//------------------------------// // A Friendship Scoots Along // Story: Thine Own Self // by jdb1984 //------------------------------// Diamond stepped off of Silver, and she picked herself off the ground to get back on her hooves. Trying to focus her weak eyes, she just kept them on her former best friend, who looked more like a featureless pink blob. “I’ve had time to think about it, and I decided that I’m fine with your real cutie mark,” Diamond continued. “You can’t control it. Maybe you could even show it off instead of hiding it” Silver blinked a bit in surprise. She wasn’t expecting Diamond to say anything like that. But still... “I’m not sure if I’m ready for that,” Silver answered, as Diamond walked around her in a tight circle, blushing slightly when her tail brushed against her painted flank, before she stopped and stood before Silver again. “I also must congratulate you on breaking up the Crusaders like that. That’s something I haven't even been able to accomplish,” Diamond continued. “I didn’t mean...” Silver started. “Quiet, I’m still talking,” Diamond interrupted, cutting her off. “Now, because of that, I’m willing to give you another shot. We can have everything back the way it was, starting now.” Silver pondered her words a bit. She had to admit, it did sound tempting, her life hasn’t been the same since what happened back on Friday. She was a wreck over the weekend, just staying in bed until Sweetie and Luna helped her out of her sadness. Having things back the way they were, not going through the change... But was the change necessarily a bad thing? She has made a real effort to change, and two of the Crusaders may be starting to trust her. Did she want to throw that away, the chance to have three new friends, to have Diamond back? The answer was that she did want Diamond back, but she didn't want things to just go back to the way things were. If Diamond really wanted to be her friend again, things needed to change. “I do want you back, Diamond,” Silver started. But as Diamond started to smile, she added, “I have some conditions, however.” The smile forming on Diamond’s face dropped, as she stared into Silver’s eyes, before saying, “What are they?” “First of all, I don’t want anything as small as a Cutie Mark get between us. You were perfectly willing to be my friend, even buying a snack for both of us, before you saw it,” Silver started. “Something like that, something neither of us can control, shouldn’t get in the way of a friendship.” --- As Scootaloo sped her way down the path back towards home, a glint caught her eye. She skidded to a stop and got off her scooter to take a look. As she picked them up, she recognized the designer frames immediately. “Silver Spoon’s glasses,” she said. She was about to take them with and give them back the next day, but then she heard Silver and Diamond talking to each other. Thinking that this would be a perfect way to get proof of her suspicions, she creeped closer to where she could hear their conversation. --- “Okay, that seems reasonable. Go on,” Diamond answered. “Secondly, I want you to stop being a bully to the Crusaders...” “What? Stop teasing those blank flanks?” Diamond interrupted with surprise in her voice. “Yes,” Silver answered. “I really think I can become friends with them at this point, and you could too. I really don’t know what your problem with them is, but if you can let go of that...” “My problem is that they ruined my cute-centenia,” Diamond interrupted. “It was supposed to be my day, and they ruined it by taking the attention off of me...” “You did that to yourself with your teasing, and you teased her before that,” Silver almost yelled. “If you would have just left Apple Bloom alone, the adults wouldn’t have had to set you straight, and get the attention going towards her.” “It was still ruined by them! It was my party, I was supposed to get all the attention! I don’t see why someone that has a blank flank should get the attention over me, or anyone else that’s not blank,” Diamond yelled, before turning her back to Silver. “If you can’t change and be nice, then I guess you walked out of my life when you walked out of Sugarcube Corner,” Silver answered, as she lowered her head and stepped back towards the path. --- As Silver got back to the main path and start to look around at the ground, an orange hoof held up her glasses for her to see. “Drop something?” Scootaloo asked. “Scootaloo, how long were you there?” Silver asked, as she took her glasses and slipped them back on her face, enjoying the world becoming crystal clear again “Long enough to hear you and Diamond arguing. And long enough to hear you tell Diamond off like you did, which I thought was awesome,” Scootaloo answered, as she rolled her scooter along, with Silver beside her. “I don’t know, though,” Silver said, glancing back towards where they were talking. “I had a chance to get her back as a friend, and I blew it.” “You don’t need her, though,” Scootaloo answered. “Like you said yourself, you can become friends with us, all three of us, and you didn’t want to lose it. If she doesn’t want to do the same, it’s her fault, not yours. You also earned the trust of at least one of us.” “I did?” Silver asked. “Who did I...” “Me.” Scootaloo answered simply. “You?” Silver asked “Once your argument started, once I heard you tell Diamond off, I knew that I was wrong. That my suspicions were wrong,” Scootaloo said, and turned away a bit. “And I...I want to say...say that I’m sorry for accusing you.” “It’s okay, Scootaloo,” Silver answered, putting a hoof on her shoulder. “I had trouble believing I could change, too. It took a weekend of sadness and Princess Luna appearing in a nightmare to get me out of it.” “You’re not the only one that had Princess Luna in a dream. Though the last time she was in one of my dreams, I ended up drowning in custard while riding a mixer,” Scootaloo laughed. The two young fillies shared a laugh, as they went through Sweet Apple Acres orchard and split apart to go to their separate homes. --- Back at the spot where she talked with Silver, Diamond was fuming, as she paced back and forth. The pony she thought was her best friend has just rejected her, and was siding with the blank flanks over her. She stopped pacing and stomped her hoof, as she said, “Don’t think you can get rid of me that easily. Nopony but my father can say no to Diamond Dazzle Tiara and expect to get away with it.”