four seasons, and such. Bad stuff is always one number off. Nightmare Moon's really greedy, and wants more than what she’s got, so she needs five.” Dinky waggled her hoof as if she were reminding Berry Pinch to brush her teeth. “And remember, you gotta call loud and clear so she can hear you. It’s a long way to the moon.” Berry Pinch took a deep breath, nodding. She peered over the lip of the bowl and stared. From Silver’s angle, it looked as if the full moon balanced on the tip of the filly’s little pink horn. “Nightmare Moon.” Diamond Tiara shared a confident smile with Silver Spoon and lounged on the carpet to watch, using Silver’s haunch as a pillow. Berry was totally gonna chicken out. Nopony ever got to five. “Nightmare Moon.” Berry’s shoulders trembled. In the dark, somepony whimpered. The wet wheeze of Twist’s breathing echoed through the room. “Nightmare Moon.” The whimpering squeezed into a thin, pinprickly whine. Silver couldn’t tell if it was Sunny or Peachy. It might have been both. “If you can’t take it, you should just leave,” whispered Cotton. The Dink’s bright tail lashed in the dim light to shush them all. “Nightmare Moon…” Berry Pinch’s voice shook on the last syllable. Her chest heaved, eyes flickering to Diamond Tiara. A quiet dare to turn on a light. Diamond shrugged her off. “Dink?” Twist spoke softer than a whisper. “What happenth if Nightmare showth up?” “Hm? Oh, she eats you,” Dinky brightly said. “In one bite.” Silver Spoon flicked her ears. Her confident smile dimmed just a little and she snuggled closer to Diamond. Not because she was scared, of course. Berry licked her lips. “N-nightmare…” She squeezed her eyes shut and took a great, big breath. “Nightmare Moon!” In a dark, dark room in a dark, dark house, eight fillies didn’t dare to breathe. Silver Spoon fiddled with her glasses frames, tail curled tight against her haunch. Her eyes darted from wall to wall, waiting for the shadows to melt together and peel themselves off the wallpaper. Or the stars to wink out, one by one. Or to suddenly come face to face with a wall of sharp teeth and a pointed, dripping tongue. One heartbeat. Water sloshed in the pool outside. Crickets chirped. Two heartbeats. Somepony coughed. The settling house gently creaked. Three heartbeats. Silence. “Ha!” Diamond Tiara shattered the spell with one syllable. The room was just a room, and the scrying bowl just a shiny pan full of tapwater. “I told you there was no such thing.” Berry Pinch wrinkled her nose and pouted. Dinky Doo tilted her head to the side and sighed a little. She didn’t seem surprised, if not a bit disappointed. Silver’s adrenaline evaporated into giggling. Sunny and Peachy snickered, and soon they were laughing too. The Dink kept her dignity with a cool chuckle, while Cotton and Twist fell over themselves, laughing until they couldn’t breathe. Even Berry Pinch smiled at herself. They’d all been so silly! “Heh.” Cotton Cloudy flapped her little wings and shook herself off. “I knew there wasn’t anything to worry aboAUUUGH!” The pegasus flailed, scrambling into Twist. Her shaking hoof pointed at the dark, tall shadow skimming along the floor. An eerie orange glow filtered through the door cracks. The shadow swam towards them, shrinking smaller and smaller. Diamond Tiara rolled Cotton off Twist as she trotted towards it. “Relax, you scaredy ponies.” She nudged the door open wider to reveal an elderly earth pony holding a lantern in his teeth. “It’s only Randolph.” Randolph nodded solemnly, trying his best to hide a smile. Silver glanced at the clock. “It’s already twenty minutes till dawn! We’d better get going if we don’t want to be late.” She took her place behind Diamond Tiara, head held high. “Single file, ladies! We don’t want anypony getting lost.” She watched over her shoulder as the slumber party straightened itself into… well, it was more like a squiggle than a straight line. And Sunny and Peachy were standing too close together. “Eh, close enough.” Silver looked up at Randolph as he led them out into the hallway. It didn’t seem like anypony else was going to meet them. “Di, I thought your dad was going to take us to see the sunrise.” Diamond stared straight ahead, manicured hooves clicking across the hardwood floor. Her tail swished, as if trying to swat a fly. She didn’t seem to have heard. “Diamond—” “He’s working.” Her tail stung Silver’s nose and she pulled farther ahead. “He’s a busy pony, okay?” “Okay.” It was understandable, Silver supposed. That was just the way of grownups, especially important grownups. They had lots of important things to do and places to be and ponies to meet. She grinned at the starry, indigo sky as they stepped out into the night. Important fillies had places to be, too. It