//------------------------------// // Fin // Story: Lament of a Spoon // by Zytharros //------------------------------// A tired and bedraggled silver filly walks into her bedroom and flops on the bed. She has the wildest grin on her face, exhausted from laughing and playing all afternoon. It’s towards the end of the day, and the sun is just setting over the horizon. Her room is just as neat as before, tidied up and spotless. In place of the two statuettes on the nightstand rest three new ones. Though their detail work is far from complete, one can make out the distinct outlines of three familiar school-aged fillies. There is no other way to put it – I am exhausted. Over the past three weeks, I have done a lot to make up for the devastating blow to my new friendships… and also mended a lot of the wounds present between my old friends and new ones. That doesn’t mean they’re friends, or even that they’re talking. It just means they have an uneasy truce. I have also made an amount of money I thought would be impossible for a filly my age through my silverwork. Let’s just put it this way – the Royal Sisters pay quite handsomely for custom-designed silverware, Luna for a self-portrait especially, but that is not what I wanted to say. The party was quite successful. Only Scootaloo and Sweetie Belle showed up, but at least they did. Apple Bloom refused to even give me a second thought. My first gut reaction was to become indignant, but I quickly squashed that feeling for one more suited to my own perceived position in Equestria. I took it in stride, having learned my lesson from observing how Diamond Tiara handled the Crusaders, especially when they dared to oppose her. However, Scootaloo did something completely, bewilderingly unexpected at the party – she asked me for forgiveness, and she did it first! When I queried as to why, she explained that after talking it over with Apple Bloom’s sister Applejack in private, she realized I was only trying to stop them from doing to Diamond Tiara what she had done to them. I have to admit, that not only surprised me, but Sweetie Belle as well. I would never have dreamed of interpreting my actions in such a way! Note to self – Must remember to keep Applejack in mind for future advice about life. I think Rarity is a little too cryptic for me. After that revelation, Sweetie Belle didn’t take long to come around herself, especially with how I had proved myself to her with my actions afterwards. “Having a party with such a yummy cake helps, too,” she had said with a chuckle. Silver Spoon glances over her writing and smiles. “Those evening classes Mother signed me up for have made me far more like Rarity than I ever thought. I must thank her.” It took Apple Bloom almost another two weeks to come around. With several go-arounds with her sister and her other best friends before we were able to get her to talk to me so I could apologize in person, and one final push from Applejack, I finally managed to gain her trust back. I even took two Pinkie Promises with Pinkie Pie there to witness them at Sugarcube Corner that I would not break her trust again to the best of my ability or knowledge as insurance. I even instructed Pinkie Pie to write a note for me and leave it on my door every morning. So far, she has not failed once. She even wrote me seven notes on one day, all eerily relating to every day that next week, because she was going on vacation… but that’s a different story. Diamond Tiara’s newly-found truce, however, is… something of a shocking tale. It was a dark and stormy night, one week ago today. Everyone in the house was asleep. Suddenly, she was awoken by sirens, then her dad screaming for her to leave. Something in their house had caught fire in such a way they could not put it out. It was swift, engulfing their whole house in a matter of half an hour. She had to stomp the fire out of her tail as she left, having brushed it against a burning bookcase on her way out. She had no time to grab her favourite tiara. Her dad ran in to find her mother while she stood outside, cold and wet in the rain, watching as everything she knew came to a crashing end. That was when I saw her – and her house. My parents and I live a block or two down, so when we heard the commotion, we came running. Seeing the little filly shivering alone in the cold while fire carts and hoses filled with retardant appeared and snaked all over her yard filled me with compassion, even if just two nights earlier we held a fight that could have awoken the dead, and even the dead’s ancestors. After wrapping myself in a coat, I had brought an extra just in case. It wasn’t long before the rest of town was there to help. After a few hours of battling a stubborn blaze that licked up the very rain that fell on it as if it were an ice cream cone held by a hungry foal, the fire fighters pulled both her parents out of the flaming wreckage. Her dad was unconscious. The firemen and paramedics on-site had said he had inhaled too much smoke, but they also believed he would be okay. Her mom, however, had joined the ranks of those in the afterlife. The stunned look that Diamond Tiara possessed showed that she had just been shattered. Her mind, her heart, her world… it was now non-existent. She watched as the Apple family, specifically Apple Bloom, did what they could to help. Scootaloo also came to her rescue with her fire-fighter mom. Sweetie Belle and Rarity showed up fashionably late, but pitched in to help all the same. She watched as her house went up in flames, even to the best efforts of everyone in town. She had no emotion as I invited her to my place. The Cutie Mark Crusaders, though still a little embittered by her wanton insults, also came over to make sure she was okay. Diamond Tiara asked why they came. Scootaloo, of course, was brashly honest. She didn’t want to come, but her mom said Ponyville always banded together in these crises. Sweetie Belle came to just do the right thing. Apple Bloom, however, said the most profound statement of the night. “It’s jus’ what an Apple does. We help everyone in need.” I stared at her in shock. It was simply a part of her family’s culture to help. There was no selfishness among them when it came to other ponies. They just dug in and fought back whenever a friend was in trouble. For most of my young life, I have observed the wealthy treating the not-as-fortunate with respect while in front of them, but mumbling insults behind their back. It didn’t feel right to me. Even I and my own father were guilty of this, especially when he hosted some of his particularly-lavish soirees. What Apple Bloom said hit me hard, and I have been thinking about it to this day. Even if they were mortal enemies, an Apple would not hesitate to help anyone, regardless of rank, status, or how mean they had been. It took a truly-callous action to make the Apples abandon you. I now desire to emulate that value. It has been hard to change my thought patterns. I had no idea how many thoughts this would mean rearranging, but I believe I am doing a good job at it. I have requested that of Apple Bloom – that she helps me with this mental reorganization of my actions. I cannot say I have not slipped up, but then again I am quite new to the whole honesty game, especially to the standards the Apples hold themselves to. Now, I hope ponies can stick with me long enough to help. Diamond Tiara still stays with us as her dad recuperates in the hospital. She is no longer the same confident friend she once was. In fact, she more resembles Fluttershy before She shuffles her room around… “Oh, what was that bull’s name… he came and turned Fluttershy into a meanie for a while… where was that flier…?” After a few minutes, she decides just to keep writing. It wasn't that important, anyway. that one motivational bull arrived than any other pony I have observed. She is at a loss as to what to do now. I and the Cutie Mark Crusaders have been working a lot with her to try and help her find a better place in life than that draconian leadership stuff she was doing before. We shall find it. I know we will. And this time, we’ll do it together. She closes the book and chuckles. The night is young, but she is exhausted and filthy. She decides to turn in early, so she departs to the bath. She finds the water running and the door locked. She bangs on the door. “Tiara! Are you almost done in there?” A call back. “Just a few more hours… a queen does need her beauty bath after all.” The silver filly facehoofs and groans. She returns to her book and cracks it open to pen one last line. …This may be harder than we thought.