wasn’t every day a filly got to see Celestia raise the sun up close. Silver Spoon was certain of four things. First: It was not her fault. Second: Everypony, even proper young ladies of upstanding class and sparkling heritage, was permitted a mistake every now and again. Nopony was perfect and to expect perfection one hundred percent of the time would be completely unfair. Ponies made mistakes. Sometimes—though rarely—such young ladies made a mistake about the proper hat to wear when attending a country club, or which knife to use at a dinner party, or certain horrifying mythological figures being less mythological than originally presumed. It was a simple mistake that could have happened to anypony at all. There was nothing to be done about it now and for certain parties to harp upon it after the fact would be quite rude. Third: Silver Spoon was alarmed at the appearance of Nightmare Moon in Ponyville City Hall. Mildly alarmed. She put her hoof to her chest and gasped lightly, and she most certainly did not hyperventilate and gasp like a hooked trout. Nor did she scream at the sight of glistening fangs, nor sob into her hooves when the Nightmare spread her pitch-black wings, and Silver absolutely did not crash into Twist in a blind panic and momentarily lose her glasses. None of those things happened. Only vicious, slanderous, ill-bred ponies would dare to say otherwise. Fourth (and most importantly): It was not Silver Spoon’s fault. “Not my f-f-fault at all...” Silver dabbed her eyes with a handkerchief and hiccuped. She uncurled herself from the corner of Diamond’s living room with deep, healing breaths. At least her chest didn't squeeze her lungs anymore. Slowly, her trembling hooves took her glasses from Randolph, who’d been waiting patiently. It was her third attempt. The glasses didn’t look too damaged, just a bit smudged. Silver swallowed the horse-sized lump in her throat. “Thank you.” Randolph patted her shoulder with a wrinkly smile. He waited to see if Silver needed anything else before he turned his attention back to Twist. The redhead dangled over the sofa's armrest, her face hidden by the paper bag she breathed into. At the opposite side of the sofa, Cotton Cloudy plucked at her wings. Little white feathers made a mess of the upholstery. Berry Pinch sat in the middle, staring into space and muttering under her breath. Silver didn’t know where Sunny Daze or Peachy Pie were, but she heard Peachy’s ragged screaming and Sunny’s sloppy, wet blubbering. Or maybe Sunny was screaming and Peachy was blubbering. Their voices tangled up into one incoherent wail, impossible to tell where one ended and the other began. Diamond Tiara’s tail poked out from under one of the tablecloths. She hadn’t made a sound since… since Princess Celestia’s... absence. The drying sweat on Silver Spoon’s coat made her shiver. She wobbled away from her corner, in search of some part of Equestria that made any sense. The Dink paced in front of a wall of purple drapes. She paused to stare at them every few seconds, reach for them, and then go back to pacing. When Silver came to sit with her, the unicorn finally sat down. The two fillies stared at each other with hollow, red-rimmed eyes. Dinky’s left ear flicked erratically. “Hey, Spoons, you think maybe, um...” She rubbed her shoulder and chewed her lip. “Can you, maybe… kinda…” Her ears drooped. “I don’t want to look by myself.” They gathered up their courage, and together, they pulled the curtain back. Seven in the morning. Still dark. Under normal circumstances, the words Dinky used would have gotten her grounded. Outside, billows of indigo fog rolled over the pavement. Silver couldn’t see the pool or the garden wall or the gate or anything. She could barely see the treetops lit by the mareless moon. It felt like nighttime had taken everything. In times like these, cousin Silver Lining would suggest looking on the bright side. “Well, at least nopony got eaten.” “I dunno, Spoons. In the long run, getting ate up might be better than wasting away in a world without a sun. We’ll all starve to death, at best.” The Dink wasn’t very good at bright sides. She stared at the thick, rolling fog. “I hope my mom’s okay.” “Starve?” Silver turned to find Peachy Pie crawling out from under the sofa. Sunny held on to her friend’s tail like a security blanket. Their faces were a blur of snot and tears and hair. “We…” Sunny gasped for breath between sobs. “We… we… we’re all gonna dieeee!” “What?!” Diamond Tiara’s head poked out from under the tablecloth. “No! No, I can’t die yet!” Her mane hung in skinny corkscrews around her ears and flopped into her eyes as she scrambled out. “I can’t! The nationals are in two months!” “I never told Rumble I liked him.” Cotton chewed a mouthful of primaries. “I haven’t even been to flight camp.” “Forget flight camp.” The Dink let the curtains fall back into place. Slowly, she turned to the room, yellow eyes huge with a terrible truth. “What are our parents gonna say?” Berry Pinch looked ready to throw up. Randolph gently nudged a bucket in her direction. “Oh, you guyth...” Twist clutched her paper bag and stared at the capsized scrying bowl. “You guyth, what did we do? What did we do?!” “We?” Diamond Tiara took a step back, frowning. She wiped her nose and flattened her ears. “What the hay do you mean ‘we’, Twist? Berry’s the one that summoned her.” “Hey!” Berry Pinch pushed off the sofa and marched straight for Diamond. “Hey, hey, hey, don’t you pin this on me, Little Miss I-Only-Believe-What-I-See. You’re the one that told me to do it!” Diamond dug her hooves into the rug. “So? I tell you a lot of things. I told you to get a better manecut last month and you didn’t do that, now did you?” “But it was your ide—” Berry squinted, turning towards the drapes. “Actually, it was Dink’s idea, wasn’t it?” Dinky flinched. “W-well, Cotton’s the one who helped me pour the water in the bowl!” “Pouring’s not the same as summoning.” Cotton Cloud crossed her forelegs and scowled at Berry Pinch. “How were we supposed to know you’d do all five?” Berry wheeled on the pair of yellow earth ponies cringing behind her. “And you know what? I wouldn’t have even had to go first or prove anything if Sunny Daze didn’t totally ruin Telegraph in the first place!” Sunny burst into a fresh flood of tears. The pink unicorn stamped. “And Peachy’s… hair is stupid!” “You leave Sunny alone, you big snotface!” cried Peachy Pie. “And my hair isn’t stupid!” Silver Spoon flipped her tail. “Peachy’s hair has nothing to do with anything.” Though it was a little stupid. “Peachy’s not the one that called Nightmare Moon.” “Don’t you start, Silver Snob.” Silver sneered at her and went to go sit with Diamond Tiara. If these really were the last days—figuratively speaking—she’d rather spend it with decent company. Diamond didn't seem to agree. She curled herself into a little pink ball, face buried in the soft blue carpet, and didn’t look like she wanted any company at all right now. “Wish my dad would come back,” she mumbled into the rug. “And my party’s ruined.” The party? Silver Spoon’s ears pricked. “That’s right, the party’s still happening…” According to the schedule, it didn’t actually end until nine-thirty. She glanced at the clock. They still had a little less than two hours to go. There was still one more event. Silver Spoon bit her lip and beheld a slumber party torn apart by chaos and madness and really bad hair. Howling wails and sobs warped the air. Fillies turned on each other with bared teeth, like common, filthy alley cats. Silver frowned. This was not appropriate behavior for young ladies. She prodded Diamond with her hoof and tried to tell her so. Diamond’s tail swatted Silver’s nose. The host curled herself up tighter, muttering something grouchy and incomprehensible. This was unacceptable. Somepony had to do something. Silver Spoon stood back up and searched the room for somepony with some semblance of sanity. Sunny and Peachy were lost causes. Cotton and Dink were locked in a shouting match, Berry Pinch was the absolute worst, and Twist looked ready to barf… Wait. There was still Randolph. Diamond’s butler had been here the whole time, and he’d been nothing but sensible through this whole thing. He hadn’t even flinched when Nightmare Moon appeared and sent the party back to the house with amazing efficiency. Who knew such an old pony could run that fast? Silver Spoon smoothed back her mane and approached him. “Excuse me?” Randolph’s baggy eyes seemed baggier than ever in his paled face. He looked down at her slowly, as if dreading what he’d find. “Randolph, will you give me a hoof in the kitchen, please? It’s nearly eight and I can’t set up the last event by myself.” His snowy eyebrows lifted at Silver’s expression. “Hm.” Randolph gave the room another once-over. There was little he could do for the situation that he hadn’t done already. He turned back to Silver, thought a moment, then nodded. Silver Spoon nodded back. “Let’s get to work.” Sunny Daze was still crying. Or she’d stopped and then started again, but judging from what Silver Spoon heard from the hall, that was doubtful. The girl’s lungs were a miracle of stamina. Sunny also sat closest to the door, so she noticed first. The yellow filly rubbed her eyes in confusion. A sunless morning of screaming panic had weathered her voice to a croaked whisper. “S-silver Spoon?” Silver’s lenses glinted in the candlelight. She unfolded a handkerchief from her pocket, tossed it up, and watched it gently settle over Sunny’s muzzle. “Wipe your nose. You’re a mess.” Peachy Pie lifted her head from Sunny’s shoulders and squinted her bleary eyes. “What’s going on?” “Business as usual.” Silver performed a quick spot check of her coat and tail. Less tidy than she’d have liked, but it would have to do. She lifted the pleats of her dress as she navigated her way through the party clutter to the center of the room. Randolph followed two steps behind her. Berry, Cotton, and The Dink paused in their heated argument to watch as she passed. They looked at each other and traded shrugs. Randolph rang the little brass bell in his teeth three times. Diamond Tiara lifted her head from her hooves. She looked from her butler to Silver Spoon to the butler again. Silver cleared her throat. “Attention, ladies! The last event is about to begin.” Confused murmurs traveled through the slumber party. Peachy tilted her head and whispered something to Sunny. Sunny shook her head. Twist breathed on her lenses, wiped them off, and put them on again. It didn’t seem to help, for she appeared more confused than ever before. Finally, Cotton Cloudy said what they’d all been thinking. “Why are you dressed like that?” “I don’t know what you mean, Cotton. Why wouldn’t I be?” Silver Spoon swished forward in her white sundress. Light blue satin shimmered on the cuffs and neckline, the pleated ruffles fluttering at her hooves. Mother-of-pearl hairclips held her braid in place. “It follows the dress code on the invitations.” Silver smiled like the debutante she was, primly calm and confident. Why, nothing was out of sorts at all; everything was normal and moving along wonderfully. Could anypony smile this way if things were not moving along wonderfully? Of course they couldn’t. So there was nothing to worry about. “You remember the instructions on the invitations, don’t you?” Diamond Tiara blinked once, twice. Slowly but surely, she smiled back. It started small and rickety, but it grew stronger by the second. Twist looked at her bare back and shoulders, frowning. She seemed a little embarrassed. So did Peachy Pie. Cotton tucked in her raggedy, bitten wings. Dinky smoothed out her tail and mane. “I hope you don’t mind, but I unpacked your dresses for you, since you all seemed so…” Silver rolled her tongue over her teeth searching for the politest word. “Busy. They’re hanging out in the hall, see?” Peachy Pie sniffed her stuffy nose and nudged the door open to see for herself, Sunny trailing at her flank. Berry Pinch and Dinky weren’t far behind. Cotton stood on her hind legs to see. “Oh,” Peachy whispered.  Indeed, seven dresses—styles ranging from Diamond’s cute rhinestone party dress to Twist’s denim jumper to The Dink’s retro smock—hung waiting for them on a wooden rack. Peachy didn’t stare at the wardrobe but beyond it to the dining room across the hall. A round table sat in the center of a windowless room. Fluffy clouds dotted the bottom of the blue tablecloth. Eight saucers with eight teacups glittered in the light of firefly lamps. The spread was simple: some light toast, yogurt parfaits, stacks of various mini muffins, an assortment of jams, and a little bowl of daisies. In the center of it all sat two silver teapots with slender spouts. The first served simple, traditional peppermint tea. In the second, a lemon balm and passionflower blend Silver Spoon brought from home. A little silver sugar bowl glistened nearby, complete with a set of adorable teaspoons sporting pink hearts in the handles. Silver Spoon’s smile widened. Diamond always said she wanted the best, so naturally Silver’s favorite tea set was the only option. From the look on the party guests’ faces, she’d made the right decision. Dinky poked the black-and-white checks on her dress. “What is all this, Spoons?” “It’s eight o’clock, Miss Dinky Doo.” Silver adjusted her glasses. “Teatime.” Diamond Tiara’s wary smile burst into a grin. She rolled her eyes and laughed. “You fillies are so silly!” She slid back into showmare mode, raising her voice high and firm to pull the tatters of her party back together. “It was on the invites, remember? I told you all to dress for breakfast tea.” She fetched her dress from the rack and slipped in. The cluster of fillies whispered to each other. A few kept looking between the dark skylight and the glittering tea party, as if they couldn’t exist in the same world together. Diamond fastened her dress clasps and shook her mane back into position while Randolph slipped a gold locket around her neck. She cocked an eyebrow and fixed the crowd with a hard, blue stare. “Well? What are you waiting for?” Sunny jumped and snatched her polka-dot dress from the rack. Peachy followed suit. One by one, the rest of the fillies unknotted themselves from their little cluster and got dressed. Diamond swished her tail, eyes fixed on the wall. She nudged Silver’s right hoof. “Thanks.” Silver smiled and patted it back. Dinky’s voice muffled inside of her dress. “Okay, I don’t know if you guys forgot, but—” Her head popped out of the collar and she shook her mane out. “But we’re kinda in the middle of the apocalypse right now?” Cotton Cloudy pulled her wings through the little back window on her gown. “Yeah, we’ve kinda got more important stuff to worry about than tea parties.” “You’d think it’d be easy to tell with your nose in the air all the time.” Berry at least had the decency to say it under her breath as she zipped up the shapeless lime green disaster she’d dragged along. Sunny Daze sniffled at the skylight. “It’s still so dark outside.” Silver Spoon flipped her tail as Diamond Tiara led them into the dining room. “I don’t care what the sky looks like outside. The clock inside says it’s eight in the morning. Breakfast tea is what we have planned and breakfast tea is what we will have.” She looked back with her friendliest smile. “Just because Berry Pinch summoned the endless night and basically ruined everything forever, it doesn’t mean everything else has to fall apart.” The Dink frowned. “Pretty sure everything is already falling apart.” She sniffed at the muffins. “Are these blueberry? I like blueberry.” “The ones on the right are blueberry. And it won’t fall apart if we remember ourselves. We forget teatime today and tomorrow we’re all fighting over corn and hayseed, and wearing horseshoes for earrings.” Silver took her place beside Diamond Tiara at the head of the table while Randolph filled everypony’s cups. “It’ll be madness.” Diamond placed a hoof on Randolph’s shoulder before he moved on. “Make sure Sunny and Peachy don’t get the peppermint.” She squinted at the pair as they climbed into their seats. Sunny Daze still looked rattled. “No sugar either. I’d rather have them snoozing than crying again.” Silver Spoon added a lump of sugar and gently stirred, just enough to bring out the passionflower’s flavor. “Decorum, girls.” She took her cup into her hooves, breathed in the steam, and breathed out harmony. “We have to have standards.” “Wow, it’th peppermint!” Twist beamed three chairs down, marveling at the teacup in her hooves. “I didn’t know tea could taste like candy!” “Actually, it’s a tisane, since there’s no actual tea leaves in it.” Silver fetched herself a parfait and bit of buttered toast. “But we still call it tea anyway.” Peachy sniffed her cup. “Mine doesn’t smell like candy…” She peeked at the dark, sinister hallway and her ears drooped. “I really wish the sun would come back.” “You think Nightmare Moon can get in here?” Sunny Daze tried her tea, smacking her lips. She reached for the sugar bowl. Randolph nudged it out of reach and shut the oak door, sealing away the nighttime like a closet monster. “I don’t see any Nightmares in here,” said Diamond Tiara. “Do you, Silver Spoon?” “I see eight fillies having a lovely time at a tea party.” Silver nabbed her mouth with a napkin and folded her hooves in her lap. “These sorts of things aren’t appropriate for teatime. Let’s talk about something else. How did everypony like the new Sapphire Shores record?” “It was amazing!” Cotton Cloudy sat up in her chair and flapped her wings as she sang. “Oooh, don’cha sweat the haters, ain’t no time to be withdrawn.” She waggled her shoulders in a little dance. “Filly gotta get-get-getcha pony on!” “I liked her last record better,” Berry Pinch mumbled with a mouth full of cranberry muffin. It was beyond bad manners, but she didn’t seem to notice. Luckily, Randolph hovered nearby to sweep away all the crumbs falling onto the carpet. “But yeah, Get Your Pony On’s fun to dance to.” Diamond snickered behind her teacup. “Dancing? Is that what you were doing?” Randolph set down the dust pan, ears swiveling. Quietly, he ducked out the room, closing the door behind him. “Better dancing than you.” Berry licked jam off her hoof and reached across the table for another muffin. “You’re still a butt, Diamond Tiara.” “Yeah, well, you’re—” Silver Spoon’s ears pricked. “Ladies. Decorum.” “Oh, right.” Diamond put down her tea and cleared her throat. “It is my opinion, Miss Berry Pinch, that you are in fact, two butts.” Berry smirked. “Ah, but you are three butts.” Silver shrugged. Close enough. She took another sip and observed the rest of the tea party. Cotton enthusiastically listed everything that made Sapphire Shores the best singer to Peachy Pie and Sunny Daze. They stared back with half-lidded eyes, occasionally nodding. Sunny yawned and let her head loll back on her chair. The Dink plowed through the stack of mini muffins on her plate. Twist leaned out of her chair, reaching for a little fork that had fallen on the carpet. Her hoof found the handle and dragged it back. As she came back up, she paused. “Oh!” She dragged herself back into her seat and waved across the table. “Hey, Thilver Thpoon?” A great commotion in the hallway cut off Silver’s response. Muffed, raised voices leaked through the walls. Silver felt the clatter of hoofbeats through the floorboards. “Infinity butts I may be, Miss Berry,” sniffed Diamond. “However, I feel it is my duty to point out that it is still better than being infinity-plus-one butts. Which is what you are.” “Thilver Thpoo—” The door banged open and Twist almost jumped out of her skin. A squirming horde of adults jammed in the doorway, hooves stepping on other hooves, voices yelling over other voices. Mister Rich led the front, his eyes big and buggy, and his suit looked slightly damp. His mane was a sight. Actually, everypony looked a sight. Did they run all the way here? Berry’s mom looked like she’d just seen ten timberwolves, Cloudy’s brothers wouldn’t stop yelling, and Dinky’s mom… actually, Dinky’s mom always looked like that. Silver Spoon could just barely see Father’s hat bobbing in the mob. Pitch Perfect’s panicked soprano voice sailed over the clatter of yelling voices, but it was impossible to tell who said what. “Girls! Girls, are you alright?” “Don’t worry darling, I’m—!” “I knew I should have—” “…Are you having a tea party?” “Sure we are.” The Dink leaned on the table and popped the last bit of muffin in her mouth. “Relax, we’re fine. We’re all cool here—hey!” Dinky’s hooves kicked as her mother scooped her up into the air. “Ma!” “Sweetiemuffin!” Dinky’s mom planted a big, wet kiss on her daughter’s forehead. “I’m so glad my sweet little precious treasure’s okay.” “Ma, come oooon. We’re in public.” Dinky flopped in her mother’s forelegs like a ragdoll. She gave a little nuzzle. “Glad you’re okay, too.” Diamond Tiara squeaked from somewhere inside her father’s bear hug and a tidal wave of promises to never, ever, ever, ever stay late at the office again. Her hooves flailed over his shoulder. Berry Pinch’s mom wouldn’t stop crying and got tea all over her daughter’s dress. “It’s just a tea party,” said Silver Spoon. “You can join us if you want, you don’t need to get so excited.” She turned towards Silver Laurel and Pitch Perfect, who were panting and frazzled, but still put-together, overall. “Mother, Father. It’s nice to see you.” “Silver Spoon!” Mother cried. Silver flinched and wondered if she’d committed some teatime faux-pas. She began to explain that they were running on short notice and there wasn’t time to prepare, but it died away when she realized Mother was smiling. And... crying? “Brightness!” Father snatched Silver from her chair and raised her to the ceiling. From this height she could see the living room windows fading from pink to blue. A patch of sunlight skimmed down the hallway. “Oh, my lovely, dazzling Brightness! You got your cutie mark!” Silver Spoon stared at Silver Laurel. She blinked. What. Mother dabbed at the makeup running down her cheek. “Congratulations, darling!” Silver Spoon’s mouth moved without sounds. What. Twist sighed in her aunt’s vice grip. “That’th what I was tryin’ to tell you.” What. Silver Spoon pulled her dress pleats from her haunch. Her mouth fell open and swooped up and up and up. Sweet Celestia, what?! There it was: the very image of the spoon she’d used to stir her tea not five minutes ago, heart in the handle and all. The best cutie mark in the world for the best talent in the world. Silver Spoon wiggled her legs in the air, squealing. Oh gosh oh gosh oh gosh there it is it’s right there and it’s so pretty and of course that’s what it is and that makes so much sense THIS IS THE BEST THING EVER IN THE HISTORY OF BEST THINGS I’M GONNA THROW UP! Father kissed her cheek and finally put her down. The Dink waved at her from the ceiling. “Congratulations, Silver Spoon.” “Great job. First one in class to get a cutie mark, aren’t you?” Filthy Rich patted Silver on the back. “How’s it feel?” Silver Spoon faced the room and took a giggly moment to collect herself. This was still high tea, after all. She cleared her throat with a polite little smile. “It’s absolutely wonderful.” The silver teapots shimmered, the teaspoons twinkled, and the little saucers glistened as sunbeams crept over the tablecloth. Fillies, parents, and older siblings alike laughed, and stamped their hooves and called their congratulations. In the light of a new day and a new cutie mark, the never-ending night seemed like a dream. “Congrats.” Diamond Tiara leaned against the wall and frowned in the shadow of the table.